Architect of the Capitol: Addressing Staffing and Training Issues
Is Important for Efficient and Safe West Refrigeration Plant	 
Operations (10-FEB-06, GAO-06-321R).				 
                                                                 
The West Refrigeration Plant Expansion (WRPE) project is the	 
centerpiece of an effort to expand the capacity of the Capitol	 
Power Plant (CPP) to meet the U.S. Capitol's growing heating and 
cooling needs and to update plant equipment, some of which dates 
to the 1950s. CPP generates steam and chilled water to provide	 
heating and cooling for the Capitol and 23 surrounding facilities
that, together, encompass about 16 million square feet of space. 
CPP will also serve the 580,000-square-foot Capitol Visitor	 
Center (CVC), which is under construction. When completed, the	 
WRPE project will increase CPP's chilled water production	 
capacity by about 23 percent and enable central operation of	 
CPP's chillers. The WRPE construction contract was awarded in	 
March 2003, work is ongoing, and the project is now scheduled for
completion in March 2006. Future contract changes may, however,  
extend this date to June 2006. The budget for the WRPE project	 
and associated administrative expenses is $81.7 million. Several 
modifications have been made to the WRPE contract to incorporate 
other capital improvements at CPP. The budget for these 	 
modifications is $19.2 million, bringing the total budget for the
base WRPE project and related projects to $100.9 million. For	 
clarity, we refer in this report to the base WRPE project and	 
related projects collectively as the WRPE project. The Architect 
of the Capitol (AOC), who manages CPP, is responsible for	 
commissioning the new West Refrigeration Plant equipment.	 
According to the General Services Administration (GSA), which	 
provides guidance to federal agencies on managing their 	 
facilities, commissioning is a systematic process to ensure, by  
verification and documentation, that all of a facility's systems 
perform interactively as designed and intended to meet the	 
owner's operational needs. AOC and its contractors are carrying  
out the commissioning process, including a three-stage plan	 
prepared by the construction contractor for testing the 	 
performance of the new WRPE equipment. AOC is also responsible	 
for ensuring that CPP is staffed efficiently and that CPP	 
personnel have the knowledge and skills to operate the plant	 
safely. Over the years, we have reported on AOC's management of  
CPP several times and made recommendations for improvement. Our  
most recent report, issued in April 2005, included		 
recommendations on CPP's staffing. As requested, this report	 
updates our prior work and evaluates AOC's (1) commissioning	 
activities to date and plans for commissioning the new equipment 
without disrupting current operations and (2) plans for staffing 
the modernized power plant efficiently and ensuring that CPP	 
personnel are trained to operate it safely. In addition, the	 
report estimates the costs to complete the WRPE project, taking  
into account the possible effects of anticipated contract	 
changes, operational issues, and other challenges to a timely and
successful startup.						 
-------------------------Indexing Terms------------------------- 
REPORTNUM:   GAO-06-321R					        
    ACCNO:   A46657						        
  TITLE:     Architect of the Capitol: Addressing Staffing and	      
Training Issues Is Important for Efficient and Safe West	 
Refrigeration Plant Operations					 
     DATE:   02/10/2006 
  SUBJECT:   Construction contracts				 
	     Cost analysis					 
	     Employee training					 
	     Equipment contracts				 
	     Equipment upgrades 				 
	     Facility construction				 
	     Facility maintenance				 
	     Performance measures				 
	     Powerplants					 
	     Cost estimates					 
	     Capitol Power Plant (DC)				 
	     West Refrigeration Plant Expansion 		 

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GAO-06-321R

     

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February 10, 2006

The Honorable Wayne Allard

Chairman

Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

The Honorable Jerry Lewis

Chairman

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

Subject: Architect of the Capitol: Addressing Staffing and Training Issues
Is Important for Efficient and Safe West Refrigeration Plant Operations

The West Refrigeration Plant Expansion (WRPE) project is the centerpiece
of an effort to expand the capacity of the Capitol Power Plant (CPP) to
meet the U.S. Capitol's growing heating and cooling needs and to update
plant equipment, some of which dates to the 1950s. CPP generates steam and
chilled water to provide heating and cooling for the Capitol and 23
surrounding facilities that, together, encompass about 16 million square
feet of space. CPP will also serve the 580,000-square-foot Capitol Visitor
Center (CVC), which is under construction. When completed, the WRPE
project will increase CPP's chilled water production capacity by about 23
percent and enable central operation of CPP's chillers.1 The WRPE
construction contract was awarded in March 2003, work is ongoing, and the
project is now scheduled for completion in March 2006. Future contract
changes may, however, extend this date to June 2006. The budget for the
WRPE project and associated administrative expenses is $81.7 million.
Several modifications have been made to the WRPE contract to incorporate
other capital improvements at CPP. The budget for these modifications is
$19.2 million, bringing the total budget for the base WRPE project and
related projects to $100.9 million. For clarity, we refer in this report
to the base WRPE project and related projects collectively as the WRPE
project.

