The Section 889 representation form is completed inside FAR provision 52.204-24 by answering two yes-or-no questions: whether your company will provide covered telecommunications or video surveillance equipment or services to the government under the contract, and whether, after a reasonable inquiry, your company uses any such equipment or services anywhere in its operations. Most contractors submit the representation once a year through their SAM.gov entity registration; some solicitations also require a one-time representation attached to the proposal. The real work sits behind the checkboxes: a documented supply chain inquiry that lets you sign the certification without exposing your company to False Claims Act liability.
The Two Questions You Are Answering
The representation itself is short. Question one asks whether your company “will” or “will not” provide covered telecommunications equipment or services to the government in performing the contract. This tracks the Part A prohibition on procuring covered equipment for government use.1Acquisition.GOV. Section 889 Policies
Question two asks whether, after conducting a reasonable inquiry, your company “does” or “does not” use covered telecommunications equipment or services, or any equipment, system, or service that relies on covered telecommunications equipment or services. This tracks the Part B prohibition, which reaches your entire organization, not just the piece of it performing federal work.2Acquisition.GOV. 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
“Covered” means equipment or services from five named companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates: Huawei Technologies, ZTE Corporation, Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and Dahua Technology. The prohibition also reaches any entity the Secretary of Defense designates as owned or controlled by, or connected to, the government of a covered foreign country.3Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 52.204-25 – Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
A shorter version of the same representation lives in FAR 52.204-26 and directs offerors to check the excluded parties list in SAM before answering.4Acquisition.GOV. 52.204-26 Covered Telecommunications Equipment or Services – Representation The shorter form does not mean a lighter compliance burden. The underlying inquiry is the same.
Do the Reasonable Inquiry Before You Check the Box
The FAR requires a “reasonable inquiry” before you sign. That is defined as an inquiry designed to uncover any information in your possession about who produced or provided your telecommunications equipment and services, drawing primarily on documentation and records you already have. It does not require an internal audit or a third-party review.5Federal Register. Federal Acquisition Regulation: Prohibition on Contracting With Entities Using Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
Focus your inquiry on high-risk categories: routers, switches, modems, firewalls, networked security cameras, and any managed telecommunications or cloud services. Pull procurement records, IT asset inventories, vendor contracts, and service agreements. Check hardware labels, firmware version screens, software license agreements, and purchase orders. Manufacturers sell through distributors, white-label agreements, and regional subsidiaries that may not carry the parent brand, so checking for “Huawei” or “Hikvision” on a product label is not enough.
Because Part B is enterprise-wide, your inquiry covers subsidiaries and offices abroad as well. A Hikvision camera in an overseas subsidiary’s lobby can disqualify the whole company from federal contracts, even if that office never touches government data.
The standard is good-faith effort with available records, not omniscience. If your documentation doesn’t reveal the manufacturer of a particular device and you have no reason to suspect it’s covered, that gap alone doesn’t make your representation false. Ignoring whole categories of equipment you know you haven’t checked does.
Where to Submit the Representation
Annual Representation in SAM.gov
Most contractors satisfy Section 889 through the representations and certifications module of their SAM.gov entity registration. Once completed, the representation is visible to contracting officers across every federal agency, and GSA’s 889 Representations Search at 889.smartpay.gsa.gov lets anyone confirm that a vendor has a current representation on file.6U.S. General Services Administration. 889 Representations Search
To complete the SAM representation you need your entity’s legal business name and Unique Entity Identifier. The federal government transitioned from DUNS numbers to UEIs in April 2022, and SAM.gov now issues UEIs directly during registration.7U.S. Department of Education. Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) Fact Sheet The person completing the registration should be an authorized official — a corporate officer or designated procurement representative — who can legally bind the organization and certify that a reasonable inquiry was conducted.
Keep the representation current. If you acquire a company, switch service providers, or discover covered equipment you previously missed, update SAM promptly rather than waiting for annual renewal.
