Report 2011-116.1 Recommendation 2 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 #2 To: General Services, Department of

To better use the enforcement tools at its disposal, the division should continue and expand its use of both orders to comply and stop work orders, as defined in its regulations. The division should also develop performance measures to assess the success of any efforts it makes to address safety concerns and reduce the number of uncertified projects.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2013

Effective January 1, 2013, DSA modified its policies for stop work orders and orders to comply to ensure the appropriate and consistent use of these enforcement tools as part of the construction project oversight function. The new process requires regional office managers to record the issuance of stop work orders and their resolution, and DSA headquarters' staff to monitor the regional office data entries and activities with respect to the orders.

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

The division substantially revised its policies related to stop work orders and orders to comply. Among the revisions, the division outlined more specific circumstances under which it may issue such orders, such as when construction is proceeding without an approved inspector or when non-compliant construction could be concealed by subsequent work. Also, in the division's training materials on the new policy, the division states that it will track stop work orders and correspondence related to stop work orders centrally and generate a quarterly summary to evaluate the effectiveness of procedures. Finally, the division is tracking and reporting on the number of uncertified projects, by fiscal year.

1-Year Agency Response

The division updated its policies for stop work orders and orders to comply and conducted trainings for staff on the new policies in the fall of 2012. According to General Services, the new policies will be effective January 1, 2013, and at that time the division's regional office managers will be required to record the issuance of stop work orders and their resolution, and the division's headquarters staff will be required to monitor regional office data entries and activities with respect to stop work orders. (See 2013-406, p. 40)

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.