Military Housing Innovation Act

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

<DOC>

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.
                                 <all>