Report 2011-116.1 Recommendation 4 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 #4 To: General Services, Department of

To reduce the number of uncertified projects, the division should implement initiatives to follow up with school districts on uncertified projects. Those initiatives should include, at a minimum, regularly sending each district a list of its uncertified projects and assessing the success of the division's follow-up efforts.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2013

As noted in previous status reports, DSA has taken numerous actions to ensure that uncertified projects are identified, followed up and tracked until resolution. These actions include implementing an outreach plan that contains provisions for notifying school districts of their uncertified projects and regularly communicating with districts on those projects. DSA also engaged with school districts that had uncertified projects with evidence of unresolved safety deficiencies and conducted site visits to each of those projects as part of its outreach efforts.

Additionally, in October 2013, DSA has created a CertificationBox (DSA's cloud based internet solution) with folders for all uncertified projects and invited school districts to collaborate on their projects. DSA posted the items required for the project to be certified within specific folders under the school district, campus and application number. The school district has the ability to submit the required documents over the internet to the appropriate location. The submitter, date and document information is tracked by DSA. The system allows metrics to be run to capture activity and to maintain a record of progress of certification.

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

General Services stated that the division has implemented an outreach plan that includes regular communication with school districts about uncertified projects. In April 2012, the State Architect sent school superintendents a letter that advised them of the outreach effort. According to that letter, the State Architect plans to send letters to all school districts with uncertified school construction projects. The letter also said that each notification will include the names of the uncertified projects and the original closing letters that state why the State Architect was unable to certify the projects. According to the department, beginning on June 1, 2012, the division sent out copies of the original closing letters for more than 9,000 uncertified projects and will continue with outreach efforts for the remaining uncertified projects. Finally, as it states above, the division set up an online system that provides information on uncertified projects and allows districts to submit correspondence related to these projects.

1-Year Agency Response

General Services stated that the division has implemented an outreach plan that includes regular communication with school districts about uncertified projects. In April 2012 the State Architect sent school superintendents a letter that advised them of the outreach effort. According to that letter, the State Architect plans to send letters to all school districts with uncertified school construction projects. The letter also said that each notification will include the names of the uncertified projects and the original closing letters that state why the State Architect was unable to certify the projects. According to General Services, beginning on June 1, 2012, the division sent out copies of the original closing letters for more than 9,000 uncertified projects and will continue with outreach efforts for the remaining uncertified projects. The division also plans to develop correspondence procedures that ensure regular follow-up with districts that have uncertified projects. The division stated it would develop correspondence procedures by June 2013 and provide districts with original closing letters by September 2013. Finally, according to General Services, the division's outreach efforts have resulted in the reduction of uncertified projects from 16,386 to 14,334, and the division has conducted site visits of each uncertified project that has evidence of unresolved safety deficiencies. (See 2013-406, p. 41)

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.