The USE IT Act requires VA to measure how much of its office space is actually used, building by building and lease by lease, and to report those numbers every year. Space that stays under 60 percent utilization for two years in a row can be consolidated or given up. What the law does not do is reach into VA's hospitals, clinics, or clinical space. For most VA facility and space management teams, the act is narrower than the headlines suggest, but the data discipline it demands is not.

That gap between what people assume and what the law actually says has caused real confusion on VA campuses. Some teams worry that a utilization formula built for federal office towers is about to be applied to inpatient units. Others assume that because hospitals are exempt, none of this concerns them. Neither is quite right. Here is what the act requires, where its limits are, and what it means for the way VA space data should be kept.

A Quick Look at the Law

The Utilizing Space Efficiently and Improving Technologies Act, usually shortened to the USE IT Act, was signed into law on January 4, 2025, as part of a larger water resources bill. It grew out of years of GAO findings that federal buildings were badly underused. In a 2023 review, GAO found that most large agencies were using a quarter or less of their headquarters capacity on an average day.

The act applies to the 24 agencies covered by the Chief Financial Officers Act, which includes VA. It does three main things.

First, it sets one government-wide way to measure utilization. Capacity is a space's usable square footage divided by a benchmark of 150 usable square feet per person. Occupancy is the number of employees actually working on site. Divide occupancy by capacity and you get the utilization rate. A 3,000 square foot office has a capacity of 20 people. If 10 are there on an average day, it is 50 percent utilized.

Second, it requires agencies to collect real attendance data instead of counting assigned seats. GSA published a list of approved collection methods, including badge systems, daily check-in surveys, occupancy sensors, Wi-Fi data, reservation systems, timecard analysis, and manual counts. Agencies had until July 2025 to have their approach in place.

Third, it attaches consequences to the numbers. Each year, GSA must tell Congress which spaces fell below 60 percent utilization and what that excess space costs. If a building or lease stays under 60 percent for two consecutive years, GSA, working with OMB, must take steps to reduce it through consolidation, relocation, or disposal. Very low performers get extra scrutiny: spaces with capacity for 500 or more employees and utilization below 20 percent must be reported to the agency's inspector general.

What the Act Does Mean for VA

VA is in scope, and it is already acting on the data. Agencies reported their first full year of utilization numbers to Congress in March 2026. According to GAO's October 2026 review of that first cycle, no federal agency reached 60 percent utilization across its whole portfolio. VA officials told GAO they used their USE IT Act data to help validate a lease reduction of almost 150,000 square feet, which they expect to save about $9.7 million a year.

That example is a good indicator of where the act will bite at VA. It is aimed at office space: regional office buildings, leased administrative space, business offices, and similar locations where staff sit at desks. If your facility or VISN holds leases for administrative functions, those leases are likely being measured right now.

The calendar matters, too. The 2026 report was the first year of data. The 2027 report will be the second. Under the act, spaces that report below 60 percent for a second consecutive year are the ones GSA is required to start reducing. For any VA office location that came in low this year, the next twelve months are the window to either improve utilization or prepare to explain why the number does not tell the whole story.

The act also changes how new office space gets planned. OMB's implementation guidance directs agencies to allocate no more than 150 square feet per person for newly acquired office space, with some exceptions. VA teams planning new leases or renovations for administrative functions should expect that benchmark to come up in review.

What the Act Doesn't Mean for VA

This is where most of the confusion lives.

It does not cover VA hospitals. The act's reporting requirements apply to "public buildings," as defined in federal property law, and to federally leased space. GAO noted in its October 2026 report that this definition leaves out a large share of federal property, including military installations, overseas buildings, and veterans' hospitals. A VA medical center is not going to be measured against a 60 percent office benchmark because its inpatient floors are empty at night.

It does not cover clinical or specialized space. Even in buildings that are in scope, GSA's guidelines only count "typical office space" in the capacity figure. That includes workstations, private offices, hallways, conference rooms, break rooms, and staff-only reception areas. It leaves out labs, data centers, warehouses, secure storage, locker rooms, occupational health units, and public-facing waiting areas. For a VA outpatient clinic in leased space, the exam rooms and patient waiting areas are not supposed to be in the utilization math at all.

It does not replace VA's other space reporting. The USE IT Act sits alongside VA's own systems, not on top of them. Capital Asset Inventory reporting, space planning criteria, and the Strategic Capital Investment Planning process all continue on their own terms. The USE IT Act answers a narrower question: how many people are actually using the office space VA pays for?

It does not mean every low number leads to a cut. GSA officials told GAO they do not intend to make space reduction decisions on USE IT Act data alone. They said mission needs and the cost of reconfiguring space will also factor in. The law itself allows OMB to grant exceptions when an agency shows it needs higher levels of non-standard space for its mission, such as warehouse or lab space.

And the rules are not final in every detail. In its first year, agencies raised concerns that the guidelines count non-work areas like kitchens and auditoriums, and non-work days like federal holidays, in ways that drag utilization rates down. In July 2026, GSA sent OMB recommendations to count only spaces where employees can reasonably be expected to work and to exclude days when buildings are closed. As of October 2026, it was not clear whether those changes would be adopted.

Where VA Teams Can Still Get Caught Out

Exemptions are only useful if you can prove where they apply. That turns out to be harder than it sounds on a typical VA campus.

