What is a SAM.gov exclusion and does it matter for my contractor?

SAM.gov (System for Award Management, sam.gov) is where federal contractors register, manage their identifiers (UEI, formerly DUNS), and where the federal government publishes "exclusion records" — contractors and individuals who are barred from federal contracting.

Exclusion is the federal equivalent of "do not do business with this entity." Reasons for exclusion include:

1. Fraud convictions. Tax fraud, contracting fraud, kickback schemes, false claims. 2. Federal contract performance failures. Walked away from a federal project, delivered non-conforming work and refused to remediate. 3. Major regulatory violations. EPA, OSHA, labor law violations at a level requiring federal sanction. 4. Tax delinquency above threshold ($3,500 in current rules). 5. Cross-debarment from other federal agencies (USDA, HUD, GSA, DoD, etc. all maintain their own exclusion lists that propagate to SAM.gov). 6. Specific federal statutory bars (Section 8(a) program violations, Buy American Act violations, etc.).

Exclusions typically last 3-5 years but can be permanent.

Why this matters for residential homeowners:

The contractor may have no intention of doing federal work, so the exclusion doesn't directly affect them today. But the underlying conduct that led to exclusion (fraud, performance failure, major regulatory violation) is the same conduct that predicts how they'll behave on your project. A contractor debarred by HUD for fraud against the Section 8 housing program is not someone you want building your kitchen.

How to check:

1. SAM.gov exclusion search at sam.gov/content/exclusions. Free, no login required. Search by name or DUNS/UEI.

2. Federal contractor performance ratings (CPARS) — Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System. Federal customers rate contractor performance after each contract. Aggregated ratings inform future award decisions. Not directly public, but published ratings can be FOIA'd.

3. Inspector General reports. Each federal agency has an IG that publishes reports on contractor fraud and misconduct. Searchable at oig.gov for the relevant agencies.

4. False Claims Act cases. Federal whistleblower lawsuits against contractors for federal fraud. Public via PACER.

What to do if you find a SAM.gov exclusion:

- Read the exclusion record carefully. It states the basis (fraud, performance, regulatory) and the duration. - For fraud-based exclusions: hard stop. Do not hire. - For performance-based exclusions: investigate the underlying contract. Was it the contractor's fault or a project-management issue? Generally a hard stop. - For regulatory-based exclusions: read the regulatory citation. OSHA exclusion is a different signal than EPA exclusion.

Cross-reference with state licensing:

- A SAM.gov exclusion does not automatically result in state license revocation, but it often correlates. Check the state board for parallel discipline. - Some state procurement offices use SAM.gov as a screening list — a contractor excluded federally may also be excluded from state contracting.

Common SAM.gov findings on residential contractors:

- Storm-fraud actors who took federal disaster relief funds. After major hurricanes (Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, Ida, Helene), FEMA pursues fraudulent contractors. Exclusions sometimes follow. - COVID-era PPP fraud. Some contractors who took PPP loans and disappeared face exclusion. - Labor law violations. Davis-Bacon prevailing wage violations on federal jobs.

Groundcheck Pro tier ($99.99/month) includes SAM.gov exclusion check on every report. For free-tier users, SAM.gov is a quick supplementary check — sam.gov/content/exclusions takes 30 seconds per contractor.