NAICS stands for North American Industrial Classification system. These codes are standard across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Like SIC codes, NAICS codes are numerical codes that represent what a company manufactures or the services it provides. Firms can be assigned multiple NAICS codes. The code that best describes the firm’s major line of business is its Primary NAICS code. Other applicable codes are included as Secondary NAICS codes.
There isn’t a one-to-one correlation between NAICS and SIC codes. In some cases one SIC code may be represented by several NAICS codes.
Searching by NAICS codes is very similar to the SIC search. Use the checkboxes to designate whether your search should be based upon a company’s Primary NAICS code or All NAICS codes associated with a company. The default is to search for All NAICS codes.
Specify NAICS codes in one of three ways: by typing in the 6-digit NAICS codes, by searching for them by keyword, or by browsing a tree structure of NAICS codes.
To specify one or more NAICS codes or a range of codes directly, simply type them in, either as single values separated by commas, or as a range of values. For example:
334419
334419, 511210
334110-334119
To find NAICS codes by keyword, enter a keyword or a character string, then click ‘Find’. A list of NAICS codes that include the keyword will be displayed. Check the ones you want to include in your search, and click Add to Criteria.
The NAICS tree structure enables you to quickly specify one or more major or minor NAICS groups for your search. You can easily drill down to the 6-digit NAICS level.
Click the plus sign next to a level to expand it; click on it again to collapse it. Use the check boxes to specify your selection criteria. Notice that when you check a major category or a 3-digit NAICS, all of the NAICS beneath it are automatically checked. To de-select a NAICS code or category, click the box again so that it is unchecked.