At long last, the FAR Council has brought to a close with favorable results for both government contracting activities and contractors the self-inflicted problem of the previous Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirement that contractors be “continuously” registered in the government’s System for Award Management (SAM) database to be eligible for the award of a federal contract.
Under the final FAR rule published on August 7, 2025,1 and effective immediately, an offeror must now be registered in SAM and have its registration active only at the time of its offer submission and at the time of contract award but would not be required to be registered between those two points. This August rule adopts, without change, the November 12, 2024, interim rule making the same changes.2 In my November 21, 2024, blog, I complimented the FAR Council on this 2024 regulatory action, and the GSA for its November 15, 2024, related action relating to lease offers.3
But in that same November 2024 blog, I cautioned contractors to be careful not to overapply that interim (and now final) solution to post-award registration requirements. The 2018 FAR rule covered three phases during which “continuous registration” was required. The first phase, addressed in the 2024 interim (and now final) rule, covers the period from submission of an offer until contract award. The second phase covers “during performance” of the award. The third phase covers “through final payment of any contract.” The final rule retains a parenthetical phrase covering the second and third phases by referring agencies and contractors to the provisions in FAR 52.207-13 titled “System for Award Management Maintenance,” that requires contractors to “maintain registration in SAM during contract performance and through final payment,” the equivalent of “continuous registration” during these post-award phases.
In 20184 the FAR Council adopted a final rule to update the instructions for registration in SAM that imposed a requirement that offerors maintain a “continuous and uninterrupted registration during the entirety of the pre-award process.” Not surprisingly, this “continuous registration” rule was soon weaponized in protests filed at the Court of Federal Claims by disappointed bidders – and often upheld by the Court against potential awardees due to the “plain meaning” of the 2018 FAR rule. The Department of Energy took unilateral action to deviate from the 2018 FAR rule to preserve a multi-billion-dollar nuclear waste cleanup contract. I addressed the problem that this FAR provision was creating, and a potential interim solution based on that Department of Energy action, in my November 9, 2023, blog “How to Fix the Risk of a Lapsed SAM Registration.”5
Conclusion: Keep Your SAM Registration “Continuously” Active
Notwithstanding the flexibility provided to contractors in the pre-award phase, it is our strong advice, and a best practice, that contractors be sure that their SAM registration is always active and current. The timing of due dates for solicitation response and for contract award is solely under the control of the awarding agency and any lapse in maintaining the contractor’s SAM registration may not be able to be corrected in time. By contrast, the timing of any renewal and update to a contractor’s SAM registration is largely under the control of the contractor. Plus, the post-award “continuous” SAM registration requirement remains in place. Take these matters into your own hands.
If you have any questions, please contact the author or the Centre Law Group attorney with whom you normally work.
1Federal Acquisition Regulation: Clarification of System for Award Management Preaward Registration Requirements, August 7, 2025, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-08-07/pdf/2025-14990.pdf. Last viewed Aug 12, 2025.
2Federal Acquisition Regulation: Clarification of System for Award Management Preaward Registration Requirements, November 12, 2024, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-11-12/pdf/2024-26062.pdf. Last viewed Aug 12, 2025.
3Chvotkin Centre Law Blog: “FAR Council and GSA Fix Timing of Required SAM Registration, November 21, 2024, available at https://test.fastwebcreations.com/blog/far-council-and-gsa-fix-timing-of-required-sam-registration/. Last viewed Aug 12, 2025.
4Federal Acquisition Regulation: System for Award Management Registration, September 26, 2018, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2018-09-26/pdf/2018-20706.pdf. Last viewed Aug 12, 2025.
5Chvotkin Centre Law Blog: “How to Fix the Risk of a Lapsed SAM Registration”, Nov 9, 2023, available at https://test.fastwebcreations.com/blog/fixing-the-risk-of-a-lapsed-sam-registration/. Last viewed Aug 12, 2025.
