SAMMI's Coming - DUNS' is Leaving

Your DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) number is about to be replaced with a SAMMI (System for Award Management Managed Identifier) number.

GSA has awarded a contract to Ernst and Young to take over the entity validation system from Dun & Bradstreet. The five-year contract is worth about $42 million.

Through the Integrated Award Environment, GSA issues every vendor or organization that does business with the Government, or wishes to do business with the Government, a unique DUNS number. Under the new SAMMI system, the numbering system will no longer be part of Dun & Bradstreet's proprietary system, that some consider monopolistic. Non-governmental entities have had to pay a fee to Dun & Bradstreet to download and use the DUNS numbers that they own.

Under the new entity validation system, users will provide their registration information at SAM.gov and that information will be validated against the new contractor's data. The Government will have unlimited rights in perpetuity to the validated results and there will be no charge to SAM.gov registrants.

Are You in the National Disaster Response Registry?

When national emergencies or disasters such as floods and hurricanes occur, supplies and services need to be procured and rushed to the affected areas quickly.

To expedite this process, the System of Award Management (SAM), which all Government contractors are familiar with, contains a Disaster Response Registry as required by FAR 4.11 (SAM registration for disaster services not required by encouraged) and FAR 26.2 (preference for local firms - no carpetbaggers).

Disaster Response Registry is a voluntary registry of contractors who are willing to perform debris removal, distribution of supplies, reconstruction, and other disaster or emergency relief activities established in accordance with 6 USC 796, Registry of Disaster Response Contractors.

The Registry contains information on contractors who are willing to perform disaster or emergency relief activities within the United States and its outlying areas.

For more information about the Disaster Response Registry and instructions for registering, click here.

DUNS Numbers May Soon be Replaced

For the past few days, we've been posting articles on FAR's fiscal year end regulation dump - prompted, no doubt, by someone's performance evaluation and bonus prospects (yes, Feds do get bonuses). So far, we've discussed the new regulations that cap compensation levels for contractor employees, the prohibition from taking reprisal action against any employee who may want to discuss or disclose their compensation, and prohibitions on contracting with tax deadbeats and felons. Today we will be discussing new regulations that may foretell a change in use of DUNS numbers - a unique nine digit identification number for each physical location of a business and a requirement for registering in SAM (System for Award Management).

Currently, FAR uses a proprietary standard or numbering system to identify contractors - the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number from Dun and Bradstreet. The new regulations eliminates all references to DUNS, the proprietary name, to a generic description, "unique entity identifier" or soon to be referred to as the UEI.

Soon, the Government will embark on a process of exploring potential alternatives to the existing entity numbering systems - something that is not proprietary like the DUNS number. Although the Government is not currently in a position to move away from use of the DUNS number in the short term, elimination of regulatory references to the DUNS number will provide opportunities for future competition that can reduce costs to taxpayers. The current requirement limits competition by using a proprietary number and organization to meet the identification need as well as the need for other business information associated with that number.

 The new regulation includes a definition of "unique entity identifier" as follows:

Unique entity identifier means a number or other identifier used to identify a specific commercial, nonprofit, or Government entity. See www.sam.gov for the designated entity for establishing unique entity identifiers.

Right now, that designated entity is Dun and Bradstreet and its DUNS number. That could change and if it does, look for a lot of confusion during the transition.

Registering in SAM - Before Proposal Submission or Before Contract Award?

The language in FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) is inconsistent in terms of whether offerors need to be registered in SAM (System for Award Management) prior to submitting an offer, or prior to award of a contract.

FAR 52.204-8(b) and (d) states that if clause 52.204-7, System for Award Management, is included in the solicitation (and it almost always is included), the the offeror verifies by submission of the offer that the representations and certifications in SAM are current and accurate.

The aforementioned clause instructs offerors to complete representations and certifications by registering in SAM prior to the submission of offers.

On the other hand, FAR 4.1102, System for Award Management - Policy, states that SAM registration (which includes the online representations and certifications (reps and certs) must be completed by the time of award.

This inconsistency has created no small amount of confusion. While most offerors are duly registered in SAM, there have been some companies whose offers were deemed non-responsive because of their failure to register in SAM prior to submitting their offers.

The FAR Councils have issued a proposed rule to fix this inconsistency. The proposal is a modification to FAR 4.1102 and 4.1103 to require offerors to register in SAM prior to submission of an offer.

But companies interested in bidding on Government contracts, if they haven't already done so, should just go ahead and register in SAM. Its not that big of a deal and no one should be paying money to have someone do it for them. Set aside a couple of hours and get it done.

SAM is Not Well

Been getting a lot of this lately?

The General Services Administration (GSA) implemented Phase 1 of SAM (System for Award Management) on July 29th. This new system includes the functional capabilities of the retired CCR (Central Contractor Registration, FedReg (Federal Agency Registration), ORCA (Online Representations and Certifications Application), and (EPLS) Excluded Parties List System applications. Since implementation, SAM has experienced performance issues that have affected the timely processing of contract awards.

GSA says that it has been taking aggressive action to resolve issues with the new system. In the meantime, DoD has relaxed the requirements that i) prospective contractors must be registered in SAM prior to award and ii) contracting officers must check SAM to ensure registration prior to award. Also, GSA has turned back on the old EPLS site to provide contracting officers the ability to ensure a prospective contractor is not actively excluded from procurement actions.