How to Find a List of Government Contracts Awarded

To find U.S. federal contracts that have been awarded, start with SAM.gov Contract Awards. Search by company, agency, solicitation, notice, PIID, or keyword. To build and download a filtered list, use USAspending.gov Advanced Search. For report-style analysis of contract actions and modifications, use SAM.gov DataBank.

This guide covers U.S. federal contract awards. State, local, tribal, and non-U.S. governments may publish awards in separate systems; SAM.gov and USAspending.gov are not complete directories for every government.

1. Search federal contract awards in SAM.gov

Open SAM.gov Contract Awards and choose the contract award search.
Sign in to a SAM.gov account. Public users need an account to see results, but no special role is required.
Enter the most specific identifier you have: a PIID (Procurement Instrument Identifier), solicitation number, notice number, or award ID. If you do not have one, search a legal business name, agency, or distinctive keyword.
Refine the search using the available filters. SAM.gov supports keyword, agency, and legal business name filters, plus consolidated searching for a solicitation, notice, PIID, or other keyword.
Open likely matches and check the award record and any modifications. Confirm the recipient, agency, identifier, action details, and dates before using the result.

All public-facing FPDS functionality has transitioned to SAM.gov, and FPDS.gov users are redirected there. The former FPDS ezSearch was decommissioned on February 24, 2026. SAM.gov’s public search covers publicly available, unclassified contract actions above the micro-purchase threshold and modifications that change previously reported information, regardless of dollar value. That scope does not guarantee every purchase will appear. GSA’s SAM.gov contract award guidance

2. Build a downloadable awards list in USAspending.gov

Open USAspending.gov Advanced Search.
Choose Prime Awards and Transactions for federal awards and their reported contract actions, or Subawards if you are looking for subawards reported by prime recipients. These are different kinds of records.
Set the time period. Select fiscal year or custom dates. A federal fiscal year runs from October 1 through September 30.
Add the filters that match your question: keyword, recipient, award ID, agency, award description, amount, NAICS, Product and Service Code (PSC), contract pricing type, set-aside, or extent competed. Other filters may be available in the interface.
Submit the search, review the results, and use the download controls to export the list. Choose award-level or transaction-level records according to whether you need a summary of awards or the individual reported actions.
Keep your filters and definitions with the export. Record the date range, award type, agency, recipient, and whether the values represent obligations or outlays.

The available filters and download controls are described in USAspending.gov Advanced Search. For a saved analysis, keep a copy of the search criteria alongside the exported file so another person can reproduce the scope.

3. Choose the right search for your question

Your question	Start here	Why
Who won a contract, or what is the award record for a known PIID, solicitation, or notice?	SAM.gov Contract Awards	Search contract award records using identifiers, business names, agencies, or keywords.
Which federal contracts match a period, recipient, agency, industry, or award characteristic?	USAspending.gov Advanced Search	Combine filters, view prime awards and transactions or subawards, and download results.
How did awards and modifications change over time?	SAM.gov DataBank	SAM.gov provides standard contract data reports; report capabilities vary, and reports can support filtering and export, with sorting and graphing depending on the report.
Where was the work performed?	USAspending.gov, using place-of-performance information	Recipient headquarters or registration location can differ from the project location.

SAM.gov describes Contract Awards as the route for searching specific records and DataBank as the route for managing and running contract data reports. See SAM.gov Contracting and SAM.gov Contract Award Data.

4. Search efficiently when you know the company or award

Looking up contracts awarded to a company

Try the legal business name first, then a shorter distinctive version or keyword if the exact search returns no useful results. Check the recipient identity on each result; similar company names and corporate naming differences can make a broad name search ambiguous. A company’s headquarters location is not necessarily where the contract work takes place.

Searching by award or solicitation identifier

If you have a PIID, award ID, solicitation number, or notice number, search that value directly before trying broad keywords. Identifiers usually narrow the results more effectively. SAM.gov’s consolidated search accepts solicitation, notice, PIID, or another keyword; USAspending includes an Award ID filter.

Doing market research

In USAspending, define the fiscal years or custom dates, then add the agency, recipient, NAICS, PSC, set-aside, and extent-competed filters that reflect your question. Decide in advance whether you need prime records, transactions, or subawards. Export the result and avoid combining unlike record types or time periods in one total.

