Rule: Contractors must register

A proposed rule published April 3 in the Federal Register would require federal contractors to register in the Central Contractor Registration database before they are awarded a contract or other purchase agreement.

The database is the primary repository for contractor information required for doing business with the federal government. Vendors with existing contracts will need to register by Sept. 30.

Some agencies already require registration. Others require contractors to submit the same information to several databases. A rule change would mean that contractor information would be entered once into a governmentwide database. Comments on the rule are due June 2 via e-mail to

farcase.2002-018@gsa.gov.