System for Award Management (SAM) and Awards to New Contractors

[diverdave]

So SAM went live on 7/30/12 with a resounding thud. As with any new system there have been problems with the transition and one would certainly have to question the timing. Our contract writing system, Prism (another winner), pulls DUNS numbers and other contractor information directly from CCR/SAM so ever since the rollout of SAM we have not been able to make award to any new contractors who were not previously registered in CCR.

The SAM helpdesk number is busy and there is no good information on FSD.gov other than to say the system is experiencing issues. Are other agencies experiencing the same issues with awarding contracts to new vendors? Does anyone have any idea what is going on? Our pending awards are starting to stack up and the EOFY aproacheth.

[TAP]

Workarounds Until SAM is Completely Operational

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Requirements for Contracts:

FAR 4.11 – requires contracting officers ensure the entity is registered.

For new registrants who have been unable to begin or complete their registration during the SAM implementation period – contracting officers may always consider good faith attempts of new vendors to register and use their judgment accordingly along with the exceptions that FAR 4.1102 allows. Although if a contracting officer does employ an exception based on the inability to register, they should ensure that the vendor realizes they must complete their registration as soon as capable as to not impact payment processes once they begin to invoice.