Independent · not SAM.gov

Representations and certifications in SAM.gov

Updated 13 November 2026

One checkbox on the SAM.gov registration form asks you to confirm your business's size status under a specific NAICS code. That answer helps decide whether you are eligible to bid on small business set-aside contracts, and you will see it again at every annual renewal. The checkbox lives inside a section called Representations and Certifications, one of the more misunderstood parts of the free registration process. ZeroGov is a privately run guide, not SAM.gov and not a federal agency, so treat what follows as background rather than official instruction.

What reps and certs actually is

Representations and Certifications, usually shortened to reps and certs, is a section you fill out as part of your SAM.gov registration. It is not a separate form, a separate login, or a separate fee. It is built into the same free process covered on our SAM.gov registration checklist, which walks through the whole registration step by step and saves your progress in your browser as you go.

In this section you self-certify facts about your business: your size under the NAICS codes that apply to what you sell, whether you count as a small business at all, your ownership structure, and other compliance statements the federal government requires before it will do business with you. You are not uploading documents here. You are attesting that what you entered is true.

Why the size certification matters more than it looks

Contracting officers use your size status to decide which contracts you can compete for. A large share of federal spending is reserved for small businesses through what is called the Rule of Two: a contracting officer sets a purchase aside for small businesses when there is a reasonable expectation of offers from at least two responsible small businesses and award at a fair market price (FAR 19.502-2). That rule is still the baseline. The 2026 FAR overhaul is proposed rulemaking applied by agency deviation, and its model text keeps the same two conditions. Our plain-English explainer covers the overhaul in more detail.

Your size status is not one flat answer for your whole business. It is tied to NAICS codes, and the size standard varies by industry and is usually measured by revenue or employee count, depending on the code. Getting it wrong, even by accident, can lock you out of set-asides you qualify for, or leave you having represented yourself as small on a contract where you were not. Neither is a good place to be.

Beyond basic size status

Basic reps and certs covers general small business status. It is not the same as certification under one of SBA's specific programs. Those are separate processes layered on top of registration, each with its own eligibility rules and paperwork:

SAM.gov shows these statuses only after SBA has certified you. You cannot claim SDVOSB, WOSB, EDWOSB, 8(a) or HUBZone status by ticking a box, and a false representation carries real consequences. For SDVOSB, the clause at FAR 52.219-1 treats a firm as eligible when SAM designates it as certified by SBA, with a limited carry-over for firms that applied to SBA by December 31, 2023. Actual certification is a separate step handled through SBA, not something SAM.gov grants on its own.

Your award will also carry labor clauses that reps and certs does not settle, such as the disability and veterans equal opportunity clauses. Which clauses reach you depends on contract value: over $20,000 for the disability clause and $200,000 or more for the veterans clause. Headcount only matters for written affirmative action plans. Our page on affirmative action plans for small federal contractors sets out the lines.

It's part of the free process, full stop

Somewhere out there is a service offering to review, complete, or file your reps and certs for a few hundred dollars. It is the same story as the rest of SAM.gov: registration is free, renewal is free, and reps and certs is a section of that same free form, not an upsell tacked onto it. Nobody needs to be paid to help you answer questions about your own business that only you can answer.

The one thing worth taking seriously is accuracy, not speed. Self-certifying an incorrect size status, whether inflated or understated, is a representation the government relies on when awarding contracts. Double-check your NAICS codes and your actual employee or revenue figures before you submit. Revenue is averaged over a period set in SBA's rules, employee counts are a 24-month average, and both include your affiliates. Our guide to calculating your business size for SBA purposes shows how to work them out.

New to contracting? You can still fill this out honestly

If you are worried that having no federal past performance disqualifies you from anything in this section, it does not. Reps and certs asks about your size and status, not your track record. Contracting officers can consider related experience, including non-federal work and subcontract history, when they evaluate offers later on. Some small business set-aside categories exist because newer entrants need a fair shot, so do not let a blank past performance history stop you from registering or from certifying accurately.

Keep it current, not just correct

Reps and certs is not a one-time attestation you file and forget. SAM.gov says to renew your registration every 365 days. Under FAR 4.1102, an offeror generally has to be registered in SAM at the time it submits an offer, with a few listed exceptions, so a lapsed registration can keep you out of new awards even if nothing about your business changed. If your revenue, employee count, or ownership shifts between renewals, your size status may shift with it, so review this section each time you are back in SAM.gov rather than clicking through it from memory. If you are also wondering how a lapse or a federal funding gap affects contracts already in hand, our page on what a government shutdown means for your contract explains how contractor protections differ from what federal employees get.

If you have not registered yet, pull your most recent tax return and a current NAICS code list before you open the reps and certs section, so you are answering with real figures instead of guessing halfway through the form.

Independent information, not legal advice. Confirm status and rules on sam.gov and the current FAR text.