Government Contractor - DUNS Number Is Going Away

<p>Date Published: May 8, 2020                                                                                        Episode #131</p> <p> </p> <p>Hello, and welcome to Federal Contracting Made Easy, where we take the complex world of government contracting and break it down into simple steps that anyone can master. Today’s topic is on “DUNS Numbers are Going Away.”</p> <p>  </p> <p>The General Services Administration (GSA) is replacing the DUNS number with a new 12-character identifier ID. </p> <p>How soon will this happen? GSA states that this is happening by December 2020.</p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>Why Change?</strong></h2> <p> </p> <p>The DUNS was created by Dun & Bradstreet in 1962. It has been the official entity verification number since it was required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) back in 1998. Why the change? GSA opened the contract to new vendors last year. As a result, they awarded the new contract to Ernst & Young, which will administer the new ID number and manage the transition from Dun & Bradstreet. Next, we will look at the new Unique Entity ID.</p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>Unique Entity ID</strong></h2> <p> </p> <p>The new Unique Entity ID will be structured to avoid confusion with the tax ID number and Commercial and Government Entity or CAGE codes. All systems that use the DUN’s numbers nine-digit code will have to be updated to use the new 12-digit code.</p> <p> </p> <h2><strong>Where to Obtain the New Unique Entity ID?</strong></h2> <p> </p> <p>GSA is changing SAM.gov to allow organizations to request the Unique Entity ID when they register in SAM.gov. Whereas, to obtain a DUNS Number, it takes about two to five days if requested through the web or immediately if you call Dun & Bradstreet.  </p> <p> </p> <p>GSA says that they understand that this change can be confusing and that they want to provide as much information as possible during the transition. GSA created a website where anyone can go to <a href= "https://www.gsa.gov/about-us/organization/federal-acquisition-service/office