Department of Defense

Unified Facilities Criteria Program

The Department of Defense (DoD) initiated the Unified Facilities Criteria Program to unify all technical criteria (UFCs) and guide specifications (UFGS) pertaining to planning, design, construction, and operation and maintenance of real property facilities. The program streamlines the military criteria system by eliminating duplication of information, increasing reliance on private-sector standards, and creating a more efficient criteria development and publishing process. Administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (HQUSACE), Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC), and the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC), the UFC Program organizes numerous working groups with one or more experts from each participating organization to develop the technical publications. Further information on the UFC program can be found in MIL-STD-3007 and in the UFC program reportDownload UFC_FY2024_Program_Review.pdf from the last fiscal year. UFC 1-300-01 and UFS 1-300-02 also provide information on developing UFC documents.

Previously, each service had its own publishing system resulting in criteria being disseminated in different formats. UFC and UFGS documents have a uniform format and a standardized numbering scheme. Though unification of all DOD criteria is the ultimate goal, there are instances when a particular document may not apply to all services, or some documents may have not been fully revised to reflect all service requirements before being issued in the system. See the introduction to the UFC and UFGS document libraries for more information.

In 1989, DoD adopted the Construction Criteria Base (CCB) information system as the official distribution method for facilities criteria. Over the years, the military services have been instrumental in the advancement of CCB and in 2003 adopted its evolution into the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG).

Publications, Guidelines & Directives

The documents below are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs.

• DoD Unified Facilities Criteria Program FY2023 Program ReviewDownload ufc_fy2023_program_review.pdf  (Posted 03-2024)
• Memorandum of Understanding for the Specifications-Kept-Intact (SpecsIntact) SystemDownload specsintact_mou_091614.pdf  (09-16-2014)
• Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Memorandum: DoD Sustainable Buildings PolicyDownload dod_sustainable_buildings_policy.pdf  (11-10-2013)
• Memorandum of Army Sustainable Design and Development Policy Update - SPiRiT to LEED TransitionDownload asaie_sdd_policy_upd.pdf  (01-05-2006)
• Memorandum of Understanding for the Unified Facilities Guide SpecificationsDownload ufgs_moa.pdf  (03-14-2005)
• Tri-Service Coordination SheetDownload coord.pdf
• Navy Coordination SheetsDownload navy_coord.pdf
• Memorandum of Agreement for the Whole Building Design GuideDownload wbdg_moa.pdf  (10-08-2003)
• Working Groups CharterDownload dwg_charter.pdf  (09-23-2003)
• Memorandum on Department of Defense Unified Facilities CriteriaDownload ufc_implementation.pdf  (05-29-2002)
• Memorandum of Understanding on Unified Design GuidanceDownload udg_mou.pdf  (07-08-1998)
• Tri-Service Design Guidance Coordinating Panel CharterDownload tsdgcp_charter.pdf  (07-08-1998)

Informational Videos

The videos below are available in MP4 format for universal compatibility.

• DWG Roles & Responsibilities (08-26-2025)
• How to Submit a CCR (09-03-2025)