How do I pull a competitor's federal award history to see what they have won and where?

You can pull a competitor's federal award history from SAM.gov and USAspending. The SAM.gov advanced search allows you to filter by awardee name, and USAspending lets you search by recipient name. These records show the awarding agency, the contract vehicle used, the total award value, and the period of performance. You can estimate upcoming recompete opportunities by looking at the contract end dates. For state and local awards, you will need to use each state's procurement portal, as there is no central database like SAM.gov; for example, you would use Team Georgia Marketplace for Georgia contracts or eVA for Virginia contracts. The state portals also let you search for awards by vendor name and provide contract details. Keep in mind that federal agencies must report every contract action over the micro-purchase threshold to the Federal Procurement Data System, which feeds into SAM.gov and USAspending (FAR 4.606(a)(1)).

SAM.gov and USAspending are the primary federal sources for award history, but you will not always find a specific contract vehicle listed for every award. The contracting officer is required to report every contract action over the micro-purchase threshold into the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) (FAR 4.606(a)(1)). FPDS data includes the agency, the total award value, the period of performance, and the NAICS code. It also includes the Product Service Code (PSC), which is a 4-character value, and the NAICS code, which is a 6-character value. You can use these codes to narrow your search for relevant awards. This data feeds into both SAM.gov and USAspending. Determining upcoming recompetes from this data requires careful analysis of the period of performance and any listed option years.

FPDS data is where the useful fields live, and on SAM.gov you reach it through the contract data search, not the contract opportunities search. Filter by the competitor's UEI instead of the name. A company with a couple of name variations or a DBA splits across results, and the UEI doesn't.

For recompetes, three fields in each record matter:

• Current Completion Date, the end of whatever's been exercised so far
• Ultimate Completion Date, the end if every option gets exercised
• Base and All Options Value, which sits next to the obligated amount

When the ultimate date is coming up and the agency has kept exercising options, that's your recompete. Then search contract opportunities for the incumbent's PIID. Sources sought and presolicitation notices on a follow-on often cite the current contract number, so that's how you catch it early.

On your subcontract question, Tom: yes. FAR 52.204-10 makes primes report first-tier subawards, and USAspending shows them on the prime award page under sub-awards. Second tier and below won't show up at all.

This is how I keep tabs on the guard contracts at the bases around Las Vegas. Same handful of incumbents, checked every quarter.