USFCR Blog

Quick Answer

SAM.gov went through its biggest consolidation in years between mid-2025 and mid-2026. The entity registration screens were reorganized, eSRS.gov and FPDS.gov's public search were retired and folded into SAM.gov, and a modernized reps and certs process launched. CPARS is expected to follow later this fiscal year, though no date has been set. An active registration doesn't protect a business from being caught off guard by any of this. The practical move is to check SAM.gov more than once a year.

If you tried to log into eSRS.gov in the last few days, you already know something changed. The site is gone. And if you use FPDS.gov to research federal contract data, that's shutting down tomorrow.

Quick Answer

Federal evaluators can and do count commercial, state, and local government contracts as past performance, not just federal ones. Under FAR 15.305 and FAR 9.104-1, a business with no Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) record gets evaluated neutrally, not unfavorably, so missing that record won't sink your proposal. What matters is presenting your commercial work the way evaluators expect to see it, often through a Past Performance Questionnaire rather than a CPARS report.

You're sitting on a solid IDIQ contract awarded two years ago. Your company's grown since then (congratulations, by the way). Now you're looking at a task order under that same contract, and you're wondering: do the new FAR Part 19 recertification rules apply to you? Or does your original contract language protect your small business status through the life of the IDIQ?

What is FAR? Federal Acquisition Regulation Explained for New Contractors
Thinking about federal contracting? The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) isn't just paperwork you can figure out later. The FAR provides the legal framework for the entire federal procurement process, covering contract formation, administration, and closeout. It establishes requirements for competitive bidding, defines different contract types, sets standards for contractor qualifications, and outlines dispute resolution procedures.

Last quarter, a contractor in Maryland called us after three failed SAM.gov registration attempts. When we looked at the file, the issue jumped out immediately. Their legal business name didn’t match IRS records by one character. This kind of problem is not rare. It’s common, it’s preventable, and SAM doesn’t warn you about it. After assisting with over 500,000 registrations since 2010, we know exactly where these registrations fall apart.