U.S. Department of Transportation
Facilities
National Office Space Design Standard Policy (Order 4330.3) and Implementation
On March 25, 2015, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a memorandum to federal agencies to promote improvements in the management and disposal of real property. A key action required agencies to “...issue a policy that specifies a design standard for maximum useable square feet by workstation for use in the design of owned and leased domestic office space, including GSA [General Services Administration] occupancy agreements that it occupies.” The policy was due by March 25, 2016, one year from the date of the memorandum.
For context: Nationally, the Department of Transportation (DOT) owns or leases close to 31 million square feet of space in buildings that serve diverse functions to support the varied missions of each of the nine Operating Administrations (OA) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG). Space is inventoried in six space types directed by the Federal Real Property criteria (School, Lab, Navigation, Traffic/Aids, Office, Warehouse, and All Other). While DOT’s 55,000 employees are housed in several of the space types, over 10 million square feet is designated as Office space. Each year, OMB and GSA monitor DOT’s utilization of its Office and Warehouse space as part of the federal ‘Reduce the Footprint’ strategic initiative.
To develop DOT’s Office Space Design Standard Policy, the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) led a collaborative process with representatives from each OA, OIG, and OST. On May 17, 2016, DOT issued its Office Space Design Standard Policy (DOT Order 4330.3). The Order provides for an ‘all in’ utilization rate of 150 to 190 useable square feet per workstation and guidance for DOT office/work space allocations by position and/or business function. Further, the policy outlines a work space reduction target to account for telework and other flexible work schedules that reduce peak use occupancy. With the exception of offices within special use and technical spaces, workspaces will only be provided for ninety percent (0.90) of total peak use occupants.
To drive compliance, Policy Implementation Guidelines (Guidelines) were due by August 31, 2106 to OST’s Director, Office of Facilities, Information, and Asset Management. As of September 12, 2016, Guideline documents for the following groups have been completed: OST, FRA, FMCSA, and PHMSA. The remaining Operating Administrations and OIG continue to complete their respective Guidelines.
DOT’s new Office Space Design Standard Policy is important as it:
1. Promotes national consistency in the use of DOT’s owned and leased office space
2. Assists to achieve performance targets to reduce office space
2. Fosters equity in allocation of work space within OAs, OIG, and OST
3. Provides a baseline to drive space consolidations required by staff growth in some OAs as well as opportunities for lease consolation among DOT organizations or with other federal agencies.
Attached: Order 4330.3 and reference documents.
Office of the SecretarySeptember 2016
Office of Facilities, Information, and Asset Management (M-90)