Building Purchases

GSA's Program Is Successful but Better Policies and Procedures Are Needed Gao ID: GGD-90-5 October 31, 1989

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the General Services Administration's (GSA) Building Purchase Program (BPP) to determine whether: (1) the program's policies and procedures ensured that GSA used funds effectively; and (2) GSA ensured that purchased buildings met federal agencies' needs for quality space and GSA needs for minimum life-cycle operating costs.

GAO found that: (1) 7 of the 10 commercial office buildings GSA purchased under BPP were modern, high-quality buildings in cities where the federal government expected to maintain a long-term presence; (2) GSA purchased the seven buildings for about $167 million, or about 11 percent less than their total appraised values of $187 million; and (3) 3 of the 10 commercial office buildings did not meet the structural or cost-saving standards achieved by the other 7 buildings. GAO also found that the GSA BPP order did not: (1) adequately define what construction services were integral to a building purchase; (2) provide guidance on when or for how long construction contracts may be modified; (3) limit construction services to those provided by building owners; or (4) define the coordination and pre-occupancy planning GSA and the occupying agencies should follow, resulting in delayed occupancy in half the purchases and additional interim housing costs of at least $1.9 million. In addition, GAO found that: (1) for three purchases where the buildings' sellers would not do the needed construction, GSA used third parties in the purchase contracts at additional cost and improperly avoided the competition requirements of the Competition in Contracting Act of 1984 (CICA) and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); and (2) GSA did not have quality criteria for purchases of special-purpose space.

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.

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