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Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-73

§506 Inventory controls and systems

Title 40 › Subtitle SUBTITLE I— - FEDERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - PROPERTY MANAGEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER I— - PROCUREMENT AND WAREHOUSING › § 506

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The head of the General Services Administration (GSA) may, after giving agencies enough notice, take steps to manage federal property. The GSA can survey agencies’ property and how they handle it; work with agencies to set sensible stock levels and tell Congress and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget if inventories are too large; create and keep a single federal supply catalog to identify items; set standard buying rules, forms, and specs; and set dollar cutoffs for when items must be recorded as capital assets and when they must be tracked in a central property system. The GSA must consider Defense Department needs and coordinate with it to avoid duplicate catalogs. All federal agencies must use the GSA’s catalog, standards, and forms unless GSA allows a different approach for efficiency. The Comptroller General will audit all kinds of property accounts and transactions. Audits will be done when and where the Comptroller General decides, will check internal controls, and will assess how well agencies account for government property.

Full Legal Text

Title 40, §506

Public Buildings, Property, and Works — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)Subject to paragraph (2), and after adequate advance notice to affected executive agencies, the Administrator of General Services may undertake the following activities as necessary to carry out functions under this chapter:
(A)Survey and obtain executive agency reports on Federal Government property and property management practices.
(B)Cooperate with executive agencies to establish reasonable inventory levels for property stocked by them, and report any excessive inventory levels to Congress and to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
(C)Establish and maintain a uniform federal supply catalog system that is appropriate to identify and classify personal property under the control of federal agencies.
(D)Prescribe standard purchase specifications and standard forms and procedures (except forms and procedures that the Comptroller General prescribes by law) subject to regulations the Administrator for Federal Procurement Policy prescribes under division B (except section 1704 and 2303) of subtitle I of title 41.
(E)Establish thresholds for acquisitions of personal property for which executive agencies shall capitalize the personal property.
(F)Notwithstanding section 121(b), for the management and accountability of personal property, establish thresholds for acquisitions of personal property for which executive agencies shall establish and maintain property records in a centralized system.
(2)(A)The Administrator of General Services shall carry out activities under paragraph (1) with due regard to the requirements of the Department of Defense, as determined by the Secretary of Defense.
(B)In establishing and maintaining a uniform federal supply catalog system under paragraph (1)(C), the Administrator of General Services and the Secretary shall coordinate to avoid unnecessary duplication.
(b)Each federal agency shall use the uniformed federal supply catalog system, the standard purchase specifications, and the standard forms and procedures established under subsection (a), except as the Administrator of General Services, considering efficiency, economy, or other interests of the Government, may otherwise provide.
(c)The Comptroller General shall audit all types of property accounts and transactions. Audits shall be conducted at the time and in the manner the Comptroller General decides and as far as practicable at the place where the property or records of the executive agencies are kept. Audits shall include an evaluation of the effectiveness of internal controls and audits, and a general audit of the discharge of accountability for Government-owned or controlled property, based on generally accepted principles of auditing.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 50640:487.June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title II, § 206, 63 Stat. 390; July 12, 1952, ch. 703, § 1(k), 66 Stat. 593; Pub. L. 93–400, § 15(3), Aug. 30, 1974, 88 Stat. 800; Pub. L. 96–83, § 10(a), Oct. 10, 1979, 93 Stat. 652; Pub. L. 98–191, §§ 8(d)(1), 9(a)(2), Dec. 1, 1983, 97 Stat. 1331. In subsection (a)(1)(B), the words “from time to time” are omitted as unnecessary. The words “Director of the Office of Management and Budget” are substituted for “Director of the Bureau of the Budget” in section 206(a)(2) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 because the office of Director of the Bureau of the Budget was redesignated the Director of the Office of Management and Budget by section 102(b) of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970 (eff. July 1, 1970, 84 Stat. 2085). section 102 of Reorganization Plan No. 2 of 1970, was repealed by section 5(b) of the Act of September 13, 1982 (Public Law 97–258, 96 Stat. 1085), the first section of which enacted Title 31, United States Code, but the successor provision, 31:502, continued the designation as Director of the Office of Management and Budget. In subsection (a)(1)(D), the words “Subject to

Regulations

” are substituted for “subject to

Regulations

and

Regulations

” in section 206(a)(4) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 to correct an error resulting from an inconsistency between section 8(d)(1) and section 9(a)(2) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act

Amendments

of 1983 (Public Law 98–191, 97 Stat. 1331). In subsection (a)(2)(A), the words “Department of Defense” are substituted for “National Military Establishment” in section 206(a) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 because the Department of Defense is deemed to succeed the National Military Establishment under section 12(a) and (g) of the National Security Act

Amendments

of 1949 (ch. 412, 63 Stat. 591). In subsection (c), the words “Comptroller General” are substituted for “General Accounting Office” because of 31:702 and for consistency in the revised title.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

2019—Subsec. (a)(1)(E), (F). Pub. L. 115–419 added subpars. (E) and (F). 2011—Subsec. (a)(1)(D). Pub. L. 111–350 substituted “division B (except section 1704 and 2303) of subtitle I of title 41” for “the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 401 et seq.)”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

40 U.S.C. § 506

Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and Works

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73