There are five essential requirements/steps for a company to do business in the Federal Market.
These five steps include:
- Cage Code: A unique identifier assigned to suppliers to various government or defense agencies, as well as to government agencies themselves and also various organizations. CAGE codes provide a standardized method of identifying a given facility at a specific location.
- NAICS: Knowing the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code for your product or service is necessary. These codes identify most Federal government product/service listings and procurements.
- FSC/PSC: Knowing the Federal Supply Classification (FSC) code for your product or service is necessary. These codes identify most Federal government product/service listings and procurements.
- UEI: The SAM-generated UEI becomes the official identifier for doing business with the U.S. Government.
- SAM: You must be registered in SAM to be awarded a Federal civilian or military agency contract.
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Cage Codes
The Commercial and Government Entity Code, or CAGE Code, is a unique identifier assigned to suppliers to various government or defense agencies, as well as to government agencies themselves and also various organizations. CAGE codes provide a standardized method of identifying a given facility at a specific location.
Defense Logistics Agency (May require a Certificate to enter site)
A CAGE Code is a five-character alpha-numeric identifier assigned to entities in the United States and its territories. The DLA CAGE Program Office is the only activity authorized to assign or update a CAGE code.
The CAGE Code is used to support a variety of procurement and acquisition processes throughout the U.S. Government.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)
The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is the standard used by Federal statistical agencies in classifying business establishments to collect, analyze, and publish statistical data related to the U.S. business economy.
FSC
What are product service codes? Also referred to as Federal supply codes, the United States government uses product service codes to describe the products, services, and research and development purchased by the government. Government procurement specialists and contractors alike require a solid understanding of these codes to produce quality partnerships between buyers and suppliers.
The General Services Administration wants all organizations that conduct business with the Federal government to take steps to prepare for the switch to the new identification system that is replacing the proprietary DUNS number.
On April 4, 2022, GSA switched to the new “unique entity identifier,” a nonproprietary system, for Federal contracting purposes. The move is the culmination of a long-planned transition away from the DUNS Number, codified into the Federal Acquisition Regulation in 1998, and has since served as the primary entity identifier for all GSA systems users. The UEI system features a 12-digit alphanumeric code.
SAM.gov and all other General Services Administration (GSA) systems will switch to the new Unique Entity ID (SAM) as the authoritative government entity identifier.
SAM.gov and other GSA systems will no longer use the DUNS number to identify entities.
SAM.gov is an official website of the U.S. government. There is no cost to use SAM. You can use this site for FREE to:
- Register to do business with the U.S. Government
- Update or renew your entity registration
- Check the status of an entity registration
- Search for entity registration and exclusion records
- And much more
The Federal government’s vendor database used to be known as CCR – Central Contractor Registration. But on July 30, 2012, officials consolidated the CCR and other programs into SAM.