Bill aims to shred red tape for Buy America housing funds access

On Tuesday, lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives introduced the Build American Efficiency Act, a bill designed to make it easier for homebuilders, manufacturers and HUD funding recipients to comply with Build America, Buy America (BABA) rules on federally backed housing projects.

BABA, enacted as part of the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, requires that iron, steel, construction materials and manufactured products used in federally funded infrastructure and construction projects be produced in the United States. 

For developers and builders, those domestic sourcing mandates mainly affect HUD-supported and other federally assisted construction and rehabilitation projects. 

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) introduced the legislation on Tuesday with Real Estate Caucus co-chairs Reps. Mark Alford (R-Mo.) and Tracey Mann (R-KS)., along with Reps. Brad Finstad (R-MN) and Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), according to an announcement.

Homebuilders and developers have warned that BABA implementation can slow projects, add documentation costs and create uncertainty about product eligibility, particularly as HUD and other agencies finalize guidance. For developers relying on HUD programs or other federal funds, the ability to quickly prove materials compliance can be the difference between a viable capital stack and a stalled deal.

The Build American Efficiency Act would not change BABA’s underlying domestic content requirements. Instead, it focuses on how homebuilders and their suppliers can document compliance by doing the following:

• Clarifying HUD authority: The legislation would confirm that the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development can recognize “auditable and verifiable” systems that document products meeting BABA domestic content rules.
• Recognizing process standards: The bill would allow HUD to treat documentation generated under the Make It American Process Standard, or similar standards with auditable certification processes, as sufficient evidence of domestic content compliance.
• Simplifying product selection: The text aims to help manufacturers, builders and funding recipients more easily identify which products satisfy BABA requirements, potentially reducing the need for one-off determinations.
• Cutting paperwork and waivers: The policy reform seeks to reduce time spent on waiver requests, duplicative documentation and uncertainty over which products have been approved, which can delay starts and draws.
• Maintaining flexibility: The legislation states that HUD cannot mandate the use of any single database and does not bar recipients from using other lawful methods to certify compliance.

“I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing this bipartisan bill to speed up the building of new homes,” Correa said in an announcement, arguing that the bill would “cut red tape” while keeping requirements to use American-made construction materials.

Mann said the proposal is meant to help builders and manufacturers “navigate complicated federal compliance requirements without sacrificing our commitment to American-made products,” by allowing HUD to recognize systems that identify BABA-compliant materials and “reduce unnecessary delays” in getting homes built.

Alford said the bill clarifies that HUD can recognize auditable, verifiable databases such as the Make It American Process Standard to document compliant products, while emphasizing that it “does not mandate any database” but instead “gives builders better tools so we can build more American homes faster with American products.”

Why this matters for builders and developers

For production and infill builders that rely on HUD-assisted projects, tax-exempt bonds, HOME, CDBG or other federally sourced funds, BABA compliance has become a growing operational risk. The need to trace domestic content for thousands of SKUs, coordinate with manufacturers and respond to agency audits can slow procurement and add soft costs, particularly on multifamily and mixed-use projects.

If enacted as described, the Build American Efficiency Act could give HUD clearer authority to endorse third-party, auditable databases or process standards for documenting compliant materials. That could allow builders and their purchasing teams to rely more on pre-vetted product lists and standardized certifications instead of case-by-case paperwork.

For manufacturers that serve residential construction, inclusion in recognized BABA-compliant systems could become a competitive differentiator for winning business on HUD-backed and other federally assisted housing deals. At the same time, the bill’s flexibility language signals that builders could continue to use separate documentation paths if a particular product or supplier is not yet captured in a database.

The bill now heads to the House committee process, where homebuilding and manufacturing trade groups are likely to weigh in on how HUD should structure any recognized systems and how burdens are allocated among builders, suppliers and owners.