On April 4, 2022, the federal government stopped using the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and started using Unique Entity Identifiers (UEI) as the primary means of identifying entities registered for federal awards in the System for Award Management (SAM), government wide. The UEI is a 12-character, alpha-numeric value. This change simplified the process of registering an organization doing business with the federal government. Entities will no longer need to contact a third party to obtain an identification number or to get support.

How will the UEI be used by Federal Grant applicants? Applicants can expect to use the UEI in the same way that they previously used their D-U-N-S® number. For example, Grants.gov changed system fields that are currently labeled “DUNS” to “UEI” and updated Forms to include UEI fields.

What’s the history of the identifier? “The US Federal government has used services from Dun and Bradstreet to both identify (using the DUNS® number) and validate/verify federal contractors since 1978,” explains a resource page that GSA created to answer questions about the upcoming UEI rollout.

In 1998, entities were required to get a DUNS number by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). In 2008, this requirement expanded to federal financial assistance, affecting over 630,000 public and private entities seeking federal contracts and/or grants.

The UEI now takes the place of the D-U-N-S® number. Moving to the UEI number has simplified the process, entities now go to a single place, SAM.gov, to both request their Entity ID and register their entity to do business with the U.S. Government.

ESC has been working closely with our Financial System (Delphi) and Procurement (ESC PRISM) software vendors to implement the required change from DUNS to UEI. In order to implement the changes, integration was required between Delphi; FAA and ESC PRISM; the ESC Supplier team; and numerous Delphi Interfaces.

The team identified 26 issues in testing. Seven were show-stoppers requiring resolution prior to implementing the UEI solution. The team worked 7 days a week for 3 months with the vendor, to meet a March 28, 2022 implementation date.

For additional information, GSA has posted information, videos, fact sheets and other helpful details about the transition to UEI from DUNS on its website. It also added a “big green button” that says “UEI transition help” so users can easily ask questions or solve problems.