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC), who manages CPP, is responsible for
commissioning the new West Refrigeration Plant equipment. According to the
General Services Administration (GSA), which provides guidance to federal
agencies

1The base WRPE contract provides for a distributed controls system that
uses a computer program, rather than human operators, to monitor and
control CPP's chillers. A contract modification is funding a similar
system for CPP's boilers.

on managing their facilities, commissioning is a systematic process to
ensure, by verification and documentation, that all of a facility's
systems perform interactively as designed and intended to meet the owner's
operational needs. AOC and its contractors are carrying out the
commissioning process, including a three-stage plan prepared by the
construction contractor for testing the performance of the new WRPE
equipment. AOC is also responsible for ensuring that CPP is staffed
efficiently and that CPP personnel have the knowledge and skills to
operate the plant safely.

Over the years, we have reported on AOC's management of CPP several times
and made recommendations for improvement. Our most recent report, issued
in April 2005, included recommendations on CPP's staffing.2 As requested,
this report updates our prior work and evaluates  AOC's (1) commissioning
activities to date and plans for commissioning the new equipment without
disrupting current operations and (2) plans for staffing the modernized
power plant efficiently and ensuring that CPP personnel are trained to
operate it safely. In addition, the report estimates the costs to complete
the WRPE project, taking into account the possible effects of anticipated
contract changes, operational issues, and other challenges to a timely and
successful startup.

To evaluate AOC's commissioning activities to date and plans for
commissioning the new equipment, we reviewed GSA's guidance on
commissioning,3 visited CPP, and interviewed CPP managers and a
construction management consultant retained by AOC. We also reviewed the
equipment-testing plan prepared by the construction contractor. To support
our evaluation of the commissioning activities and plans, we retained an
engineering consultant who specializes in heating and cooling plant
operations. To evaluate AOC's plans for staffing the modernized plant
efficiently and ensuring that CPP personnel are trained to operate it
safely, we reviewed our guidance on strategic training and development,4
interviewed CPP managers, and reviewed AOC's response to the staffing and
training recommendations we made in our April 2005 report. Additionally,
we randomly selected and interviewed five CPP operators to learn about the
deployment and content of the training from their perspective. To estimate
the costs to complete the WRPE project, we reviewed AOC's cost and
schedule information related to the construction contract and identified
contract changes, operational issues, and other challenges that could
affect the project's costs and schedule. The same engineering consultant
who helped us evaluate AOC's commissioning plan assisted us in developing
our cost analysis, which includes, for each cost component, a range of
costs to account for variations in circumstances, from best to worst case.
We conducted our review from June 2005 through December 2005 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards.

2GAO, Capitol Power Plant: Actions Needed to Improve Operating Efficiency
(Washington, D.C.: Apr. 8, 2005), issued as unnumbered correspondence.
This work was mandated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act for Fiscal
Year 2005 (Section 1101 of Division G, Title I of Pub. L. No. 108-447 118
Stat. 2809, at 3185 and 3186 (2004)).

3GSA, Public Buildings Service, Office of the Chief Architect, The
Building Commissioning Guide (Washington, D.C., April 2005).

4GAO, Human Capital: A Guide for Strategic Training and Development
Efforts in the Federal Government,  GAO-04-546G (Washington, D.C.: March
2004).

Results in Brief

The WRPE commissioning process has been effective thus far, although the
bulk of the equipment testing remains to be done. According to our
analysis, AOC's commissioning activities to date and commissioning plans
are consistent with GSA's commissioning guidance and are designed to allow
the new plant equipment to start up without disrupting CPP's current
operations. GSA's guidance calls for document reviews, checklists,
functional performance tests, and training in the use of the equipment.
This process is intended to ensure that the equipment meets specifications
and performs as intended. AOC and its contractors have been performing the
activities GSA recommends. Since March 2003, when construction began, CPP
project managers and AOC's construction management consultant have been
reviewing documents and monitoring WRPE construction and equipment
installation activities. In addition, starting in November 2005, a
commissioning agent retained by AOC, as we recommended, has been
overseeing the construction contractor's execution of the contractor's
three-stage plan for testing the functional performance of the
equipment-the heart of the commissioning process.5 Under this plan, which
consists of a series of checklists, the contractor is testing the
functioning of individual components, the manual operation of system
components, and the automatic operation of system components. According to
AOC, the functional testing has proceeded without incident, and overall
plant operations have continued without disruption. However, most of the
functional testing lies ahead, and the training for operators in the use
of the equipment, which the equipment manufacturers will provide, has not
started yet. Ultimately, the effectiveness of the commissioning process
will be determined by how well the new systems function when CPP assumes
full responsibility for their operation.

