PSC AN32

Overview

The Product Service Code (PSC) is the U.S. government’s standardized taxonomy for classifying what is procured—products, services, and research and development—to enable consistent entry in FPDS and downstream reporting and analysis. The PSC structure and definitions are maintained in the PSC Manual published on Acquisition.gov. ¹
PSC AN32 identifies Health R&D Services in the sub-area “Consumer and Occupational Health and Safety,” at the Applied Research stage (fourth digit “2”). It is used when the predominant work is original investigation directed toward a specific practical safety objective rather than basic research or prototype/experimental development. ¹

What this PSC covers

• Applied research on consumer and occupational health and safety within the Health R&D Services major area. ¹
• Original investigation aimed at practical safety outcomes (e.g., risk reduction, exposure mitigation), as defined for the Applied Research stage. ¹
• Research activities that are novel, creative, systematic, uncertain, and transferable/reproducible, consistent with R&D characteristics in the PSC Manual. ¹
• Safety-focused studies and analyses intended to inform standards, interventions, or technologies, without building or demonstrating full experimental prototypes. ¹
• Efforts coded to the “2” stage digit (Applied Research) rather than “1” (Basic Research) or “3” (Experimental Development). ¹
• Excludes administrative/overhead and facilities purchases, which are coded to AN34 and AN35, respectively. ¹
• Excludes purchases of products/equipment; such buys must use the appropriate product PSC, not an R&D PSC. ¹

Related NAICS and PSC codes

Source: PSC Manual April 2025. ¹

Coding guidance highlights

• Structure: R&D PSCs use AA–AZ to indicate the major area, a third digit (1–6) for the sub-area, and a fourth digit for the R&D stage; “2” denotes Applied Research. Use AN32 when both the sub-area (consumer and occupational health and safety) and the applied stage are met. ¹
• Stage selection: Use AN31 for basic research and AN33 for experimental development; use AN34 for R&D administrative expenses and AN35 for R&D facilities/major equipment. ¹
• Predominant buy rule: Code the action to the predominant service; do not assign an R&D PSC to products purchased in support of R&D. ¹

Finding and analyzing AN32 awards

• Contract award data are searchable in SAM.gov’s Contracting domain and reportable via the DataBank; PSC filters allow retrieval of awards coded to AN32. ³
• FPDS remains the underlying authoritative source for contract data; recent DoD awards may have a short visibility lag in certain public searches. ¹

Frequently asked questions

• What does PSC AN32 mean in practice?
  PSC AN32 covers Health R&D applied research focused on consumer and occupational health and safety. Applied research is original investigation directed to practical objectives, distinct from basic research or experimental development. ¹

• How does AN32 differ from AN31 and AN33?
  AN31 is Basic Research (foundational knowledge), AN32 is Applied Research (practical aims), and AN33 is Experimental Development (prototype design/construction/testing). Select the stage that best matches the work’s objective and maturity. ¹

• Can equipment purchases be coded under AN32?
  No. The PSC Manual directs that products purchased in support of R&D be coded under the appropriate product PSC, not an R&D PSC. Use AN32 only when the predominant buy is applied research services in this sub-area. ¹

• Where are AN32 awards found for market analysis?
  Public award data can be searched in SAM.gov’s Contract Awards and analyzed via the DataBank; apply the PSC filter for AN32 to scope results to this category. ³

Useful resources

• G2X — PSC AN32 overview
• Acquisition.gov — PSC Manual (April 2025 edition, PDF). ¹
• Acquisition.gov — PSC April 2025 master code list (XLSX). ²
• SAM.gov — Contract Data overview and access to DataBank. ³

References

1. Acquisition.gov. Product and Service Codes (PSC) Manual, April 2025 (PDF). https://www.acquisition.gov/sites/default/files/manual/PSC%20Manual%20April%202025.pdf
2. Acquisition.gov. PSC April 2025 master list (XLSX). https://www.acquisition.gov/content/psc-april-2025.xlsx
3. SAM.gov. Contract Data. https://sam.gov/content/contract-data