Contractor Information Worksheet: How to Complete GSA Form 850

GSA Form 850, the Contractor Information Worksheet, is the intake form that starts the credentialing and background-investigation process for anyone working on a GSA contract. You complete Section 1 with your personal details, your GSA requesting official fills in the remaining sections with contract and project data, and the finished form goes to GSA’s Office of Mission Assurance (OMA) to initiate your background check and eventually your Personal Identity Verification (PIV) card. The current revision is dated February 2025 and is available as a PDF from GSA’s forms library.¹

Who Has to Complete Form 850

The form applies to contractor and subcontractor employees who need routine physical access to GSA-controlled facilities or logical access to GSA information systems. The dividing line is six months. Anyone whose work will last six continuous months or longer is classified as a long-term contractor and must complete Form 850, undergo a background investigation at the appropriate tier, and receive a GSA Access Card before starting work.² The six-month threshold comes from the federal credentialing standards issued under Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12.³

Short-term contractors working fewer than six continuous months follow a different track and do not use Form 850 for a long-term credential. They undergo a Security Agency Check (SAC) instead, and a SAC determination is valid for up to six months. If the assignment runs past that window, the contractor must apply for a new SAC before the original expires or move onto the long-term credentialing process.²

One point that catches people off guard: long-term contractors cannot begin work on a GSA contract, and cannot be escorted in lieu of clearance, until they receive an initial fitness determination. A delayed form submission directly delays your start date.²

Where to Get the Current Form

Download the PDF from GSA’s forms library page for GSA Form 850.¹ Your Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) or project manager may also send you a copy directly. The form itself instructs you to check with your GSA regional point of contact for specific submission instructions, so confirm the preferred delivery method before you start filling it out.⁴

Filling Out Section 1

Section 1 is the only part you complete yourself. The remaining five sections are handled by the GSA requesting official. Have your documents in front of you before you start. A single typo in your Social Security Number or date of birth can stall the entire process.

The personal-information fields are:⁴

Full legal name — last, first, middle (enter “NMN” if you have no middle name), and suffix if applicable. Spell these exactly as they appear on your government-issued ID. Name mismatches between the 850 and your identity documents at enrollment will require linking documentation such as a marriage certificate or court order.
Sex.
Social Security Number.
Date of birth.
Place of birth — city, country, and, if born in the U.S., state. If born in Mexico or Canada, the form asks for the state or province.
Home address — street, city, state, and ZIP code.
Personal email address. This is where correspondence about your background investigation and enrollment appointment goes, so use an account you check regularly.
Phone numbers — work cell and work number.
U.S. citizen — yes or no.
Position (job) title.

Extra Fields for Non-U.S. Citizens

If you are not a U.S. citizen, the form adds your country of citizenship, the U.S. port of entry (city and state), date of entry, alien registration number, and whether you have been a U.S. resident for fewer than three years.⁴ GSA Access Cards are issued only to individuals who reside in the United States or its territories.²

Prior Investigation History

The form asks whether you have undergone a prior federal background investigation, the approximate date, and which agency adjudicated it. If you held a clearance or PIV card at a previous agency, providing this information can speed things up, because investigators may be able to use an existing investigation rather than starting from scratch.⁴

What the GSA Requesting Official Completes

You don’t fill in Sections 2 through 6, but knowing what they contain helps you anticipate what your company may need to supply. The sections cover:⁴

Section 2, Contract Information: primary company name, subcontractor name (if applicable), Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), contract number, contract type, start and end dates, option years, task order or delivery order number, and company points of contact. If you’re a subcontractor, confirm your prime contractor has given GSA the correct UEI and contract number.
Section 3, Reimbursable Work Authorization / Interagency Agreement: used only when the work is funded through an RWA or IAA. The requesting official enters the authorization number and the client agency.
Section 4, Project and Work Location: GSA building number, contractor type, sponsoring organization, office symbol, and GSA region. The form classifies contractors into four types: Building Support, Embedded, External, and Child Care.
Section 5, Investigation Type: whether an HSPD-12 PIV card is required and which tier of investigation to initiate, based on the position’s risk and sensitivity designation. You don’t pick your own tier.
Section 6, GSA Requesting Official: name, phone, email, and role (Project Manager, COR, Contracting Officer, or Contracting Specialist).

How to Submit the Completed Form

The form instructs you to check with your GSA regional point of contact for specific submission instructions.⁴ In practice, most contractors send the completed Section 1 to their COR or project manager, who fills in the remaining sections and transmits the whole package to GSA’s Office of Mission Assurance.

Because the form contains your Social Security Number and other sensitive data, use whatever secure channel your COR specifies, typically encrypted email or a secure upload portal. Do not send it as an unencrypted email attachment. Double-check the spelling of your COR’s name and email address before sending; a misrouted form sits in limbo until someone notices, and that delay pushes back your entire credentialing timeline.

What Happens After You Submit

Once OMA receives your completed Form 850, the office verifies the contract data and uses the information to initiate a background investigation through the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) system, the federal government’s end-to-end personnel vetting platform.⁵ If you see references to e-QIP in older guidance, note that e-QIP has been replaced by eApp and NBIS Agency for new investigations.⁶

After initiation, you’ll receive an invitation to complete a more detailed security questionnaire in eApp. Which questionnaire you fill out depends on the risk and sensitivity designation your requesting official entered in Section 5:

SF-85 for low-risk, non-sensitive positions (Tier 1 investigation).
SF-85P for public-trust positions at moderate or high risk (Tier 2 or Tier 4).
SF-86 for national-security positions, non-critical sensitive, critical sensitive, or special sensitive (Tier 3, Tier 5, or Tier 5+).

The position’s designation is determined using OPM’s Position Designation Tool, which evaluates the duties and their potential impact on national security or the integrity of government operations.⁷ The minimum investigation for PIV card eligibility is a favorably adjudicated Tier 1. For individuals with no prior investigation on file, the appropriate investigation must be initiated and the FBI National Criminal History Check portion completed and favorably adjudicated before a PIV card can be issued.⁸

Once your sponsor enters your information into the USAccess system, you’ll schedule an in-person enrollment appointment at an authorized credentialing center for fingerprints, a photo, and identity-document verification.² Bring two current, physical forms of ID, at least one from the primary list (such as a U.S. passport, REAL ID-compliant driver’s license, permanent resident card, or current PIV card). Expired documents are not accepted, and if the names on your two documents don’t match, bring linking documentation such as a marriage certificate or court order.⁹

Penalties for False Information

Every entry on Form 850 feeds into a federal background investigation, and knowingly providing false data is a federal crime. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, making a materially false statement in a matter within the jurisdiction of the federal government carries a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.¹⁰ Beyond the criminal exposure, any discrepancy between the information on your 850 and what you later enter in your SF-85 or SF-86 will trigger a manual review that slows the entire credentialing timeline. Get it right the first time.

1
General Services Administration. Contractor Information Worksheet
2
General Services Administration. ADM 2181.1A Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 Personal Identity Verification and Credentialing Policy
3
Department of Homeland Security. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 – Policy for a Common Identification Standard for Federal Employees and Contractors
4
General Services Administration. GSA Form 850 – Contractor Information Worksheet
5
Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. National Background Investigation Services (NBIS)
6
Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP)
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Office of Personnel Management. Position Designation Tool
8
National Institute of Standards and Technology. FIPS 201-3 Personal Identity Verification (PIV) of Federal Employees and Contractors
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General Services Administration. Bring Required Documents
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1001 – Statements or Entries Generally