By April 4, 2022, the federal government will transition away from the DUNS Number to the new Unique Entity ID (SAM), or ‘UEI,’ for entity identification of federal awards governmentwide. Currently, the DUNS Number is authoritative. The Unique Entity ID (SAM) is available; however, it is not yet authoritative.
Today, the two identifiers appear side-by-side in these IAE systems:
- SAM.gov
- Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System (eSRS)
- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) Subaward Reporting System (FSRS)
- Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS)
- Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System (FAPIIS)
- Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS)
What is Entity Identification?
Entity identification in federal awards (grants, loans, contracts, etc.) means a unique set of numbers and letters used to identify every entity seeking to do business with the federal government. Currently, and through April 3, 2022, the federal government uses the DUNS Number, assigned by Dun & Bradstreet. On April 4, 2022 and moving forward, the federal government will use the Unique Entity ID (SAM), or “UEI” assigned by SAM.gov.
What Do I Need to Do?
Federal contractors and assistance recipients registered in SAM.gov do not need to take any action. Your Unique Entity ID (SAM) has been assigned and is visible in your registration at SAM.gov.
Subcontractors and subrecipients who use the DUNS Number for reporting will need to get a Unique Entity ID (SAM) at SAM.gov no later than April 3, 2022. You can get this number now or at any time until then, and you do not need to complete an entity registration in SAM.gov to do so.
Until April 3rd, you need to get your DUNS Number from Dun & Bradstreet before you can request a Unique Entity ID (SAM). It is important that you enter your entity information exactly as it is reflected on your Dun & Bradstreet record when you request your Unique Entity ID (SAM).
All sub-awardee records in eSRS and FSRS have been updated with a Unique Entity ID (SAM). The DUNS Number will remain in the records until April 4, 2022, when it will be removed. Prime contractors can look up a sub-awardee in eSRS or FSRS using the DUNS Number until April 4th. After that point, you must use the Unique Entity ID (SAM) to look up an entity.
CPARS and FAPIIS also display both the DUNS Number and the Unique Entity ID (SAM) at this time. Either can be used for search. Again, as of April 4th, search will only support the Unique Entity ID (SAM).
In FPDS, you can look up an entity’s Unique Entity ID (SAM) until April 4th using the lookup field. After that point, any entity searches by ID must be done using the Unique Entity ID (SAM). Users of the FPDS Atom feed already have the version they will need (1.5.2).
On April 4th, the DUNS Number will be removed from all IAE systems and the Unique Entity ID (SAM) will be the authoritative entity identifier.