PSC (Product and Service Codes), US Federal

Product and Service Codes (PSC) are the four-character codes the US federal government uses on every contract action to describe what is being purchased, appearing on SAM.gov solicitations and in the USASpending.gov award data that suppliers use to research the market.

What is PSC?

PSC is a four-character alphanumeric code managed by the General Services Administration (GSA). The first character is a letter or digit that indicates whether the action covers a supply item, a service, or research and development; the remaining three characters narrow to a specific product group or service type. For goods, PSC codes correspond closely to the older fsc-federal-supply-classification system from which they evolved. For services, PSC covers professional, administrative, IT, and technical services with dedicated code ranges. Every federal contract notice and award on SAM.gov carries a PSC, and the award data published on USASpending.gov is searchable by PSC, making it a direct tool for competitive intelligence.

PSC describes what the government buys; naics-north-american-industry-classification-system describes the industry of the seller. Both codes appear on a federal solicitation, and suppliers should know their primary NAICS codes and the corresponding PSC codes for the work they pursue, since contracting officers and market analysts use both.

Why PSC matters for bidders

PSC codes in USASpending.gov award data let suppliers answer the questions that matter most before pursuing a market: which agencies spend the most in your service category, what is the typical contract value, how many awards are set aside for small businesses, and who are the incumbent contractors. Running a PSC-filtered search on USASpending.gov before engaging an agency gives you the spend baseline and competitive context that makes a capabilities briefing credible. On the opportunity side, filtering SAM.gov searches by PSC narrows the solicitation feed to the relevant work type, reducing the noise from broad keyword searches.

FAQ

How is PSC different from NAICS?

PSC classifies what the government is buying; NAICS classifies the industry of the company selling it. A contract for IT support services might carry PSC D307 (IT and Telecom Management) and NAICS 541512 (Computer Systems Design), describing both the procurement object and the supplier industry.

How many characters is a PSC code?

PSC codes are four characters: the first identifies the broad category (supply, service, or R&D) and the remaining three identify the specific product group or service type.

Where do I find PSC codes for research?

PSC codes appear on every SAM.gov notice and on all award records in USASpending.gov, which allows filtering and export by PSC for spend analysis and competitive research.