By contrast, AOC has made less progress in planning to staff the
modernized power plant efficiently and ensure that CPP personnel are
trained to operate it safely. Specifically, AOC has just begun to address
long-standing CPP staffing recommendations and has not developed a plan
for evaluating the training provided to CPP operators. As far back as
1996, an AOC engineering consultant found that CPP was overstaffed and
recommended staffing reductions. Most recently, in November 2004, a
different AOC engineering consultant recommended a reduction in CPP
staffing from 88 to 46 positions. In October 2005, AOC contracted with the
same consultant it retained in 2004 for an updated workload-based staffing
study, a draft of which was recently delivered to AOC for review.
According to AOC, the new study includes a proposed organizational chart
and an implementation plan for achieving the recommended organizational
structure. While this draft study is a step toward staffing CPP more
efficiently, it will not be completed in time to guide AOC's investments
in training required for the new equipment's operation. As a result, AOC
is providing training for all plant operators, even though fewer operators
may be needed after a new staffing plan is in place. To help ensure that
CPP personnel are trained to operate the modernized plant safely, AOC has
planned, developed, and begun to implement training for CPP operators that
addresses safe plant operations, but AOC has not developed a plan for
evaluating the training and using the evaluation results to guide future
training investments or to help implement a new staffing plan. Without an
evaluation plan, AOC cannot ensure that CPP personnel have acquired the
skills needed to operate the modernized plant safely or that the best
prepared operators are included in CPP's restructured workforce. Feedback
from AOC's construction management consultant and our interviews with CPP
operators have raised concerns about how well the initial training has
prepared CPP staff to operate the new equipment. To address these
concerns, AOC plans to hire a startup contractor to provide technical
assistance for up to 8 weeks after WRPE's completion. AOC believes this
technical assistance will help CPP staff operate the new equipment safely,
without damaging it, and will help AOC identify and address any gaps in
operators' training. We are recommending that AOC develop and implement an
updated workload-based staffing plan based on the results of its most
recent consultant's study, evaluate the training provided to CPP
operators, and use the evaluation results in implementing the updated
staffing plan.

5The commissioning agent retained by AOC had been involved with the
project as a subcontractor to AOC's construction management consultant. We
recommended that, given the importance of the commissioning process, AOC
have a direct relationship with an independent commissioning agent. In
November 2005, AOC entered into a new contract for commissioning services
with the same firm that was formerly a subcontractor to AOC's construction
management consultant.

We estimate that the cost to complete the WRPE project could differ from
the $101 million budgeted for it, potentially ranging from about $98
million to nearly $106 million, depending on the outcomes of negotiations
over future contract changes and the level of training and contractor
technical support that CPP operators need. Currently, the WRPE
construction contract is scheduled for completion in March 2006, but
because of these contract changes, CPP project managers expect that it
will be delayed until June 2006. Among the contract changes that are
likely to have the greatest impact on WRPE's cost and schedule are those
that affect the design and construction of the fire sprinkler system, the
configuration of chilled water pipes, and the design and construction of
the distributed controls system for the chillers. As commissioning
progresses, funds are also likely to be needed for troubleshooting and
repairs, as well as for startup support if operators require additional
technical assistance.

We provided a draft copy of this report to AOC for review and comment. AOC
officials provided oral comments in which they generally concurred with
our recommendations and offered technical clarifications and updated
information concerning staffing and training efforts.

Background

The director of CPP, who reports to the AOC Chief Operating Officer, is
responsible for managing 95 full-time-equivalent staff and an operating
budget that, in fiscal year 2005, totaled approximately $33 million.6 The
director's position has been vacant since May 2005, but AOC is now working
to fill the vacancy and expects to hire a new director in January 2006.

6The $33 million operating budget primarily consists of payroll,
maintenance, and utility costs. The utility costs largely consist of fuel
and electricity to operate the boilers and chillers.

