Are you having difficulties with your SAM.gov registration? Is your registration inactive? Has the person with administrative privileges for your account left municipal service?
This resource assists municipalities with finding answers to their most frequently asked questions about SAM.gov (a.k.a. SAM). In most cases, the questions below link directly to SAM's Frequently Asked Question (FAQ).
What Is SAM.gov?
SAM.gov, the System for Award Management or SAM, collects data from suppliers and funding awardees who want to do business with the federal government. Municipalities interact with SAM.gov in multiple ways.
- Municipalities that are awarded federal funding are required to register with SAM and to maintain that registration through the life of their funding agreement.
- Municipalities that pass federal funds to other entities (contractors, grant sub-recipients) are required to search for and retain the other entity's registration and exclusion records.
- Municipalities that use federal funds for construction projects must use wage determinations listed on SAM to meet their obligations under the Davis Bacon Act.
VLCT encourages municipalities to maintain their SAM registration regardless of whether the municipality has current federal funding. Maintaining the registration through annual updates helps ensure federal funding, like FEMA Public Assistance and infrastructure and community development funding, will flow smoothly to the municipality.
Does It Cost Money to Register or Renew a Registration in SAM.gov?
No. Registering in SAM is free. There are private businesses who charge a fee to help you register in SAM. While it is a business decision as to whether the municipality wants to pay a fee to have a third party register them in SAM, there is no cost to register or to renew a registration directly on SAM.
Registering on SAM generally can be done in less than hour, and registration renewal generally can be done in less than five minutes. The official SAM site is www.sam.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions
General
Confirming Entity Registration and Status
- How can I find out if an entity is registered in SAM.gov?
- How can I view my Unique Entity ID or entity registration record?
- What do the different registration statuses mean?
Account Roles
- How can I view a complete list of users and their roles for my non-federal entity?
- Why am I unable to request a role?
- What is an Entity Administrator in SAM.gov?
- How can I become the administrator for my non-federal entity registration?
- How do I invite or assign a role to users in SAM.gov?
Updating and Renewing a Registration
- How do I update/renew an existing entity registration in SAM.gov?
- Is there a Quick Start Guide for updating entity registrations?
- How do I update the banking information on my SAM.gov entity registration?
- How do I update the Points of Contact (POCs) on my SAM.gov entity registration?
- How do I change whether my entity is shown in public search results on SAM.gov?
SAM recommends entities opt in to public display. No sensitive information is available via SAM’s public search. Public display allows the municipality's information to be found easily by granting agencies and so information can be located if employees leave without transferring the Entity Administrator role. Registrations that opted in to public display remain searchable and viewable by authenticated users in SAM. Inactive Registrations that opted out of public display are only searchable and viewable by authenticated federal users and authenticated public users with roles with the entity in SAM.
- What documentation can I use to validate my entity?
- What happens to my SAM.gov access if I change my email address on login.gov?
- What is the NAICS Code for local government?
- How do I delete a partially complete registration renewal if I’ve made a mistake?
- What should I do if my SAM registration has become inactive?
Getting Help
Robust help with SAM.gov is available from the Federal Service Desk (FSD).
- Search for User Guides, FAQs, Videos, and Definitions using the Federal Service Desk (FSD).
- Initiate a live chat with an agent through the FSD.gov portal.
- Create an Incident (a.k.a. ticket) through the FSD.gov portal. Tickets are closed after 5 days, so respond to inquiries immediately.
Disclaimer: This resource was created by Municipal Operations Support (MOS) staff of non-legal professionals with expertise of the subject matter. It is only intended to provide information and does NOT constitute legal advice. Readers with legal questions are encouraged to contact an attorney. The use or downloading of this resource does NOT create an attorney-client relationship and will not be treated in a confidential manner. Non-legal questions about this resource can be directed to MOS staff at mos@vlct.org.