Section 3 is a provision under the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Act which the  encourages local development, neighborhood improvement,  individual independence, and discourages segregation. It is a legal and governmental approach for providing jobs for residents and awarding contracts to companies in areas that receive HUD financial assistance. In a nutshell, the Section 3 requirements for certain construction projects in HUD assisted area aim to maximize financial opportunities to section 3 residents and business in a given construction area. Section 3 residents are typically low income (below 80% of median income in that area) and publicly housed. Section 3 forms are often included in the bidding documents or contract, which require the contractor to pledge its past and/or present commitment to recruiting section 3 employees for a given project that occurs in or near a section 3 HUD funded area.

 

A Non-Segregated Facilities Certification is an agreement served by the project owner on the contractor as an agreement that certifies that segregated facilities (housing, dining, work areas, break areas, etc) at any of their places of business or construction projects. A breach of this certification is a violation of federal EEO laws.