Think about a medical center with a mix of buildings: the main hospital, an older building converted to administrative offices, a leased business office a few miles away, and an outpatient clinic in a strip mall. Which of these are in scope, and which parts of each one count as typical office space? The answer depends on how each building is classified, whether it is owned or leased, and how every room in it is actually being used today.

Mixed-use buildings are the hard part. A floor might hold clinic space at one end and a cluster of administrative offices at the other. A room that started as a staff office might now be a patient education room open to the public. If your room inventory still shows the old function, your office square footage, and therefore your capacity and utilization rate, will be wrong.

The math makes this more than a technicality. Every 150 square feet of space wrongly counted as office space adds one person to capacity. If clinical rooms or public waiting areas creep into the office figure, capacity goes up, utilization goes down, and a location that is actually well used can show up on a list for reduction. GAO found that some agencies reported data that did not follow GSA's guidelines, sometimes including spaces they should have left out and sometimes leaving out spaces they should have included. Either mistake skews the result.

Because scope rules for campus buildings are not always obvious, VA teams should confirm with their real property office which buildings and leases are being reported, and on what basis. That conversation goes much faster when you can show exactly how each building's space is broken down.

Why Room-Level Space Data Is the Real Requirement

The USE IT Act talks about badges, sensors, and attendance. But the denominator in every utilization rate is square footage, and that number comes from your space records. If the records are wrong, better attendance data does not fix the result.

What VA teams need is a way to answer three questions for any building or lease, on demand: How much usable space is there? How much of it is typical office space under GSA's definition? And which rooms make up that office figure? That requires room-level records with current functions, tied to accurate floor plans, so that office space can be added up from the rooms rather than estimated from a building total.

This matters even more while the guidelines are still moving. If OMB adopts GSA's recommendation to count only spaces where employees can reasonably be expected to work, every agency will need to recalculate office square footage under a new definition. A team with room-level data tied to drawings can rerun that number in an afternoon. A team working from building totals in a spreadsheet will be starting over.

It is the same principle behind keeping CAI space data current all year instead of reconciling it at reporting time. The records you maintain for one reporting requirement should be able to answer the next one without a rebuild.

What VA Space Teams Can Do Now

None of this requires a major new program. Most of it is getting clear on scope and tightening the records you already have.

Start by listing every building and lease your facility or VISN controls and marking which ones are in USE IT Act reporting. Confirm that list with whoever submits VA's data, rather than assuming. Then, for each in-scope location, check that your office square footage is built from current room functions. Pay special attention to rooms whose use has changed since your last space survey, and to anything that might be public-facing or clinical.

Next, look at your locations that came in under 60 percent in the 2026 report. For each one, figure out whether the low number reflects real underuse, a space classification problem, or a data collection gap. Those are three different fixes. Real underuse might call for consolidating teams or giving back part of a lease. A classification problem calls for correcting the records. A collection gap, such as badge readers that miss some entrances, calls for a better counting method.

Finally, plan for the guidelines to change. Keep your space data detailed enough that you can recalculate office square footage under a different definition without resurveying buildings.

VLogic works with VA facilities on exactly this kind of space data. Space Management keeps room functions, classifications, and measured areas on records linked to current floor plans, so office square footage can be pulled for any building at any time. Architectural Field Verification confirms that drawings and room uses match what is actually on site, which is often the first step when a utilization number looks wrong. And for teams that want a clearer picture of how office space is used day to day, VLogic's desk booking and utilization analytics add attendance insight on top of the space record. VLogic is FedRAMP Authorized and implements with its own in-house team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the USE IT Act apply to VA medical centers?

The act's requirements apply to public buildings and federally leased space, a definition that GAO notes excludes veterans' hospitals. VA office space in other buildings and leases is generally in scope. Because campus buildings can be classified in different ways, VA teams should confirm with their real property office which buildings are included in reporting.

What counts as office space under the USE IT Act?

GSA's guidelines define "typical office space" to include workstations, private offices, hallways, conference rooms, training rooms, break rooms, staff reception areas, and auditoriums. Labs, data centers, warehouses, secure storage, locker rooms, occupational health units, and public-facing waiting areas are excluded.

How is USE IT Act utilization calculated?

Capacity equals usable square footage divided by 150 square feet per person. The utilization rate is the average number of employees working on site divided by that capacity. A space at 60 percent or higher meets the act's threshold.

What happens if a VA office space falls below 60 percent?

GSA reports spaces under 60 percent to Congress each year along with the cost of the excess space. If a space stays below 60 percent for two consecutive years, GSA and OMB must take steps to reduce it, such as consolidation or disposal. GSA has said these decisions will also consider mission needs and reconfiguration costs.

Does the USE IT Act replace VA's Capital Asset Inventory reporting?

No. CAI reporting, VA space planning, and capital investment planning continue separately. The USE IT Act adds a narrower measure focused on how much office space is occupied by employees on site.

Are the USE IT Act reporting rules final?

Not entirely. In July 2026, GSA recommended that OMB change how non-work areas and non-work days are counted. As of October 2026, it was not clear whether or when those changes would be adopted, so teams should keep space data detailed enough to recalculate under new rules.

Get Ahead of the Second Reporting Year

The 2027 report is the one that can trigger space reductions. If you are not sure your office square footage reflects how your rooms are actually used, now is the time to find out. Talk with VLogic about your VA space data and see how room-level records can make your USE IT Act numbers easier to trust and easier to defend.