More Effective Leasing Procedures and Practices Could Help GSA Reduce Delays in Meeting Federal Space Needs

The General Services Administration (GSA) is responsible for meeting federal agencies' needs for office space and is the central authority for federal space management and leasing. However, GSA often fails to satisfy these needs within its 6-month goal to provide requested space. GAO reviewed three GSA regions to determine the extent of delays in providing space, the reasons for the delays, the effects of the delays, and the actions needed to improve timeliness.

While the average time for delivering space nationwide is about 9 months, GSA took more than 6 months to complete about half of the agency requests for space and in some cases took 2 to 3.5 years to provide space. Delays in acquiring leased space are primarily due to: (1) GSA administrative review and oversight procedures and socioeconomic and life-safety requirements which have prolonged and complicated the leasing process; (2) the failure of GSA leasing resources to increase at a pace commensurate with the increased use and complexity of leasing; and (3) the tight lease market in several major cities. Delays in meeting agency space needs sometimes adversely affect agency operations. When agencies have to maintain and operate offices at dispersed locations, the result is excessive commuting and loss of productivity. The monetary costs of these effects are not known. Delays have also caused holdover tenancy situations wherein the government continues to occupy space without the benefit of a lease contract and may have to pay extra costs when the lease is renewed. Although the responsibility for leasing activities was centralized in GSA about 30 years ago, it has not issued a governmentwide regulation on the leasing of real property, nor has it monitored the procedures and practices of agencies with delegated leasing authority. At the completion of the GAO review, GSA was developing a governmentwide leasing regulation which would provide for the systematic monitoring of agency leasing policies and procedures.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: James G. Mitchell Team: General Accounting Office: Procurement, Logistics, and Readiness Division Phone: (202) 275-4128