Located at New Jersey and E Streets, Southeast, in Washington, D.C., CPP
consists of four main facilities:7 a steam plant constructed in 1908; the
East Refrigeration Plant, constructed in 1938; and the West Refrigeration
Plant and administration building, constructed in 1978. WRPE, whose
construction AOC is managing under an ongoing contract, will add
approximately 25,000 square feet to the West Refrigeration Plant. This
additional space will house new machines for generating chilled water (see
fig. 1). The contract also provides for installing a centrally operated
distributed controls system for CPP's chillers. AOC has budgeted $81.7
million for this contract and associated administrative expenses. AOC is
also completing other projects related to CPP operations under the same
contract, including installing a centrally operated distributed controls
system for CPP's boilers, a fuel oil tank, and an emergency generator, and
modernizing the plant's electrical system. AOC is using multiple funding
sources-primarily specific appropriations but also some CPP operating
funds-to pay for these other projects, the combined budgeted cost of which
is $19.2 million. In total, the budgeted cost of the WRPE
project-including both the base project and the related projects-is $100.9
million. According to CPP project managers, the new WRPE chillers were
manually tested before December 1, 2005, meeting a contract milestone. The
WRPE project is now scheduled for completion by March 16, 2006; however,
CPP project managers told us that pending contract changes are likely to
delay its completion until June 2006.8

7CPP does not currently produce electric power. According to AOC
officials, CPP stopped producing power in 1952.

8Other work under the contract, such as the installation of the
distributed controls system in the boiler plant, is likely to continue
beyond this date.

Figure 1: CPP West Refrigeration Plant Expansion Project Site and New
Chiller (photo)

The East and West Refrigeration Plants are used to generate chilled water
for comfort cooling and equipment cooling. Together, these facilities
currently have a nominal chilled water production capacity of 37,700
tons.9 The base WRPE project will provide three new 5,400-ton chillers,
which will replace obsolete chillers in the East Refrigeration Plant. The
obsolete chillers in the East Refrigeration Plant will be removed, and two
new 3,000-ton chillers,10 temporarily located in the East Refrigeration
Plant, are proposed to be moved to WRPE after it is completed. The
expanded West Refrigeration Plant (WRP), including both the existing WRP
and the WRP expansion, will then produce all of CPP's chilled water and
will have a total production capacity of 46,200 tons, an increase of
nearly 23 percent over CPP's current capacity. The East Refrigeration
Plant will be available for alternative uses, such as housing a
cogeneration system11 that AOC is currently considering.

9The rate at which a chiller produces cooling is generally expressed in
tons per hour. One ton of cooling is equal to the amount of cooling
provided by 1 ton (2,000 pounds) of ice melting in 1 day (12,000 British
thermal units per hour). The West Refrigeration Plant houses four
6,000-ton chillers, and the East Refrigeration Plant contains two new
3,000-ton chillers and four obsolete chillers (three 2,200-ton
chillers-two of which were taken out of service in July 2005-and one
1,100-ton chiller).

10AOC purchased these chillers in September 2004 to supplement chilled
water production in case of disruptions during construction.

11A cogeneration system is a combustion turbine generator that produces
electricity and uses the heat from the combustion to produce steam.

As part of our work for Congress, we have reported on AOC's management for
several years. Recently, we have testified several times on AOC's
management of the Capitol Visitor Center, which is under construction.12
In a September 2005 testimony, we identified incidents at CPP that we said
could affect CPP's ability to provide chilled water and steam. For
example, in July 2005, two chillers in CPP's East Refrigeration Plant were
taken out of service because of a significant refrigerant gas leak that
went undetected by CPP staff. AOC does not plan to repair the chillers
because they are scheduled for demolition. In addition, in June 2005, one
of CPP's two coal-burning boilers was damaged by a fire that, according to
a CPP incident report, was caused by operator error. CPP has since
repaired the damaged boiler. We further testified that management issues
at CPP, including the absence of a staffing plan for WRPE, could affect
WRPE's and CPP's operational readiness, and we stated that it was
essential to fill the CPP director's position with an experienced manager
who is also an expert in the production of chilled water and steam.

Commissioning Activities to Date and Commissioning Plans Are Consistent
with Federal Guidance on Achieving Intended Performance

AOC's commissioning activities to date and plans for commissioning the new
WRPE equipment are consistent with GSA's guidance and are designed to
allow the new plant equipment to start up without disrupting current
operations. GSA's guidance calls for several activities during
construction to help ensure that a facility's systems perform
interactively as designed and intended. These activities include reviewing
submittals for performance parameters, developing and using construction
checklists, conducting functional performance tests, and providing
training. See table 1 for details.

12See GAO, Capitol Visitor Center: Schedule Delays Continue; Reassessment
Underway, GAO-05-1037T (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 15, 2005); Capitol Visitor
Center: Status of Schedule, Fire Protection, Cost and Related Issues,
GAO-06-180T (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 18, 2005); and Capitol Visitor Center,
Update on Schedule and Cost, GAO-05-251T (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 16,
2005).

