The U.S. federal government launched the first phase of its “System for Award Management” (SAM) on July 29, 2012. SAM replaces the longstanding on-line registrant database, Central Contractor Registration (CCR), as well as seven other federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. If your entity had an active record in CCR, an active record now exists in SAM. There is no need to do anything with your new SAM account at this time unless a change in your entity’s business circumstances require a change in SAM in order for you to be paid or receive an award. SAM will notify registered users via email 60, 30 and 15 days prior to the expiration of the entity’s record.  Registered entities can be searched in SAM using the business name or DUNS number. New terminology in SAM includes the following: Administrators in CCR will become “Entity Administrators” in SAM; and Maintenance users in CCR will become “Entity Registration Representatives” in SAM.

For links to the most frequently asked questions about the implementation of SAM and a User Guide, click here.