Military Housing Innovation Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9564 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 9564

 To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study on the use of point-access block design for military construction
                   projects, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 30, 2026

Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Lawler) introduced the following bill;
         which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 To require the Comptroller General of the United States to conduct a
study on the use of point-access block design for military construction
                   projects, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Military Housing Innovation Act''.

SEC. 2. STUDY ON UNIFIED FACILITIES CRITERIA GUIDELINES RELATING TO
              MODEL HOUSING CODES.

    (a) Study.--Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States, in coordination
with the Director of the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Housing and
Urban Development shall conduct a study that examines the costs and
benefits associated with revising the Unified Facilities Criteria/DoD
Building Code (UFC 1-200-01) to allow the use of point-access block
design for covered projects.
    (b) Contents.--The study required by subsection (a) shall--
            (1) quantify, to the extent possible, how such a revision
        would--
                    (A) increase the quality of available and
                affordable military housing through the construction of
                new military housing;
                    (B) have an effect on the rental housing market
                located near military installations;
                    (C) result in a reduction in the amount expended
                for the basic allowance for subsistence under section
                402 of title 37, United States Code;
                    (D) result in fewer members of the Armed Forces
                seeking private housing by reducing barriers to
                building additional units of covered military
                unaccompanied housing (as defined in section 2856 of
                title 10, United States Code) or military family
                housing;
                    (E) affect design and construction costs of covered
                military unaccompanied housing in the United States or
                military family housing that is Government-owned and
                Government-controlled in the United States; and
                    (F) improve the feasibility of commencing covered
                projects on sites or lots that would otherwise be
                difficult to develop;
            (2) assess, with respect to the use of point-access block
        design--
                    (A) life safety outcomes, including a comparison of
                such outcomes with outcomes in covered projects that
                does not use point-access block design; and
                    (B) fire safety improvements, including sprinkler
                coverage, smoke detection, ventilation, and building
                egress performance; and
            (3) compare the fire loss outcomes for covered projects
        that use point-access block design with covered projects that
        do not use point-access block design.
    (c) Report.--Not later than two years after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General, in coordination with
the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the
Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Housing and Urban
Development shall provide to the Committees on Armed Services of the
House of Representatives and the Senate a report on the study conducted
under subsection (a) that includes--
            (1) a summary of actions that the Secretary of Defense may
        take to update the Unified Facilities Criteria/DoD Building
        Code (UFC 1-200-01) to allow the use of point-access block
        design for military construction projects; and
            (2) any other recommendations relating to the use of point-
        access block design for military construction projects.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``covered project'' means a residential or
        mixed use military construction project (as defined under
        section 2801 of title 10, United States Code).
            (2) The term ``military family housing'' means housing
        provided under subchapter II of chapter 169 of title 10, United
        States Code.
            (3) The term ``point-access block building'' means a Group
        R-2 occupancy residential structure, as such term is defined by
        the most recent edition of the International Building Code, in
        which a single internal stairway provides access and egress for
        all dwelling units in a building that is not greater than six
        stories in height.
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