Table 1: Facility Construction Commissioning Activities

Commissioning activity  GSA's description                                  
Review submittals          o  Evaluate product documentation provided by   
                              contractor for items intended to be used or     
                              installed during construction                   
                              o  Documents include engineering drawings,      
                              product data sheets, and operating and training 
                              manuals                                         
Develop and use            o  Checklists are tools for ensuring that       
construction checklists    product type and performance information        
                              specified in the contract documents is          
                              transferred to workers                          
                              o  In completing checklists, all parties are    
                              assured that the contract requirements are      
                              satisfied                                       
                              o  Checklists cover activities from delivery    
                              and storage of products and materials to        
                              installation and startup steps                  
                              o  Completion of checklists is reviewed during  
                              periodic site visits                            
Conduct functional         o  Functional performance tests are the focal   
performance tests          point of the commissioning process and are      
                              intended to evaluate the ability of the         
                              components of a system to work together to meet 
                              performance criteria                            
                              o  Functional performance tests are performed   
                              after construction checklists are complete      
                              o  Outcomes of tests are recorded using         
                              photographs, forms, or other means              
                              o  Retesting is done as necessary               
Provide training           o  Training is conducted to teach operating     
                              personnel about required care, adjustment,      
                              maintenance, and operation of equipment and     
                              systems                                         

Source: GAO analysis of GSA's The Building Commissioning Guide.

Since March 2003, when AOC awarded the WRPE construction contract, CPP
project managers and AOC's construction management consultant have been
working together to monitor building construction and equipment
installation activities. The project managers have overall responsibility
for administering the construction contract, and the construction
management consultant provides administrative support. The consultant has
coordinated the reviews and approvals of all submittals prepared by the
construction contractor and has conducted field inspections to ensure that
construction and equipment installation work meets contract
specifications. Given the importance of the commissioning process to
ensuring that WRPE meets its designed intent, we suggested to AOC in June
2005 that it provide strong oversight of the process. AOC subsequently
retained an independent commissioning agent, who had previously been
involved with the WRPE project as a subcontractor to AOC's construction
management consultant, to provide dedicated oversight of the activities
outlined in the construction contractor's testing plan. This commissioning
agent will also be providing training to CPP operators to familiarize them
with the new plant equipment, as discussed in the next section, and
coordinating the equipment-specific training provided by the equipment
manufacturers as part of the commissioning process.

The operation of WRPE's chilled water generating system is being tested
according to the construction contractor's three-stage plan. This plan
includes functional testing of the individual components (stage one),
manual operation of system components (stage two), and automatic operation
of system components (stage three). Each

stage of the plan is based on sequenced checklists that detail testing
procedures.13 According to CPP project managers, as of December 1, 2005,
system components had been installed, and the three new chillers were
manually operational, as planned. The CPP project managers reported that
stage one testing, which began in October 2005, was largely complete and
that stage two testing, which began in mid-November 2005, was ongoing.
According to AOC officials, the testing has proceeded thus far without
incident, and CPP has continued to operate without disruption. However,
most of the testing lies ahead. Specifically, the stage three testing is
to begin in February 2006 and continue for the duration of the
construction contract. AOC's commissioning agent has started to provide
familiarization training to CPP operators, but the manufacturer-provided,
equipment-specific training has not yet begun.

AOC Lacks a Staffing Plan for CPP and Has Not Determined How It Will
Evaluate Operator Training

To operate the modernized power plant efficiently and safely, AOC needs an
appropriate number of staff with the knowledge and skills necessary to
properly operate and maintain the new equipment and the new distributed
controls systems. AOC has long recognized that CPP is overstaffed, but has
not implemented staffing reductions and has only recently contracted for
and received an updated draft study that it plans to use in establishing a
new CPP staffing structure. AOC is providing training for all plant
operators but has not yet determined how it will evaluate the training.

Studies Have Long Identified Overstaffing, but AOC Has Just Begun to
Address Staffing Recommendations

In 1996, in a technical and economic evaluation of CPP operations, an AOC
engineering consultant reported that CPP was overstaffed compared with
similar plants and estimated that a reduction in the number of staff from
86 to 61 would reduce CPP's staffing costs by about 29 percent.14 In a
March 2004 report on CPP, we noted that there had been little change in
CPP's staffing since 1996 and recommended that AOC update the portion of
its 1996 study related to staffing.15 AOC then contracted with a different
engineering consultant to update the 1996 study. This updated study, which
was issued in November 2004 and took the ongoing WRPE project into
consideration, indicated that current staffing levels were high, and
recommended a reduction in CPP staffing, from 88 to 46 positions.16 In our
April 2005 report, we recommended that, by the end of September 2005, AOC
develop an implementation plan for adopting its consultant's November 2004
recommendations, including the CPP staffing reduction. In October 2005,
AOC contracted with the same consultant it retained in 2004 to develop an
updated staffing study. This new study, a draft of which was recently
delivered to AOC, includes benchmarking and workload analyses that the
consultant used to develop a proposed organizational chart and an
implementation plan to achieve the recommended organizational structure.
While this draft study is a step toward staffing CPP more efficiently, it
was not completed in time to guide AOC's investments in training. As a
result, AOC is providing training for all plant operators, even though
fewer operators may be needed after a new staffing plan is in place.

