The difference
| UEI | CAGE code | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 12 letters and digits | 5 letters and digits |
| Assigned by | SAM.gov | The Defense Logistics Agency |
| Identifies | The entity | An entity at a location, so a company can hold more than one |
| Replaced | The DUNS number, from April 4, 2022 | Nothing: it remains in use alongside the UEI |
| Outside the US | Also from SAM.gov | An NCAGE code, requested through NATO's system, before registering |
| Needs a full SAM.gov registration? | No: a UEI can be had on its own | A US registration assigns one |
A UEI is not a registration
This is the distinction people miss. SAM.gov offers two things: a full registration, needed to apply for awards as a prime, and a Unique Entity ID on its own, for organizations that only need to report as sub-awardees and can't apply directly for awards.
So a supplier with a UEI and no active registration may be perfectly in order. It may simply be a sub that never needed more. For that reason, three different things can be true of a supplier:
- Registered and active. The full public record is available, with an expiry date.
- UEI only. There is an identifier, and no registration to read or renew.
- Registration expired. The UEI remains, and the registration has lapsed.
Do subcontractors need one?
Generally, the requirement to be registered falls on offerors and prime contractors, not on subs: FAR 52.204-7 speaks of offerors and doesn't mention subcontractors. A prime does need a sub's UEI to report a first-tier subcontract under FAR 52.204-10, at or above its threshold. For grants, 2 CFR 25.300 likewise asks subrecipients for a UEI without asking them to register.
Your prime contract, or your own policy, may ask for more. Plenty of primes require active registration from their subs because it gives them a public record to check.
How to match a supplier to the right record
- Ask the supplier for its UEI and CAGE code, and put the request in your onboarding form so you only ask once.
- Look the identifier up and compare the legal name, the physical address and any DBA with what you have.
- Check it's the entity that will sign your subcontract, not a parent, a subsidiary or a sister company.
- If you only have a name, treat every result as a candidate. Compare the address and the business before accepting one.
- Record which identifier you settled on and how. It's the first thing a reviewer will ask.
Names fail in predictable ways: two companies in different states with the same name, a DBA that doesn't match the legal name, a recent rebrand, a holding company signing for an operating company. A wrong match is worse than no match, because every later check then runs against the wrong company and comes back clean.
How Watch handles this
Watch confirms each supplier to one record, once. An exact UEI or CAGE on your list confirms by itself. A name never does: it produces candidates with a score and reasons, and a person picks. A party that has a UEI but no registration is shown as UEI only, not as missing.
To see what the public record says about one company, enter its UEI or CAGE code in the free supplier check.