Report 2011-116.1 Recommendation 11 Responses

Report 2011-116.1: Department of General Services: The Division of the State Architect Lacks Enforcement Authority and Has Weak Oversight Procedures, Increasing the Risk That School Construction Projects May Be Unsafe (Release Date: December 2011)

Recommendation #11 To: General Services, Department of

To ensure that it formally monitors inspectors' performance, the division should reestablish a process for evaluating inspectors that provides consistent documentation of performance. The division should make this information accessible to appropriate staff.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2013

The objective of this recommendation has been achieved through DSA taking significant additional actions to monitor and document whether project inspectors are sufficiently fulfilling their duties as prescribed in statute and regulations. The actions taken by DSA related to monitoring inspector performance include initiating a process for review of project inspector recordkeeping and conducting staff training for field engineers who interact with project inspectors. Further, as part of its outreach and training for project inspectors, DSA has updated its guidelines for project inspector recordkeeping and reporting duties. DSA also developed enhancements to its automated project tracking system that allow the field engineer to document project inspector completion of reporting duties throughout the duration of a construction project.

In addition, as previously noted, on June 1, 2013, an inspection card process was implemented for all new construction projects. The implementation of this process included DSA providing detailed requirements related to a project inspector's role in ensuring the success of this key construction inspection activity. The inspectors are held responsible and accountable for complying with the requirements.

Overall, the current process allows inspector performance to be monitored based on information from job file reviews of required activities rather than information of a more subjective nature.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

The division provided evidence of increased efforts to monitor the performance of project inspectors during a project. Further, the divsion's job file review checklist indicates that, during a field visit, division staff will review the project inspector's files for evidence of continuous inspection and for completed semi-monthly reports.

1-Year Agency Response

General Services outlines a number of actions the division has taken to track inspector performance, including establishing a process for reviewing inspector recordkeeping, and enhancing its automated tracking system to allow field engineers to document project inspectors' completion of reporting duties throughout the duration of projects. Although these changes provide the division with additional information on inspector performance, General Services did not indicate when it would reestablish an inspector evaluation process. (See 2013-406, p. 43)

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented

All Recommendations in 2011-116.1

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.