13The WRPE construction contractor has prepared the checklists for stages
one and two of the testing plan but has yet to prepare checklists for
stage three. AOC project managers expect to receive the third stage of the
plan in February 2006.

14See AOC, Capitol Power Plant Technical and Economic Evaluation of Plant
Operations (Washington, D.C., April 1996).

15GAO, Capitol Power Plant Utility Master Plan, GAO-04-456RNI (Washington,
D.C.: Mar. 1, 2004).

16See AOC, Utility Master Plan (Washington, D.C., 2004).

AOC Contractors Are Providing Training That Addresses Safe Plant
Operations, but AOC Has Not Developed a Plan for Evaluating the Training

Training is critical to the WRPE project's success because operators will
need updated knowledge and skills to efficiently and safely operate the
advanced technologies that are being installed. When construction is
complete, state-of-the-art equipment will replace aging system components
that date as far back as the 1950s. Furthermore, the new plantwide
distributed controls systems will fundamentally change CPP's operating
methods: Operators will have a lesser need to directly control system
components because certain functions will be automatically maintained by
the distributed controls systems.

AOC has planned and developed training for CPP operators and is
implementing this training in stages. AOC's construction management
consultant has already provided refresher training, lasting approximately
9 months, for all CPP operators on the fundamentals of chilled water and
steam systems.17 AOC's commissioning agent has started to provide
additional training for operators on chiller and boiler systems, as well
as on the operation and maintenance of the distributed controls systems.
This operator training includes two 8-hour sessions per week, to be
offered from November 2005 through March 2006 according to a schedule that
will allow operators from all shifts to receive instruction. AOC's intent
is to provide each operator with 8 hours of training every other week.
Finally, AOC's commissioning agent will coordinate with the WRPE
construction contractor to schedule manufacturer-provided training on
specific equipment.

The operator training that AOC is implementing seems designed to help
ensure that CPP personnel are trained to operate the modernized plant
safely. For example, AOC's contract with the commissioning agent specifies
that the training will address, among other topics, safe operating
practices and procedures. In addition, under the contract, the
commissioning agent will describe training objectives for major system
components, identify what operators must be able to do upon completing the
training, and test operators' knowledge of the subject matter twice each
month.

While AOC has planned, developed, and implemented training for CPP
operators that addresses safe plant operations, it has not developed a
plan for evaluating whether the training is achieving the desired
outcome-preparing CPP staff to operate the modernized power plant safely.
Our Guide for Assessing Strategic Training and Development Efforts in the
Federal Government provides a model framework for training.18 This
framework is designed to help organizations target their training and
development investments strategically and avoid wasting resources on
efforts that are irrelevant, duplicative, or ineffective. Figure 2 shows
the four components of this framework-planning, development,
implementation, and evaluation-and the relationships between them.

17According to a CPP official, weekly 2-hour training sessions were
scheduled for operators from February through December 2004.

Figure 2: Strategic Training and Development Process

Without an evaluation component for its training program, AOC lacks a
systematic means of obtaining feedback on the training's results. As our
guide indicates, such feedback is important for determining whether
training investments are being targeted strategically or being wasted.
Additionally, without an evaluation component, AOC managers cannot
determine how well the training has prepared CPP staff to operate the
plant safely, and they cannot identify and address any specific training
gaps or weaknesses. Having objective, consistent information on operators'
performance in training will be important to AOC when it implements its
updated staffing plan and makes staffing decisions.

Although AOC has not developed a plan for evaluating its training for CPP
operators or evaluated the initial 9-month refresher training, it has some
evidence that the initial training was not as effective as intended. For
example, some operators achieved low scores on tests administered by the
construction management consultant during the initial training. The
consultant gave these tests informally, but provided the results to us at
our request.19 Additionally, CPP managers said, some operators were
ambivalent about the training and skipped classes. The CPP operators we
spoke with about the training varied in their assessments of it. Some
acknowledged the training's value, while others were concerned that the
training was not "hands on" or specific to the new equipment being
installed as part of the expansion. As discussed, however, "hands-on,"
equipment-specific training will be provided by manufacturers during the
commissioning process.