Solicitation-Specific Representations
For individual procurements, a contracting officer may require a one-time representation submitted with your proposal. It uses the same FAR 52.204-24 language and often appears as an attachment to the request for proposals. Submit through the procurement portal specified in the solicitation, or by encrypted email to the contracting officer if instructed. Keep a copy of every submission for post-award audits or contract disputes.
Micro-Purchase Threshold
Vendors doing business at or below the micro-purchase threshold ($15,000 for most acquisitions) are not required to register in SAM.gov. When a government purchase cardholder buys from an unregistered vendor, the cardholder is responsible for documenting Section 889 compliance according to agency requirements.6U.S. General Services Administration. 889 Representations Search If you sell primarily to the government through micro-purchases, a SAM registration can still simplify life for your buyers.
What to Disclose If You Answer “Does” or “Will”
A “does” or “will” answer does not automatically disqualify you, but it triggers additional disclosure under FAR 52.204-24. You must provide:2Acquisition.GOV. 52.204-24 Representation Regarding Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
- Equipment details: manufacturer name, brand, model number (OEM number, manufacturer part number, or wholesaler number), and item description.
- Purpose and location: what the equipment is used for and where within your organization it operates.
- Mitigation information: steps you have taken or plan to take to eliminate the covered equipment from your systems.
Disclosing with a credible phase-out plan is a far better position than concealment. The government may still award you the contract if a waiver is justified. Waiver requests generally include a compelling justification, a detailed description of where covered equipment sits in your supply chain, and a phase-out timeline; if you know a waiver will be needed, submitting the justification with your proposal can save weeks.1Acquisition.GOV. Section 889 Policies A false “does not” representation is nearly impossible to walk back once discovered.
Reporting Covered Equipment Found After Award
The obligation does not end when you submit. If you or a subcontractor at any tier discovers covered equipment or services during contract performance, FAR 52.204-25 imposes tight reporting deadlines:3Acquisition.GOV. 48 CFR 52.204-25 – Prohibition on Contracting for Certain Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Services or Equipment
- Within one business day: report the contract number, order number (if applicable), supplier name, supplier UEI and CAGE code (if known), brand, model number, item description, and any readily available information about mitigation actions.
- Within ten business days: provide additional mitigation details, describe the efforts you took to prevent use of covered equipment, and explain what additional measures you will put in place going forward.
For Defense Department contracts, reports go to DIBNet (dibnet.dod.mil) rather than directly to the contracting officer. For all other agencies, report to your contracting officer. On indefinite-delivery contracts, notify both the base-contract contracting officer and the contracting officers for any affected task or delivery orders.
Subcontractor Flow-Down
FAR 52.204-25 flows down to subcontractors at all tiers. As a prime contractor you are responsible for including the Section 889 prohibition clause in your subcontracts and for ensuring subcontractors make the same representations about their own use of covered equipment. When a subcontractor discovers covered equipment during performance, they report up to you, and you report to the contracting officer within the same one-business-day window.
Because Part B is enterprise-wide, the reasonable inquiry has to reach into your supply chain, not just your own network. Build the question into subcontract terms and vendor onboarding. Asking before award is much cheaper than discovering the answer after performance begins.
Penalties for Getting It Wrong
Consequences for a false or incomplete representation fall into three categories, and they can stack.
A false representation is a false statement to the federal government under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, which carries penalties of up to five years in prison and fines for knowingly making a materially false statement or concealing a material fact in a matter within federal jurisdiction.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally The person who signs bears personal exposure.
False certifications also create liability under the False Claims Act. Civil penalties currently range from $14,308 to $28,619 per false claim, plus three times the damages the government sustains.9Federal Register. Civil Monetary Penalties Inflation Adjustments for 2025 For a contractor holding multiple awards, each false representation can constitute a separate claim, and treble damages compound quickly.
Noncompliance can also lead to debarment. Under FAR 9.406-4, debarment periods are set based on the seriousness of the violation and generally should not exceed three years.10Acquisition.GOV. Subpart 9.4 – Debarment, Suspension, and Ineligibility Even a suspension pending investigation can be devastating for a company whose revenue depends on federal work. The government treats Section 889 disclosures as a national security matter, so unintentional errors tend to draw scrutiny rather than sympathy.