Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > General Services Administration

The General Services Administration (GSA) was established by section 101 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.A. § 751). The GSA sets policy for and manages government property and records. More specifically, GSA duties include the construction and operation of buildings; procurement and distribution of supplies; utilization and disposal of property; management of transportation, traffic, and communications; and management of the government's automatic data processing resources program. Like a large business conglomerate, the GSA conducts business in many different areas and operates on different levels of organization: the central Washington, D.C., office, 11 regional offices, and field activities.

The GSA is a large organization, the structure of which consists of several tiers of administrators, offices, bureaus, and support agencies. The first level in the hierarchy of the GSA consists of...