18GAO-04-546G.

19Names of test takers were redacted from documents to maintain
confidentiality.

To address concerns about the ability of CPP staff to operate the new
equipment, AOC managers said they plan to hire a startup contractor to
provide technical assistance to CPP operators for up to 8 weeks after the
WRPE contract's completion.

Cost to Complete WRPE Project Will Depend on Contract Changes and
Operational Issues

We estimate that the cost to complete the WRPE project will range from
about $98 million to nearly $106 million, depending on AOC's resolution of
proposed contract changes and the level of training and contractor
technical support that CPP operators will need. Although the WRPE
construction contract is currently scheduled for completion in March 2006,
it may be delayed until June 2006 because of contract changes. Our
analysis of the cost to complete the project appears in enclosure I.

Through October 2005, nearly $100.9 million has been budgeted for the WRPE
project, and over $95.1 million has been obligated for construction and
administrative costs, leaving an unobligated balance of approximately $5.7
million.20, 21 AOC's October 2005 progress report on WPRE's construction
indicates that future costs may exceed the amount of funding that remains.
According to the progress report, 65 contract changes are pending
resolution between AOC and its construction contractor. As the project
progresses, AOC anticipates additional changes to account for such
activities as troubleshooting during commissioning tests and providing
technical support to operators during the initial weeks of plant
operations. Our analysis to estimate the project's cost at completion
provides for a range of costs, from best to worst case, to account for the
variability associated with forecasting these changes. Specifically, our
analysis shows that the negotiated amount of these changes is likely to
result in costs ranging between $2.9 million and $10.7 million. Given the
project's unobligated $5.7 million balance, the settlement of these
changes will yield approximate results ranging from a $2.8 million surplus
to a $5 million shortfall (see fig. 3). Our analysis takes into account
the likelihood that the project's completion date could be extended from
March to June 2006.

20Financial information is based on unaudited CPP project records used in
preparing AOC's October 2005 WPRE monthly progress report.

21Numbers may not add because of rounding.

Figure 3: WRPE Budget Breakdown, Including Cost to Complete Projections

Pending or anticipated changes that may have a significant impact on the
project's cost and schedule include the following:

           o  Redesign of fire sprinkler system. After reviewing design
           documentation for the fire sprinkler system, AOC's Fire Marshall
           determined that changes were necessary to make the system
           compliant with the current fire code. Because of the Fire
           Marshall's decision, the construction contractor needed additional
           time to make design changes and prepare new submittals. As a
           result, sprinkler system components have not been ordered. The
           construction contractor does not expect the installation to be
           completed until August 2006, but AOC officials believe it can be
           completed by June 2006. Discussions between the two parties to
           resolve this issue are ongoing. Even if the fire sprinkler system
           is not operable when WRPE is turned over to AOC, AOC's Fire
           Marshall said steps could be taken that would enable him to issue
           a conditional occupancy permit so that CPP staff could operate the
           plant and its equipment.

           o  Reconfiguration of chilled water pipes. AOC officials indicated
           that, because of the chiller failure in the East Refrigeration
           Plant in July 2005, they wanted to gain greater operational
           flexibility and decided to configure WRPE and the West
           Refrigeration Plant as separate facilities rather than as one
           plant, as originally planned. This decision means that AOC needs
           to add components to the West Refrigeration Plant's piping system
           instead of demolishing that facility's chilled water distribution
           pipes. AOC officials anticipate making changes to the West
           Refrigeration Plant's piping system under a separate contract at
           an estimated cost of $600,000. AOC expects this work to be
           completed before the WPRE contract is completed in March 2006. AOC
           officials also expect to receive a $150,000 credit from the
           construction contractor for the pipe demolition work that was part
           of the base WRPE project's scope but is no longer required.

           o  Changes to the design of the WRP/WRPE distributed controls
           system. Because of an earlier decision to upgrade the distributed
           controls system for the chillers, AOC stopped installation work on
           June 24, 2005, in order to resolve procurement issues and redesign
           the system. In November 2005, AOC issued a modification directing
           the construction contractor to proceed with the system's
           installation according to the revised design. The cost of the
           system upgrade and its impact on the contract's schedule are
           pending negotiation between AOC and the contractor. CPP project
           managers indicated that tying the existing WRP into the
           distributed controls system is contributing to the delay in
           completing the contract.

           o  Commissioning troubleshooting. According to GSA's guidance,
           problems should be expected when equipment is tested as part of
           the commissioning process. In September 2005, AOC estimated, on
           the basis of its construction management consultant's experience,
           that $500,000 may be needed for troubleshooting and repair work.
           Because commissioning is in its initial stages, it is still too
           early to assess the impact of troubleshooting on the project's
           cost and schedule.

           o  Operational issues. As discussed, AOC plans to hire a startup
           contractor for up to 8 weeks after WRPE is finished to provide
           technical assistance to CPP operators. AOC managers said they were
           unsure whether this amount of startup support would be sufficient
           and recognized that additional support may be needed. To the
           extent that additional support is needed, AOC's costs are likely
           to increase.

