U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) issued new directives for sensitive but unclassified building information that will restrict the availability only to those people who have a "need to know." Electronic and print documents containing a wide range of information that could benefit terrorist attackers may not be made available to the public and must be destroyed or properly archived after use, according to an order issued March 8 by GSA Public Buildings Service Commissioner F. Joseph Moravec.

The order specifies building designs, construction/renovation documents, equipment plans and locations, building operating plans, and building-service contracts for all GSA owned and leased facilities. Examples of sensitive but unclassified building information are location of secure functions, such as judges' chambers and secure-circulation paths in courthouses, location of utilities and building-control systems, structural information, and security systems and strategies.

Because GSA also has the responsibility for maintaining open access to work for building tenants, architects, engineers, contractors, and related entities, the order sets out three principles for dissemination and use of sensitive building information:
• Only give the information to those who have a need to know
• Keep records of who received the information
• Safeguard the information during use and destroy it properly after use.

In electronic or print, each page of sensitive but unclassified facility-related documents from GSA will carry a prominent stamp, "for official use only" or "distribution . . . to unauthorized users is prohibited." Architects and others under contract to GSA are obligated in turn to restrict access to their consultants and subcontractors under the three principles above.

The GSA will release documents only if they have a Document Security Notice on file, which asks for a copy of a valid business license or other documentation granted by the state or local jurisdiction to conduct business, verification of a valid DUNS number (from Dun & Bradstreet), a valid IRS tax ID number, and, as necessary, a valid picture state driver's license.

Recipients of the GSA-facility information must agree to safeguard them against unauthorized use for as long as they need to have them, and to destroy the documents when that term of use is over.

Copyright 2002 The American Institute of Architects. All rights reserved.