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Title 10 — Armed ForcesRelease 119-73

§2857 Window fall prevention devices in military family housing units

Title 10 › Subtitle Subtitle A— - General Military Law › Part PART IV— - SERVICE, SUPPLY, AND PROPERTY › Chapter CHAPTER 169— - MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - ADMINISTRATION OF MILITARY CONSTRUCTION AND MILITARY FAMILY HOUSING › § 2857

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Windows in military family homes that have their bottom sill within 42 inches of the floor inside and sit more than 72 inches above the outside ground must have fall-prevention screens or guards that meet ASTM F2090–13 (or any later version). That rule applies to homes whose construction contracts start after October 1, 2019, and to homes that begin whole-house renovation contracts on or after October 1, 2019. For other homes, the Secretary must run a program to retrofit or replace qualifying windows with those devices. The Secretary can give grants to private groups to help do the work and may use family housing operations funds for the program. The Secretary must keep a record of every incident where a child is hurt or killed by an accidental window fall in military family housing. Each year, within 90 days after the year ends (starting with 2017), the Secretary of Defense must report those incidents to the House and Senate Armed Services Committees. The rule covers military family housing under the Department of Defense and housing built or acquired under subchapter IV.

Full Legal Text

Title 10, §2857

Armed Forces — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)The Secretary concerned shall ensure that if a window in any military family housing unit is described in subsection (c), including a window designed for emergency escape or rescue, the window is equipped with fall prevention devices described in paragraph (3).
(2)Paragraph (1) shall apply with respect to the following military family housing units:
(A)A unit for which the contract for the construction of the unit is first entered into after October 1, 2019.
(B)Any other unit which is subject to a whole-house renovation project for which the contract is entered into on or after October 1, 2019.
(3)A fall prevention device is a window screen or guard that complies with applicable standards in ASTM standard F2090–13 (or any successor standard).
(b)(1)The Secretary concerned shall carry out a program under which, in military family housing units which are not subject to the requirements of subsection (a), windows which are described in subsection (c), including windows designed for emergency escape or rescue, are retrofitted to be equipped with fall prevention devices described in paragraph (3) of subsection (a) or are replaced with windows which are equipped with fall prevention devices described in such paragraph.
(2)The Secretary concerned may carry out the program under this subsection by making grants to private entities to retrofit or replace existing windows, in accordance with such criteria as the Secretary may establish by regulation.
(3)The Secretary may carry out the program under this subsection during a fiscal year with amounts made available to the Secretary for family housing operations for such fiscal year.
(c)A window is described in this subsection if the bottom sill of the window is within 42 inches of the floor, as measured in the interior of the unit, and is more than 72 inches above the ground, as measured on the exterior grade of the building.
(d)The Secretary concerned shall keep a record of each incident (as defined in Department of Defense Instruction 6055.7 series) in which a minor child is injured or killed as the result of an unintentional window fall in a military family housing unit. Not later than 90 days after the end of each calendar year (beginning with 2017), the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report to the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and Senate on all such window falls occurring in the previous year.
(e)This section applies to military family housing under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense and military family housing acquired or constructed under subchapter IV of this chapter.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Prior Provisions

A prior section 2857 was renumbered section 2915 of this title.

Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 117–81, § 2812(a), renumbered section 2879 of this title as this section and transferred it to appear after section 2856 of this title. Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 117–81, § 2812(b)(1), struck out “acquired or constructed under this chapter” after “housing unit”. Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 117–81, § 2812(b)(2), struck out “acquired or constructed under this chapter” after “housing units”. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 117–81, § 2812(b)(3), added subsec. (e). 2019—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 116–92, § 3034(a)(1), substituted “described in paragraph (3)” for “that protect against unintentional window falls by young children and that are in compliance with applicable International Building Code (IBC) standards”. Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 116–92, § 3034(a)(2)(A), substituted “
October 1, 2019” for “
December 11, 2017”. Pub. L. 116–92, § 1731(a)(57), struck out comma before period at end. Subsec. (a)(2)(B). Pub. L. 116–92, § 3034(a)(2)(B), substituted “
October 1, 2019” for “
September 1, 2018”. Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 116–92, § 3034(a)(3), added par. (3). Subsec. (b)(1). Pub. L. 116–92, § 3034(c), substituted “paragraph (3)” for “paragraph (1)”. Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 116–92, § 3034(b), substituted “42 inches” for “24 inches”. 2018—Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 115–232, § 2823(a)(1), substituted “subsection (c)” for “subsection (b)”. Subsec. (a)(2)(A). Pub. L. 115–232, § 1081(a)(28), substituted “after
December 11, 2017,” for “on or after the date of the enactment of this section”. Subsecs. (b) to (d). Pub. L. 115–232, § 2823(a)(2), (3), added subsec. (b) and redesignated former subsecs. (b) and (c) as (c) and (d), respectively.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 2018 Amendment Pub. L. 115–232, div. B, title XXVIII, § 2823(b), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 2269, provided that: “The

Amendments

made by this section [amending this section] shall apply with respect to fiscal year 2019 and each succeeding fiscal year.”

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

10 U.S.C. § 2857

Title 10 — Armed Forces

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73