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Title 40, Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-110

§506 Inventory Controls and Systems

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

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The General Services Administrator can run surveys and require reports to find out what property federal agencies own and how they manage it. The Administrator can help agencies set reasonable stock levels and tell Congress and the Office of Management and Budget if inventories are too high. The Administrator can create a single federal catalog to identify and classify agency property, set standard buying rules, forms, and procedures (except forms the Comptroller General controls), and set rules for when agencies must record property as capital assets and when they must keep centralized property records. The Administrator must consider the needs of the Department of Defense and work with the Defense Secretary so the catalogs do not duplicate each other. Federal agencies must use the catalog, the standard rules, and the forms unless the Administrator allows a different approach for efficiency, cost savings, or other government interests. The Comptroller General will audit all property accounts and transactions when and where needed, check internal controls, and review overall accountability using accepted auditing standards.

Full Legal Text

Title 40, §506

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

(a)Activities of the Administrator of General Services.—
(1)In general.—
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)Surveys and reports.—
Survey and obtain executive agency reports on Federal Government property and property management practices.
(B)Inventory levels.—
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)Federal supply catalog system.—
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)Standard purchase specifications and standard forms and procedures.—
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)Capitalization thresholds.—
Establish thresholds for acquisitions of personal property for which executive agencies shall capitalize the personal property.
(F)Accountability thresholds.—
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)Special considerations regarding department of defense.—
(A)In general.—
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)Federal supply catalog system.—
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)Activities of Federal Agencies.—
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)Audit of Property Accounts.—
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

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110