A federal contract that ends next year is already in public records today. Its agency, its NAICS code, its end date and the company doing the work are all published. Turning those records into one list of the contracts coming up is left to you.

You can build that list by hand with free tools. This guide shows where the dates live, what they mean, and where they can mislead you. The tools are USAspending.gov and SAM.gov.

Start with what “expiring” means

A contract does not have one end date. Federal award data carries three dates that matter here. USAspending publishes the definitions of these data elements in its glossary:

The gap between the current end date and the potential end date is the option time that has not been used yet. A contract whose current end date is six months away but whose potential end date is three years away still has options left. The agency can use them without a new competition, because for an option to count as competed it must have been evaluated in the original competition (FAR 17.207(f)).

The date to watch is the potential end date. When the current end date reaches it, no options are left.

Services contracts also have a ceiling. FAR 17.204(e) says that unless approved under agency procedures, the base and option periods together must not exceed 5 years for services. That limit does not apply to information technology contracts.

When nothing is left to exercise, the agency has a decision to make: a new contract, a short extension, or ending the work. Two standard clauses cover extensions. FAR 52.217-8 lets the Government require continued performance for no more than 6 months in total. FAR 52.217-9 lets the Government extend the term within the total duration the contract states, and it calls for a preliminary notice of intent to the contractor at least 60 days before expiry, unless the contract sets a different number. That notice goes to the contractor. It is not a public notice, and it does not commit the Government to an extension.

One more case. Indefinite delivery vehicles carry an ordering period end date. The potential end date does not apply to the vehicle itself, and orders placed under it can run past that ordering period end date.

Step 1: Pull past awards from USAspending

USAspending.gov is free and needs no login. Open Advanced Search. In the Filter panel, open Award Type and check Contracts, then narrow by the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) filter, the Agency filter (Awarding Agency) and the Location filter (Place of Performance).

The table already has a Period of Performance End column, and you can sort by it. Open an award to see all three dates, labeled Start Date, Current End Date and Potential End Date. The award page also shows an Obligated Amount and a Potential Award Amount, which USAspending defines as the total that could be obligated, base plus options.

Read the list in this order:

  1. Current end date. Keep the contracts whose current end date falls in a window you can act in.
  2. Potential end date. If it is well past the current end date, options remain. Put it on a watch list.
  3. Both dates the same. Nothing is left to exercise. Move it up your list.
  4. Value and place of performance. Skip what is too big or too far for you to perform.

Check the data before you trust it. Agencies report these dates, and modifications change them. Treat an outlier, such as an end date decades away on a small purchase order, as a typo until you have opened the award. A contract that looked like it ended in March may already have been modified to run to September, so check the award’s Transaction History for later modifications.

Step 2: Find the incumbent in SAM.gov Contract Awards

Contract award data used to be searched on FPDS.gov. The public search there, ezSearch, was decommissioned on February 24, 2026, and the public search now lives in SAM.gov as Contract Awards. You need to be signed in to SAM.gov to see the records, but no special role is required. You can search by keyword, agency or legal business name. Use it to confirm which company holds the work and which agency buys it.

Step 3: Check agency forecasts

Agencies are required to compile and make available projections of contracting opportunities that small businesses may be able to perform (Public Law 100-656, the Business Opportunity Development Reform Act of 1988, as DHS describes it). A multi-agency tool is at acquisitiongateway.gov/forecast.

DHS runs its own, the Acquisition Planning Forecast System. Its forecast records include fields labeled Incumbent, Contract Number, Contract Complete, Anticipated Award Quarter and Estimated Solicitation Release.

GSA also publishes an Expiring Contracts dashboard for its own contracts, with 6, 12 and 18 month windows.

GSA is clear that all forecasted procurements are subject to revision or cancellation. Treat a forecast as a heads-up, not a promise.

Step 4: Watch SAM.gov notices for the follow-on

The follow-on contract will show up as a notice in SAM.gov Contract Opportunities. The notice types include Presolicitation, Sources Sought, Special Notice, Solicitation, Combined Synopsis/Solicitation, Justification and Award Notice.

FAR 5.203 does not tie the timing of a notice to the end of the old contract. What it does set: a notice must be published at least 15 days before a solicitation is issued, with exceptions for commercial products and services, and solicitations expected to exceed the simplified acquisition threshold must allow at least a 30 day response time, again with an exception for commercial products and services. So a notice can come with little warning. That is why the earlier steps matter.

Matching a new notice to an old contract takes reading. The award record lists the contract’s own dates and its parent vehicle, if it has one. It does not name the contract that replaces it. Look for the same agency, the same NAICS code, a similar title and place of performance, and a description that cites the old contract number.

Put it in a monthly routine

  1. Pick the NAICS codes, agencies and places of performance you work in.
  2. Pull awards from USAspending with a current end date in the window you can act in. Note the start, current end and potential end dates.
  3. Look up the incumbent in SAM.gov Contract Awards.
  4. Check the forecast tools for the same agency and NAICS code.
  5. Search SAM.gov Contract Opportunities for the same agency and NAICS code and sort by posted date. Use Follow on the notices you care about. Our guide on how to find government contracts on a schedule explains what Follow does and the one setting that can override it.
  6. Redo the list every month, because modifications move dates.

Also read: How to read a SAM.gov solicitation, How to read an RFP: start at the back, USASpending.gov guide.

What this list cannot tell you

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