# Space utilization: Workplace Utilisation Benchmark

> The median published figure in the Workplace Utilisation Benchmark is 37 percent across 4 figures from 2 sources' own pages (range 25 to 49 percent), read 12 October 2026.

Cafmlane · https://cafmlane.com/datasets/workplace-utilisation-benchmark/ · computed 2026-10-18

**Median published figure:** 37 % (range 25 to 49 %; 4 sources with a figure; 2 of 9 sources read publish one).

2 of the 9 named sources read in full publish a figure; 7 publish none, read 12 October 2026.

The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 37 percent across 4).

## By measure

| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| measure headquarters capacity used, 17 of 24 agencies | 25 % | 25 to 25 % | 2 |
| measure headquarters capacity used, upper range | 49 % | 49 to 49 % | 2 |

## Every figure, with its source

One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read.

| Source | Figure | Breakdown | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| [GAO-23-107060 federal buildings underutilised](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-107060) | 49 % | headquarters capacity used, upper range | 2026-10-12 |
| [GAO-24-107006 agencies need new benchmarks](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107006) | 49 % | headquarters capacity used, upper range | 2026-10-12 |
| [GAO-23-107060 federal buildings underutilised](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-107060) | 25 % | headquarters capacity used, 17 of 24 agencies | 2026-10-12 |
| [GAO-24-107006 agencies need new benchmarks](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107006) | 25 % | headquarters capacity used, 17 of 24 agencies | 2026-10-12 |

## The sentence each figure was read from (4)

- [GAO-23-107060 federal buildings underutilised](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-107060), read 2026-10-12: "On the higher range, agencies used an estimated 40 to 49 percent of the capacity of their headquarters on average."
- [GAO-24-107006 agencies need new benchmarks](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107006), read 2026-10-12: "Agencies at the higher end of the range, used an estimated 40 to 49 percent of the capacity of their headquarters on average during these weeks."
- [GAO-23-107060 federal buildings underutilised](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-107060), read 2026-10-12: "Seventeen of the 24 federal agencies in GAO's review used an estimated average 25 percent or less of their headquarters buildings' capacity in a three-week sample period across January, February, and March of 2023."
- [GAO-24-107006 agencies need new benchmarks](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107006), read 2026-10-12: "Seventeen of the 24 federal agencies in the Federal Real Property Council used an estimated average 25 percent or less of their headquarters building's capacity for 1 week in each of January, February, and March of 2023."

## Read in full, publishes no figure

- [GSA Federal Real Property Public Data Set](https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/policy/real-property-policy-division-overview/asset-management/federal-real-property-profile/federal-real-property-public-data-set), read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [FY2024 Federal Real Property Profile public dataset (data.gov)](https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/fy-2024-federal-real-property-profile-frpp-public-dataset), read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [GOV.UK higher education provider estates management data](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/higher-education-provider-estates-management-data-uk-2019-to-2020), read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Government Property Agency workplace design guide](https://gpa.gov.uk/insights/guides/government-workplace-design-guide/), read 2026-09-11: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [Government Property Agency workplace design](https://gpa.gov.uk/places/workplace-design/), read 2026-10-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [GSA our approach to occupancy](https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/our-approach-to-occupancy.pdf), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- [OMB M-25-25 implementation of the USE IT Act](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/M-25-25-Implementation-of-the-Utilizing-Space-Efficiently-and-Improving-Technologies-Act.pdf), read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page

## Methodology

Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2). 2 of the 9 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 7 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 3 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere. The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in % (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 4 figures, never sentences; 0 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded. The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per published benchmark and per reporting body: usable square feet per person (the federal 150 USF design requirement), the occupancy target (60% average over a year for offices over 50,000 USF), the measured utilisation of agency headquarters, the GB public-sector space target per FTE, and the higher-education net-internal-area used for timetabled teaching; the derivation is the COMPARISON nobody publishes - the spread between the benchmark and the measured rate, per estate type and per year, and the changed-since on each release

## Sources

- [GAO-23-107060 federal buildings underutilised](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-107060) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GAO-24-107006 agencies need new benchmarks](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-107006) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GSA Federal Real Property Public Data Set](https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/policy/real-property-policy-division-overview/asset-management/federal-real-property-profile/federal-real-property-public-data-set) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [FY2024 Federal Real Property Profile public dataset (data.gov)](https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/fy-2024-federal-real-property-profile-frpp-public-dataset) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GOV.UK higher education provider estates management data](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/higher-education-provider-estates-management-data-uk-2019-to-2020) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Government Property Agency workplace design guide](https://gpa.gov.uk/insights/guides/government-workplace-design-guide/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [Government Property Agency workplace design](https://gpa.gov.uk/places/workplace-design/) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GSA occupancy and utilization reporting guidelines](https://www.gsa.gov/real-estate/use-it-act-and-occupancy-data/reporting-guidelines) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [GSA our approach to occupancy](https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/our-approach-to-occupancy.pdf) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [OMB M-25-25 implementation of the USE IT Act](https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/M-25-25-Implementation-of-the-Utilizing-Space-Efficiently-and-Improving-Technologies-Act.pdf) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [HESA estates management data](https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/estates) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- [CRS R48718 on the USE IT Act](https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48718) (the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)

## Cite or embed

- The median published figure in the Workplace Utilisation Benchmark is 37 percent across 4 figures from 2 sources' own pages (range 25 to 49 percent), read 12 October 2026.
- 2 of the 9 named sources read in full publish a figure; 7 publish none, read 12 October 2026.
- Workplace Utilisation Benchmark, measure headquarters capacity used, 17 of 24 agencies: median 25 percent across 2 sources, read 12 October 2026.
- Workplace Utilisation Benchmark, measure headquarters capacity used, upper range: median 49 percent across 2 sources, read 12 October 2026.
- The median is unchanged since 26 September 2026 (was 37 percent across 4).

Cite as: "Cafmlane Workplace Utilisation Benchmark", updated 2026-10-18, https://cafmlane.com/datasets/workplace-utilisation-benchmark/.

CSV: https://cafmlane.com/datasets/workplace-utilisation-benchmark.csv
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