Quick answer
The commodity and service classification system used by state, county, and municipal governments across the United States and Canada to categorise procurement and match supplier registrations to open solicitations.
NIGP codes are the commodity and service classification codes developed by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing, used widely by state, county, and municipal governments across the United States and Canada to standardise what they buy and to route solicitations to suppliers registered under the matching categories.
What is NIGP?
The NIGP Code is a five-digit hierarchical system that groups goods and services into class-item pairs: a three-digit class groups related commodities, and a two-digit item narrows within that class to a specific product or service type. For example, class 915 covers janitorial supplies, and a specific item code within it identifies a particular product category such as disinfectants. State eProcurement portals, county purchasing offices, and city procurement systems across North America use NIGP codes to maintain vendor databases and notify suppliers of relevant opportunities. Suppliers register on these portals, select the NIGP codes that match their offerings, and receive notifications when an agency issues a solicitation in a matching category.
NIGP codes are distinct from naics-north-american-industry-classification-system, which classifies the industry of the firm rather than the product being procured. At the US federal level, psc-product-and-service-codes-us-federal fill a similar role to NIGP but are specific to federal agencies on SAM.gov.
Why NIGP codes matter for bidders
State and local government procurement in the United States represents a large share of total public spending, and NIGP codes are the primary routing mechanism on the portals that aggregate these opportunities. Suppliers that register accurate, specific NIGP codes receive targeted solicitation alerts; those that register at the class level only, or that choose codes too broadly, either miss specific opportunities or receive irrelevant volume. Because dozens of state and county portals each run their own NIGP-based vendor registry, a supplier entering the US sub-federal market needs to register on the relevant portals for each target state or locality and maintain consistent NIGP code selections across them.
FAQ
How many digits is an NIGP code?
NIGP codes are five digits: a three-digit class and a two-digit item, together identifying a specific commodity or service category.
Is NIGP used for federal contracts?
No. US federal agencies use psc-product-and-service-codes-us-federal for product and service classification on SAM.gov. NIGP is predominantly used by state, county, and municipal buyers.
Do all US states use NIGP codes?
Most US states and many counties use NIGP codes, but adoption is not universal. Some jurisdictions use proprietary classification systems or local commodity codes, so suppliers should check each target portal's classification scheme when registering.
How Bidovate helps
Bidovate puts NIGP Codes (National Institute of Governmental Purchasing) to work inside your capture and proposal workflow.
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Related terms
NAICS (North American Industry Classification System)
The six-digit industry classification system used across the United States, Canada, and Mexico that determines which contracts a supplier is eligible to bid on in North American public procurement.
ViewUnited Nations Standard Products and Services Code (UNSPSC)
The global, hierarchical coding system that classifies products and services so buyers and suppliers can categorise spend and match tenders consistently worldwide.
ViewPSC (Product and Service Codes), US Federal
The four-character US federal classification codes that describe what the government is buying on each contract or solicitation, used on SAM.gov and USASpending.gov to categorise every federal procurement action.
ViewGSIN (Goods and Services Identification Number)
Canada's national procurement classification code that groups similar goods and services into commodity categories, used by the Government of Canada to standardise purchasing and help suppliers register their capabilities on the Buyandsell.gc.ca portal.
ViewCPV (Common Procurement Vocabulary)
The European Union's mandatory eight-digit coding system that classifies procurement objects on the TED platform, letting buyers and suppliers across member states describe and find contracts using a shared language.
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