What is the federal procurement database and where do you access it?
The federal procurement database is now fully centralized at SAM.gov. As of february 24, 2026, the General Services Administration decommissioned FPDS.gov and migrated all contract award data, search tools, and historical records into SAM.gov. One portal, one authoritative source.
Here is what you can access there:
- Contract awards: All unclassified contract actions above the micro-purchase threshold, including modifications
- Subcontract reports: Submitted through the Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System
- Contract modifications: Any change to a previously reported action
- Solicitation notices: Active federal bidding opportunities under the separate Contract Opportunities domain
A free SAM.gov account (authenticated through Login.gov) unlocks the full contract awards search. Broad spending summaries are also visible on USAspending.gov without an account, though that platform lacks the field-level detail available in SAM.gov.
How to search and use SAM.gov’s contract award data
Getting to the right data takes one deliberate step most users miss. From the SAM.gov homepage, select the Contracting domain, then choose “Contract Awards” specifically. The default search lands on Contract Opportunities, which covers open solicitations, not historical awards. These are two distinct datasets.
Once inside Contract Awards, you can filter by:
- Keyword (product or service description)
- Agency (department or sub-agency)
- Fiscal year (October 1 through September 30)
- Contract type (firm-fixed-price, cost-plus, IDIQ, etc.)
- Legal business name (awardee search)
- PSC or NAICS code (product/service or industry classification)
Exporting is straightforward. The DataBank offers pre-formatted standard reports, advanced Ad Hoc reports, and administrative reports for federal users. You can download raw data files or connect programmatically through the SAM.gov Contract Awards APIs, which replaced the retired FPDS ATOM feed in 2026.
Pro Tip: Before running any analysis, open the Contract Awards Data Dictionary available directly on SAM.gov. Fields like PSC codes and NAICS codes carry specific definitions that differ from general industry usage. Misreading them skews your market research badly.
Background on FPDS, SAM.gov, and USAspending.gov
Understanding why three systems exist, and what each actually does, saves hours of confusion.
FPDS (Federal Procurement Data System) launched in 1978 under a mandate from the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act of 1974. The Federal Acquisition Regulation requires agencies to report all contract actions to it. For decades it was the government’s principal procurement data repository. That function now lives inside SAM.gov.
FedBizOpps, the old portal for finding open solicitations, became the Contract Opportunities domain within SAM.gov years before the 2026 FPDS migration. If you are searching for active bids, that is where you go. If you want to see who won a contract last year, you go to Contract Awards.
| System | Primary purpose | Data type | Update frequency |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAM.gov (Contract Awards) | Detailed procurement records | Award data, modifications, subcontracts | Near real-time |
| USAspending.gov | Government-wide spending transparency | Aggregated financial data | Daily extract from FPDS |
| SAM.gov (Contract Opportunities) | Active solicitations | Pre-award and award notices | As posted |
USAspending.gov pulls its procurement data from SAM.gov daily, making it useful for high-level trend analysis. It is not the right tool when you need field-level contract details, specific award amounts by vendor, or modification histories. For that granularity, SAM.gov is the only option.
The Integrated Award Environment (IAE), administered by GSA, manages all of these systems as a connected suite. SAM.gov is the IAE’s public face for both contractors and researchers.
Data quality and certification challenges you should know about
The scale of this database is hard to overstate. Federal agencies reported approximately $755 billion in procurement obligations to FPDS for fiscal year 2024. Analyzing that data accurately requires understanding where it can break down.
Agencies must annually certify to OMB and GSA that their submitted data is complete, accurate, and timely. In practice, that certification is inconsistent. Of 70 federal agencies that reported data for fiscal year 2023, only 36 completed their required procurement data quality reports, a 51% completion rate. GAO has repeatedly flagged this gap as a risk to data reliability.
Common issues affecting data quality include:
- Delayed reporting: Agencies submitting contract actions past required deadlines
- Incomplete certification: Chief acquisition officers not validating prior-year data submissions
- Data-entry errors: Incorrect codes, dollar amounts, or vendor identifiers entered at the agency level
- DoD embargo periods: Department of Defense contracts carry a 90-day delay before public visibility
- Reconciliation gaps: Mismatches between agency contract writing systems and SAM.gov records
GSA has moved to address the access side by retiring legacy FPDS ATOM feeds and replacing them with modern SAM.gov APIs. That modernization improves data delivery speed, but it does not fix upstream reporting gaps at the agency level.
Security and privacy when using the procurement database
SAM.gov uses Login.gov for all account authentication, which applies two-factor verification as standard. Your account credentials are separate from any entity registration your organization may hold in SAM.gov.
The contract award data itself is public record. No personally identifiable information about private individuals appears in contract award records. What is visible includes company names, award amounts, agency names, contract numbers, and performance locations. Classified contracts do not appear at all. Sensitive acquisitions may appear with limited detail.
For researchers and contractors, the practical privacy concern runs the other direction: your own company’s award history is visible to anyone with a SAM.gov account. Competitors can search your contract history, award amounts, and agency relationships. Understanding federal procurement guidelines around what gets reported helps you anticipate what is publicly visible about your own business.
If your organization is pursuing a GSA Schedule contract, Gsascheduleservices can help you navigate registration, compliance, and positioning within this system. Start with a discovery call to see where your business stands.
Key Takeaways
SAM.gov is the single authoritative federal procurement database as of february 2026, replacing FPDS.gov and consolidating all contract award data into one portal.
| Point | Details |
|---|---|
| SAM.gov is the only source | FPDS.gov was decommissioned february 24, 2026; all contract data now lives at SAM.gov. |
| Free account required | A SAM.gov account via Login.gov is needed to search contract awards; registration costs nothing. |
| $755 billion in FY2024 obligations | Federal agencies reported approximately $755 billion in procurement obligations for fiscal year 2024. |
| 51% certification rate | Only 36 of 70 agencies completed data quality reports for fiscal year 2023, per GAO findings. |
| DoD data has a 90-day delay | Department of Defense contract awards are withheld from public view for 90 days after signing. |
FAQ
Where can I look up federal contracts?
All federal contract award data is searchable at SAM.gov. Select the Contracting domain, then choose “Contract Awards” to search by agency, vendor, keyword, or fiscal year.
How do I access FPDS?
FPDS no longer has its own portal. As of february 24, 2026, all FPDS data and search functions moved to SAM.gov, where a free account gives you full access.
Where is FPDS now?
FPDS.gov redirects to SAM.gov. The data, the search tools, and the data dictionary are all available within SAM.gov’s Contracting domain.
What is FedBizOpps called now?
FedBizOpps is now the Contract Opportunities domain within SAM.gov, used for finding open solicitations and pre-award notices rather than historical contract awards.
Recommended
- Federal Government Procurement Forecast 2023 Guide
- Government Contract Opportunities 2026: SME Guide
- SAM.gov: Your Guide to Government Contracting
- Federal Procurement Training Essentials Guide
