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Public Buildings Service Public Buildings Service

Office of the PBS Commissioner
(202) 501-1100
Fax (202) 219-2310


The mission of GSA's Public Buildings Service (PBS) is providing superior workplaces for federal customer agencies at good economies to the American taxpayer.

All PBS assets (which include human capital, technological resources and physical assets) are deployed in two fundamental activities.

  • Space acquisition through new construction or leasing. This is a project management activity that translates customer agency's space needs into discrete requirements, marshals the resources necessary to fulfill the requirements and manages the execution of the project, resulting in the delivery of workspace.
  • Life cycle asset management of the acquired space. This includes:
    • physical supervision of the buildings in the portfolio;
    • fulfillment of contractual obligations to our customer agencies;
    • ensuring continuation of operations cycle-asset management of the acquired space;
    • ensuring continuity of operations;
    • determining prudent investment in maintaining a property, and;
    • ultimately, when and by what means an asset will be divided.

PBS is the largest public real estate organization in the country. PBS has an inventory of over 352 million square feet of workspace for 1.1 million federal employees in 2,100 American communities. This comprises over 1,500 government-owned buildings, or approximately 51 percent of GSA's total inventory. The remaining 49 percent is in privately owned leased facilities.

Through the internationally recognized Design and Construction Excellence programs, PBS engages the best private sector architects, construction managers, and engineers to design and build award-winning courthouses, border stations, federal office buildings, laboratories, and data processing centers. It works to restore and maintain the vitality of communities where GSA has a presence.

PBS leases space to federal customer agencies. PBS also repairs, alters, and renovates existing facilities. It has over 100 child care centers. PBS is also responsible for the disposal of property not only for GSA, but for other federal agencies. PBS is a leader in energy conservation, sustainability, recycling, and historic preservation--maintaining more than 400 historic properties in the federal government's inventory. PBS commissions the country's most talented artists to create artwork for new federal buildings and conserves a substantial inventory of artwork from the past. Eleven regional PBS offices, located in major metropolitan centers across the country, deliver comprehensive real estate services.

PBS collects rent from federal tenants, which is deposited into the Federal Buildings Fund, the principal funding mechanism for PBS.

Each GSA office building, laboratory, and courthouse is a symbol of America's democracy, and a significant public investment that must contribute to the vitality of its neighboring community. PBS aims to be the provider of choice for federal agencies, to be easy to do business with, to help federal agencies use real estate more efficiently, and to provide lasting value in everything it does.

PBS Useful Sites

The shortcut to this page is www.gsa.gov/pbs.