What is a federal subaward?

Subcontract is the legal procurement term for an agreement to furnish supplies or services for performance of a prime contract or another subcontract. Subaward data is the public report of a lower-tier relationship that met the applicable reporting rules.

Not every subcontract produces a public subaward row. Tier, value, contract coverage, reporting exceptions, and compliance affect whether the relationship appears in the dataset.

FAR 52.204-10 defines a first-tier subcontract as one awarded directly by the prime contractor for performance of the prime contract. Covered prime contractors report first-tier subcontract information at or above the threshold referenced in FAR 4.1403, subject to the clause's exceptions.

The reported fields include the subcontractor UEI and name, amount, date, description, location, prime contract number, agencies, and NAICS code. Lower-tier subcontracts are generally outside this particular public reporting path.

Public subaward data is not a complete map of federal supply chains. Some relationships fall below thresholds or outside covered clauses, some occur below the first tier, and some required reports may be late, inaccurate, or missing.

Presence is useful positive evidence that a relationship was reported. Absence is weak evidence and should not be converted into a claim that an entity has never performed subcontract or subrecipient work.

federal.contractors applies the Federal Subcontractor classification when an entity appears as a subawardee in procurement subaward data. Profiles keep that reported role separate from observed prime awards and SAM registration status, and coverage notes disclose the limits of public subaward reporting.