How to check a vendor in SAM.gov: CAGE, UEI and exclusions, before you order

The three identifiers, and what each one is for

Step 1 — Read the entity record

Go to sam.gov, choose Search, and filter to Entity Information. Search by UEI or CAGE rather than by name — company names are inconsistent and near-matches are common. (SAM requires a free sign-in to display full entity records; the CAGE search in step 3 does not.)

Check five fields:

1. Registration status. Active, or expired. An expired registration is not a disqualification for a card buy under the micro-purchase threshold, but it is for a purchase order.
2. Expiration date. SAM registrations require annual renewal. If it expires in eleven days and your award is in three weeks, raise it now.
3. Purpose of registration. "All Awards" means the entity is registered to receive contracts. A financial-assistance-only registration is not the same thing.
4. Physical address and business start date. Cross-check against the quote letterhead and the CAGE record.
5. NAICS codes and size representations. Size is per NAICS code. A firm can be small for one code and other than small for another — see what a small business set-aside means for a purchase-card buyer.

Step 2 — Run the exclusions search separately

Exclusions are a different search domain on SAM.gov, and an active entity registration tells you nothing about exclusion status. Search by entity name and by UEI or CAGE — and check the principals as well as the firm where the amount at stake justifies it.

The rules behind this are stricter than most buyers realise:

• FAR 9.405(a): agencies "shall not solicit offers from, award contracts to, or consent to subcontracts with" contractors debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment or voluntarily excluded, absent a compelling-reason determination by the agency head.
• FAR 9.405(e): the contracting officer reviews SAM exclusion records after opening of bids or receipt of proposals or quotes, and again immediately prior to award.
• There is no dollar threshold. Neither FAR 9.404 nor 9.405 carves out micro-purchases. An excluded vendor kills a $500 card buy as surely as a $500,000 award.
• The one dollar figure in the subpart governs subcontracting: a contractor may not enter into a subcontract in excess of $45,000 with an excluded firm, other than a subcontract for a commercially available off-the-shelf item (FAR 9.405-2).

Step 3 — Verify the CAGE record, no login required

The Defense Logistics Agency's CAGE program publishes a public search at cage.dla.mil/search. Enter the CAGE code or the UEI. You get the legal business name, physical address and status without signing in — which makes it the fastest sanity check when a quote arrives and you want to confirm the entity is real before spending time on it.

Step 4 — For larger acquisitions, check the responsibility record

Above the simplified acquisition threshold, a contracting officer's responsibility determination reaches further. FAR 9.104-6 requires review of the Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS) information in the Responsibility/Qualification records for contracts over the simplified acquisition threshold, and FAR 9.104-1 sets out the general standards a prospective contractor must meet — adequate financial resources, ability to meet the delivery schedule, satisfactory performance record, satisfactory record of integrity and business ethics, necessary organisation and facilities, and eligibility to receive an award.

What "SAM registered" does and does not mean

Treat any vendor that presents "SAM registered" as though it were an award, a rating or a government approval with corresponding caution. What registration actually buys the buyer is administrative: FAR 4.1102(a) requires offerors and quoters to be registered at the time an offer or quotation is submitted, so a registered vendor removes a blocking step. That is the whole of it.

The corollary is equally useful: an unregistered vendor is not disqualified from a card buy. FAR 4.1102(a)(1) exempts "purchases under the micro-purchase threshold that use a Governmentwide commercial purchase card as both the purchasing and payment mechanism."

Also beware of paid "registration help"

SAM registration is free, and so is every check described on this page. GSA's Federal Service Desk (fsd.gov) provides free support. Third-party firms that charge for registration or renewal are permitted to exist, but a vendor invoice for "SAM registration renewal" from an unfamiliar company is a well-known scam pattern; nothing on SAM.gov requires payment.

A five-minute checklist

1. Ask for UEI and CAGE in writing on the quote.
2. Look up the entity record on SAM.gov by UEI. Confirm status Active, note the expiration date, confirm purpose of registration is All Awards.
3. Confirm the NAICS code relevant to your requirement and the size representation for it.
4. Run the exclusions search by name and by UEI or CAGE.
5. Cross-check the legal name and physical address at cage.dla.mil/search.
6. Above the simplified acquisition threshold, review FAPIIS in the Responsibility/Qualification records per FAR 9.104-6.
7. Re-run the exclusions search immediately before award — this is the step FAR 9.405(e) actually requires and the one most often skipped.

Our own record, if you want to test the method

Smart Gov Supply LLC — UEI SNVSNLCYFXY4, CAGE 214B2, an active SAM registration with purpose of registration All Awards, and no exclusions. The fastest verification is the public one: cage.dla.mil/search, enter 214B2, no login required. For the full record, sam.gov → Search → Entity Information → UEI SNVSNLCYFXY4. Smart Gov Supply LLC does not hold a GSA Schedule/MAS contract and holds no socioeconomic set-aside certification.

Frequently asked questions