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GovCon capability
Find your NAICS code, the agencies that buy under it, set-aside eligibility, and live opportunities — one of the capabilities inside your GovCon package.
30 most-used federal NAICS codes
General contractors responsible for the construction (including new work, additions, alterations, maintenance, and repairs) of commercial and institutional buildings and related structures.
Typical award size
$2M – $50M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Firms that plan and design computer systems integrating hardware, software, and communication technologies. The single most commonly used NAICS code on federal IT services contracts.
Typical award size
$250K – $25M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Management consulting on strategic and organisational planning, financial planning and budgeting, marketing objectives, and human resource policies. A heavily-used catch-all consulting code in federal procurement.
Typical award size
$150K – $10M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Application of engineering principles in the design, development, and use of machines, materials, instruments, structures, processes, and systems. Used across civil, mechanical, electrical, and environmental engineering work.
Typical award size
$500K – $30M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Operating support services for clients' facilities — combinations of services such as janitorial, maintenance, trash disposal, security, mail routing, and reception. Common base-operations contract code.
Typical award size
$1M – $100M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
IT services not classified elsewhere — including computer disaster recovery and software installation. Often used for niche IT work that doesn't cleanly fit 541511 or 541512.
Typical award size
$100K – $15M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Professional, scientific, or technical services not classified elsewhere — including translation, weather forecasting, and specialised consulting. A frequently-used residual code.
Typical award size
$50K – $5M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Remediation and cleanup of contaminated buildings, mine sites, soil, or groundwater. The dominant code for federal environmental cleanup work under CERCLA and RCRA.
Typical award size
$500K – $50M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Specialty trade contractors primarily engaged in installing and servicing electrical wiring and equipment. A core specialty trade for federal building and base contracts.
Typical award size
$250K – $20M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Cleaning of building interiors, equipment, and windows. One of the most heavily small-business-set-aside codes in federal procurement — most janitorial contracts under $4M are set aside.
Typical award size
$100K – $5M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Legal services, including law offices providing advice and representation. Federal legal-services awards span outside counsel, expert services, and specialised litigation support.
Typical award size
$100K – $10M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Accounting services such as billing, bookkeeping, and payroll services — excluding CPA offices. Used for federal financial-management support and contracted accounting work.
Typical award size
$100K – $8M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Establishments providing operating advice and assistance to businesses and other organisations on marketing strategy, sales-force management, market-research interpretation, customer-experience design, and related promotional planning. Commonly used by federal civilian agencies for outreach, recruitment marketing, public-awareness campaigns, and behaviour-change communications.
Typical award size
$100K – $20M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Management consulting services other than administrative, human resources, marketing, and process-engineering — commonly covering logistics, supply-chain, regulatory compliance, and programme-management advisory work. Heavily used across federal civilian and DoD acquisition support.
Typical award size
$250K – $25M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Advice and assistance to businesses and government on environmental issues — including environmental impact assessments, NEPA compliance, regulatory permitting, environmental audits, and site assessment services. The dominant NAICS for non-remediation environmental work.
Typical award size
$250K – $20M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Scientific and technical advisory work outside engineering, environmental, or management consulting — including agricultural consulting, energy efficiency consulting, security consulting, and similar specialised technical advice. A common code for niche federal advisory work.
Typical award size
$100K – $10M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
R&D activities in nanotechnology — manipulating matter at the atomic and molecular scale. A specialised research code commonly used by DoD, DOE national labs, and NIH for funded nano-scale research and prototyping.
Typical award size
$500K – $50M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Biotechnology R&D — recombinant DNA, cell biology, immunology, and related research. Heavily used by NIH, BARDA, and DoD medical research commands for funded biotech programmes.
Typical award size
$500K – $100M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
The largest single federal R&D NAICS — covering physical-sciences, engineering, and life-sciences research not otherwise classified. Used across virtually every federal research-buying agency for prototype development, experimental research, and engineering R&D.
Typical award size
$500K – $500M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
R&D in economics, sociology, anthropology, political science, and related disciplines. Used for federally-funded policy research, programme evaluation, and survey research.
Typical award size
$150K – $15M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Day-to-day office administrative services — including office support, recordkeeping, and routine administrative coordination — provided on a contract or fee basis. A common code for administrative-support contracts and BPAs at federal agencies.
Typical award size
$100K – $10M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Armed and unarmed guard and patrol services — including bodyguard services and security patrols. One of the largest federal services categories by dollars, covering most building-security contracts at GSA-managed facilities and many DoD installations.
Typical award size
$500K – $100M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Installation, repair, and monitoring of electronic security alarm systems — including access control, intrusion detection, and CCTV. Used for federal facility security technology contracts and integrated electronic security work.
Typical award size
$250K – $25M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Collection of nonhazardous solid waste — including refuse, recyclables, and yard waste — from commercial, institutional, and industrial accounts. Used for federal-facility refuse-removal contracts at military bases, VA hospitals, and federal buildings.
Typical award size
$100K – $10M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Construction (including new work, reconstruction, rehabilitation, and major maintenance) of highways, streets, roads, airport runways, public sidewalks, and bridges. The dominant NAICS for federal-aid highway and federal-installation road work.
Typical award size
$1M – $100M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Heavy and civil engineering construction not classified elsewhere — including dams, dredging, marine construction, and other heavy-civil works. Used for federal Corps of Engineers civil-works projects, port construction, and similar specialised infrastructure.
Typical award size
$2M – $250M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Specialty trade contractors installing and servicing plumbing, HVAC, and refrigeration systems. A core specialty trade for federal building maintenance, IDIQ JOC contracts, and base-operations support.
Typical award size
$250K – $25M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Manufacturing of medical, surgical, ophthalmic, and veterinary instruments and apparatus. Used heavily by VA and DoD medical buyers for surgical instruments, diagnostic equipment, and specialised medical devices.
Typical award size
$100K – $50M per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Wholesale distribution of computers, computer peripheral equipment, and prepackaged software. The dominant code for federal IT hardware resellers, including most GSA Schedule 70 product vendors.
Typical award size
$50K – $100M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Establishments primarily engaged in computer software publishing or publishing and reproduction. Used for licensed-software contracts, SaaS subscriptions, and cloud-software offerings sold to federal buyers.
Typical award size
$100K – $500M+ per award
Set-aside eligibility
Common buying agencies
Related codes
Every federal solicitation on SAM.gov is tagged with a single NAICS code, and that code sets the small-business size standard for the competition. Picking the right primary and secondary codes for your SAM.gov registration decides which opportunities you show up for — and whether you qualify as small for a given set-aside.
Use the search above to find codes by keyword, agency, or set-aside. When you've found the right ones, set up opportunity alerts so GovCon emails you new matching solicitations, or launch a live demo to see the full workflow — from finding an opportunity to drafting a compliant proposal with AI.
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