System for Award Management (SAM) Registration

FAR 4.1102 requires offerors and quoters to be registered in SAM when the offer or quotation goes in, with narrow exceptions: micro-purchases on the purchase card, classified work where registration would compromise security, deployed contingency contracting, and foreign awards under $40,000 performed abroad. An award made under the unusual-and-compelling-urgency exception carries its own deadline — registration within 30 days after award or 3 days before the first invoice, whichever comes first.

The clause structure does the enforcement. The provision at 52.204-7, revised November 2024, sets two checkpoints, registered at offer and registered at award, so a lapse between them no longer defeats an otherwise successful offer. After award, 52.204-13 requires the contractor to stay registered through final payment and to review and update the record annually.

The failure mode is the expiration date. Registration is an annual-maintenance obligation, not a one-time credential: 52.204-7 checks it again at award, and during performance 52.204-13 leaves no grace period between lapse and breach.