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

§582 Management of buildings by Administrator of General Services

Title 40 › Subtitle SUBTITLE I— - FEDERAL PROPERTY AND ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES › Chapter CHAPTER 5— - PROPERTY MANAGEMENT › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER V— - OPERATION OF BUILDINGS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES › § 582

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The head of the General Services Administration (GSA) can run, care for, and protect a federal building when a federal agency, a mixed-ownership government corporation (a government company with some private ownership), or the District of Columbia asks for it. This can apply to buildings the Government owns or, for some corporations, buildings they own. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) can move all the duties for operating, maintaining, and keeping custody of an office building to the GSA head when doing so saves money or makes work more efficient. Transfers do not apply to certain buildings: post offices unless they are not mainly used for postal work (and then GSA may only give those duties to a GSA employee or the Postmaster General); buildings in foreign countries; buildings on Department of Defense grounds unless the Secretary of Defense allows it; buildings that are part of a nearby group used mainly for an agency’s special purposes and not suitable for others; and the Treasury Building, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Building, buildings used by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and buildings under the Smithsonian’s regents.

Full Legal Text

Title 40, §582

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

(a)At the request of a federal agency, a mixed-ownership Government corporation (as defined in chapter 91 of title 31), or the District of Columbia, the Administrator of General Services may operate, maintain, and protect a building that is owned by the Federal Government (or, in the case of a wholly owned or mixed-ownership Government corporation, by the corporation) and occupied by the agency or instrumentality making the request.
(b)(1)When the Director of the Office of Management and Budget determines that it is in the interest of economy or efficiency, the Director shall transfer to the Administrator all functions vested in a federal agency with respect to the operation, maintenance, and custody of an office building owned by the Government or a wholly owned Government corporation, or an office building, or part of an office building, that is occupied by a federal agency under a lease.
(2)A transfer of functions shall not be made under this subsection for a post-office building, unless the Director determines that the building is not used predominantly for post-office purposes. The Administrator may delegate functions with respect to a post-office building that are transferred to the Administrator under this subsection only to another officer or employee of the General Services Administration or to the Postmaster General.
(3)A transfer of functions shall not be made under this subsection for a building located in a foreign country.
(4)A transfer of functions shall not be made under this subsection for a building located on the grounds of a facility of the Department of Defense (including a fort, camp, post, arsenal, navy yard, naval training station, airfield, proving ground, military supply depot, or school) unless and only to the extent that the Secretary of Defense has issued a permit for use by another agency.
(5)A transfer of functions shall not be made under this subsection for a building that the Director finds to be a part of a group of buildings that are—
(A)located in the same vicinity;
(B)used wholly or predominantly for the special purposes of the agency with custody of the buildings; and
(C)not generally suitable for use by another agency.
(6)A transfer of functions shall not be made under this subsection for the Treasury Building, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Building, the buildings occupied by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the buildings under the jurisdiction of the regents of the Smithsonian Institution.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Historical and Revision Notes

Revised SectionSource (U.S. Code)Source (Statutes at Large) 582(a)40:490(b).June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title II, § 210(b), (d), as added Sept. 5, 1950, ch. 849, § 5(c), 64 Stat. 581, 582; Pub. L. 100–418, title V, § 5115(c), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1433. 582(b)40:490(d). In subsection (a), the words “mixed-ownership Government corporation” are substituted for “mixed-ownership corporation” for consistency in the subsection and with chapter 91 of title 31. The words “chapter 91 of title 31” are substituted for “the Government Corporation Control Act” in section 210(b) of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, because of section 4(b) of the Act of September 13, 1982 (Public Law 97–258, 96 Stat. 1067), the first section of which enacted Title 31, United States Code. In subsection (b), the words “Director of the Office of Management and Budget” are substituted for “Director of the Bureau of the Budget” in section 210(i) 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.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

40 U.S.C. § 582

Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and Works

Last Updated

Apr 6, 2026

Release point: 119-73