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Title 40 — Public Buildings, Property, and WorksRelease 119-73not60

§582 Management of Buildings by Administrator of General Services

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

Last updated Apr 5, 2026|Official source

Summary

The General Services Administration (GSA) can run, care for, and protect a federal building when a federal agency, a partly government-owned corporation, or the District of Columbia asks for that help. GSA can also take over all the work of running an office building when the Director of the Office of Management and Budget finds it would save money or make things work better. That includes buildings the government owns, buildings a government corporation owns, or office space an agency rents. There are limits. GSA cannot be given control of most post office buildings (unless they are not mainly used as post offices), buildings in other countries, buildings on Defense Department grounds without the Secretary of Defense’s permission, groups of buildings used only for a single agency’s special work, or certain named buildings (the Treasury, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Smithsonian buildings). If GSA gets a post-office building, it may only give the work to another GSA employee or the Postmaster General.

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 5, 2026

Release point: 119-73not60