5. Interpret amounts, locations, and record types correctly

Obligations and outlays differ. An obligation is a commitment of federal funds; an outlay is money actually paid. Do not label one as the other or treat either field as an unqualified total contract value.
Prime awards, transactions, and subawards differ. A prime award is made by a federal agency to a recipient. Transactions represent reported actions on awards, including modifications. A subaward is made by a prime recipient to another organization. Do not count a prime award and its subaward as if they were separate federal prime awards.
Recipient location and place of performance differ. Use place of performance to investigate where work occurs; recipient location can be useful for identifying where recipients are based. A company headquartered in one state may perform work in another.
Award description and classification codes are clues, not substitutes for the record. Compare NAICS, PSC, set-aside, competition extent, agency, and award details when assessing whether records belong in your analysis.
Reported data can be incomplete or inaccurate. USAspending data are supplied by agencies, and the Congressional Research Service notes continuing data-quality issues. Verify consequential findings against the award record and, where appropriate, the agency notice.

For definitions and cautions on award data, obligations, outlays, and geography, see the Congressional Research Service report, Tracking Federal Awards: USAspending.gov and Other Data Sources.

6. Account for reporting delays and coverage

A recently announced award may not appear immediately. USAspending documentation says contract data generally appear within about five days after an award or modification. It also describes a 90-day publication delay for Department of Defense and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contract data, and a 30-day submission window for certain actions. These are reporting timelines described in the documentation, not a guarantee that every record will be visible on a particular day. For a new award, search SAM.gov first, then check USAspending again after a few days; allow longer for the cited DoD and USACE delay.

USAspending documentation describes a $25,000 obligation-value reporting threshold for prime awards. It also describes the micro-purchase threshold as $10,000 as of 2022, with exceptions. Threshold rules and reporting requirements can change; verify the current rules before relying on those figures. See USAspending.gov’s data disclosures for current definitions and update information.

7. Save a stable and reproducible list

Write down the precise question the list answers: for example, prime contract transactions awarded by one agency during specified fiscal years.
Record the source, search date, filters, time zone or date interpretation if relevant, and whether the export is award-level or transaction-level.
Keep the original export unchanged. Do analysis in a separate working copy.
Check identifiers and recipient names before deduplicating. A single award can have multiple reported transactions or modifications.
When publishing totals, state the measure (obligation or outlay), scope (prime or subaward), date range, and location basis.
For an important or disputed result, open the underlying award record and compare it with the agency’s award notice where available.

Or skip the browser setup

If your workflow needs a visual record of an award search or a public award page, ScreenshotNeo can capture a page with one request. It is a website screenshot API and MCP server; it does not replace SAM.gov or USAspending search and filtering. See the ScreenshotNeo API documentation for request options.

curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://sam.gov/fpds -o shot.webp

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot",
    params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://sam.gov/fpds"},
    timeout=90,
)
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)

const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://sam.gov/fpds' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);

Cookie banners are accepted like a visitor, and 60+ known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets are removed before capture; each step can be turned off.
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Troubleshooting

Problem	Likely cause	What to do
SAM.gov shows no results or will not display results.	You are not signed in, or the filters are too restrictive.	Sign in to a SAM.gov account, then remove filters and search a distinctive keyword or identifier. Public users need an account but no special role.
A search for an award in FPDS ezSearch fails.	The former ezSearch has been retired.	Use the Contract Awards search in SAM.gov.
A newly announced award is missing.	Agency reporting and publication take time; some DoD and USACE data have a longer documented delay.	Search SAM.gov, check the agency notice, and repeat the USAspending query later.
A company-name search returns too many or too few records.	The search term may not match the legal business name or may be too broad.	Try the legal business name, a distinctive shorter term, or an award identifier. Confirm the recipient on individual records.
The total differs between two exports.	The searches may use different record types, dates, filters, or amount fields.	Compare prime versus subaward scope, award versus transaction level, date range, filters, and obligation versus outlay definitions.
The displayed state does not match the project location.	The result may show recipient location rather than place of performance.	Inspect place-of-performance fields and use them when the question is where work occurred.
A relevant purchase is not listed.	Public search coverage and reporting thresholds are limited, and records can be delayed or imperfect.	Check the agency notice and award record, broaden the date or keyword search, and do not treat absence from a search as proof that no purchase occurred.

FAQ

Can I search federal awards without a SAM.gov account?

SAM.gov says users must sign in to see Contract Awards results. A public user needs an account but does not need a special role.

Is a government contract award the same as a grant?

No. USAspending includes federal contracts and financial assistance such as grants, but they are different award types. Choose contract records when researching procurement.

Does USAspending show every subcontract?

USAspending has a separate subaward search mode. A subaward is not the same as a prime contract, and the available records should not be assumed to include every subcontract.

Identify the source, search date, filters and time period, record level, award scope, and amount field. Link important entries to their underlying award record when possible.