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Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-102

§1594c Services of Architects and Engineers; Use of Appropriations; Acquisition of Sites

Title 42 › CHAPTER 9 — HOUSING OF PERSONS ENGAGED IN NATIONAL DEFENSE › SUBCHAPTER XI — HOUSING FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL › § 1594c

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary of Defense, or someone he chooses, may hire architects and engineers outside the normal civil service and job-class rules. He can set up any payment or contract terms he thinks fit, as long as the fees do not exceed the schedule set by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for projects under the United States Housing Act of 1937. The work can include plans, drawings, and specs for family housing and may allow alternate materials or types of construction, including prefabrication, if they give equal value and meet HUD standards. Plans made under arrangements after August 7, 1956 must follow a modular-measure approach so housing can be built by conventional on-site work, factory precutting, factory fabrication, or any mix of these methods. The Secretary may also set aside sites for prefabricated housing. Contracts may allow advance or progress payments and payments by third parties, and the government can pay amounts not covered by third parties and be repaid. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard public works funds may be used for these purposes, and any repayment must go back to the same fund that paid the expense. The Secretary may pay HUD’s appraisal and eligibility fees and may arrange for the government to later acquire, at no cost to the government, the land and improvements where the housing was built.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §1594c

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Whenever the Secretary of Defense or his designee determines that it is desirable in order to effectuate the purposes of this title, the Secretary is authorized, without regard to the civil service and classification laws, to procure, by negotiation or otherwise, the services of architects and engineers, or organizations thereof, under such arrangements as he deems desirable, but at an expense not in excess of that permissible under the schedule of fees allowed from time to time by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in connection with projects assisted under the United States Housing Act of 1937, as amended [42 U.S.C. 1437 et seq.]. Such services may include the development of plans, drawings and specifications for family housing under this title and other services in connection therewith: Provided, That such plans, drawings, and specifications may include the use of any project to be constructed under this subchapter of alternate materials or alternate types of construction, including prefabrication, that provide substantially equal value and conform to standards established by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Provided further, That such plans, drawings, and specifications, when developed pursuant to arrangements made under this section after August 7, 1956, shall follow the principle of modular measure, in order that the housing may be built by conventional construction, on-site fabrication, factory precutting, factory fabrication, or any combination of these construction methods: Provided further, That the Secretary of Defense may designate certain sites or parts thereof for family housing to be furnished from prefabricated houses or housing components. Such arrangements may include provision for advance or progress payments, for payment by third parties, for payment by the Government of any such compensation as it not paid for by third parties, and shall include provision for reimbursement by third parties to the Government of any compensation or other expenses paid by the Government pursuant to this section, and may include other provisions for compensation. Any public works appropriations now or hereafter available to the Departments of the Army, Navy, or Air Force or the Coast Guard may be obligated by the respective departments or the Coast Guard for these purposes. Reimbursements to the Government on account of payments made pursuant to this section shall be made to appropriations against which such payments were charged. The Secretary of Defense is further authorized to advance or pay to the Department of Housing and Urban Development its “Appraisal and Eligibility Statement” fees in connection with such family housing. The Secretary of Defense is further authorized to enter into arrangements by contract or otherwise for eventual acquisition by the Government, without cost to the Government of all right, title, and interest in sites on which housing is constructed pursuant to this title and improvements thereon.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This title, referred to in text, means title IV of act Aug. 11, 1955, ch. 783, 69 Stat. 646, which enacted section 1594 and 1594a, 1594b to 1594f of this title, amended section 1720, 1748, and 1748a to 1748g of Title 12, Banks and Banking, and enacted provisions set out as a note under section 1748 of Title 12. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables. The United States Housing Act of 1937, referred to in text, is act Sept. 1, 1937, ch. 896, as revised generally by Pub. L. 93–383, title II, § 201(a), Aug. 22, 1974, 88 Stat. 653, which is classified generally to chapter 8 (§ 1437 et seq.) of this title. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 1437 of this title and Tables.

Amendments

1967—Pub. L. 90–19 substituted “Secretary of Housing and Urban Development” and “Department of Housing and Urban Development” for “Public Housing Administration” and “Federal Housing Administration” in first sentence and first proviso and for “Federal Housing Administration” in penultimate sentence and “Secretary of Defense” for “Secretary” in third proviso and last two sentences, respectively. 1956—Act Aug. 7, 1956, inserted second proviso requiring plans, drawings, and specifications to follow the principle of modular measure, so the housing may be built by conventional

Construction

, on-site fabrication, factory precutting, factory fabrication, or any combination of these

Construction

methods.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of authorities, functions, personnel, and assets of the Coast Guard, including the authorities and functions of the Secretary of Transportation relating thereto, to the Department of Homeland Security, and for treatment of related references, see section 468(b), 551(d), 552(d), and 557 of Title 6, Domestic Security, and the Department of Homeland Security Reorganization Plan of November 25, 2002, as modified, set out as a note under section 542 of Title 6.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 1594c

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102