Tens of millions of Americans with disabilities who visit or work in federal office buildings may not know they have a legal right to file accessibility complaints, a gap that a new GAO report says the General Services Administration (GSA) has not publicized. The report, "Federal Real Property: GSA Should Publicize Accessibility Complaint Process for Its Office Buildings," found that almost all of the industry stakeholders, federal employee unions, and disability advocates interviewed said the public is generally unaware it can file federal building accessibility complaints under the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 (ABA). Because the U.S. Access Board, the independent federal agency that enforces the ABA, relies on complaints rather than inspections to identify potential violations, accessibility barriers in GSA buildings may go unremedied when the public does not know to report them.

The ABA requires that certain GSA office buildings be accessible to individuals with physical disabilities, and GSA reviews alteration, leasing, and construction projects throughout the design process for compliance with its ABA Accessibility Standard. GSA owns or leases more than 6,000 office buildings used by federal employees and the public, making the scope of potential accessibility gaps substantial. Those buildings serve as courthouses, Social Security offices, veterans' service centers, and other facilities where members of the public, including people with disabilities, routinely conduct official business.

The Board generally relies on complaints it receives through its complaint process to learn about potential ABA violations, a posture driven by resource constraints, according to Board officials. From October 2022 to June 2026, the Board received 41 ABA complaints about GSA office buildings, closed 25, and still has 16 in process. Some stakeholders who were aware of the process said it was effective in addressing ABA complaints, but that awareness itself is the central problem the report identifies.

GAO conducted site visits to six GSA office buildings with open and closed ABA complaints and with recent construction, alteration, and leasing projects, including the 2306/2312 Bannister Road Federal Building in Kansas City, Missouri, and the Eaglecrest Building in Memphis, Tennessee, which is leased by GSA. GAO also interviewed nine stakeholders, including representatives from industry organizations, federal employee unions, and disability advocates, as well as GSA and Board officials.

The report was mandated by Section 2308 of the Thomas R. Carper Water Resources Development Act of 2024, Public Law 118-272, which directed GAO to report on ABA compliance across all GSA office buildings.

GAO issued one recommendation, directed to the Administrator of the General Services Administration: take steps to increase awareness of the ABA process for filing complaints about accessibility barriers in GSA office buildings, with posting signs at building entry areas cited as one example. GSA agreed with the recommendation, though its status remains open, meaning actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not yet been taken or are being planned.

Advocates and oversight watchers can track the recommendation's status through Legis1, which monitors federal agency responses to GAO findings.

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