GSA's Guidance and Oversight Concerning Areawide Utility Contracts

Gao ID: GAO-02-56R December 17, 2001

In a September 2001 report, GAO found that the District of Columbia school system used a utility contract with the Washington Gas Light Company to obtain $43 million worth of general facility improvements and maintenance--work that was outside the scope of the contract. GAO found that the General Service Administration's (GSA) guidance does not adequately indicate that, when the utility is not the only available source, services ordered under areawide contracts must be provided by the utility acting in its capacity as a public utility. In addition, GSA lacked oversight of the school system's use of the contract and was unaware of the scope of work ordered under it, largely because neither the school system nor Washington Gas complied with GSA's reporting requirements.

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: William T. Woods Team: Government Accountability Office: Acquisition and Sourcing Management Phone: (617) 788-0555


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