Conclusions

AOC's commissioning activities to date and plans for commissioning new CPP
equipment, if fully implemented, should allow AOC to test the equipment
thoroughly and bring it on line with minimal disruption to current
operations. Nevertheless, the majority of the systems testing remains to
be done and could prove more challenging than the completed testing.
Additionally, the WRPE project still faces budgetary risks and schedule
uncertainties, especially those stemming from the impact of contract
changes that have not yet been negotiated.

AOC's plans for staffing the modernized power plant efficiently and
ensuring that CPP personnel are trained to operate it safely also face
risks and uncertainties. AOC has delayed implementing recommendations to
reduce CPP's staffing, and now has just a few months to develop an
efficient staffing plan before WRPE is scheduled to be completed. AOC also
lacks assurance that CPP staff will be prepared to operate the new
equipment safely since it has not yet completed the training of CPP
operators, and has not developed a plan to evaluate the training.
Additionally, without some form of evaluation, AOC is missing an
opportunity to measure its operators' preparedness, prior to implementing
its consultant's updated staffing plan.

Recommendations for Executive Action

To ensure that CPP is staffed efficiently and that CPP personnel are
trained to operate the modernized power plant safely, we recommend that
the Architect of the Capitol

           o  develop and implement a staffing plan for CPP that is based on
           the results of its most recent consultant's study and

           o  evaluate the training provided to CPP operators and use the
           evaluation results in implementing the staffing plan.

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft copy of this report to AOC for review and comment. AOC
officials provided oral comments in which they generally concurred with
our recommendations and offered technical clarifications and updated
information concerning staffing and training efforts.

Regarding CPP staffing, AOC indicated that it is continuing to review the
draft staffing plan received from its consultant in December 2005 and is
working to develop new position descriptions based on this plan. AOC also
noted that its 1996 consultant study attributes overstaffing to a lack of
system automation and suggested that it will not be possible to begin
implementation of revised staffing plans until completion of the ongoing
WRPE project. We note, however, that AOC's 2004 consultant report lists
additional reasons for CPP overstaffing. Specifically, the 2004 report
states that there are no cross responsibilities between different
operation segments, and that over many years of operations, additional
levels of management have been added.

Concerning evaluation of operator training, AOC indicated that it has
modified its training structure to include two weekly tests-one
theoretical written test and one field test on actual equipment-that are
used to assess operators' knowledge and highlight areas in which
additional training may be needed. While this is a step in the right
direction, given the imminent startup of the new equipment, AOC still
faces challenges in establishing a systemic means of evaluating training
and using the feedback to ensure that its staff is fully prepared to
safely operate the modernized plant. This involves a look at not just
operators' knowledge, but also an assessment of how training contributes
to improving performance and achieving a greater capacity to meet new and
emerging challenges.

                                   - - - - -

As agreed with your office, unless you publicly announce the contents of
this report earlier, we plan no further distribution until 30 days from
the report date. At that time, we will send copies of this report to the
appropriate congressional committees and the Architect of the Capitol.
Copies will also be made available to other interested parties on request.
In addition, the report will be available at no charge on GAO's Web site
at http://www.gao.gov.

If you or your staff have any questions about this report, please contact
me at (202) 512-2834 or [email protected]. Contact points for our Offices
of Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last
page of this report. GAO staff who made major contributions to this report
are listed in enclosure II.

Mark L. Goldstein

Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues

Enclosures

Enclosure I

Estimated Cost to Complete the West Refrigeration Plant Expansion Project

Tables 1 through 3 provide our estimates of the costs to complete the
Architect of the Capitol's (AOC) West Refrigeration Plant Expansion (WRPE)
project. As shown in tables 1 and 2, the entire project consists of the
expansion and several smaller capital projects. Table 1 shows the amounts
provided, obligated, and remaining for each project through October 2005.
Table 2 shows the additional amounts that we estimate will be required for
each project in the best and worst cases. These amounts will depend on the
outcomes of negotiations over potential change orders and other actions.
Finally, table 3 shows our estimates of the costs to complete the entire
project and the remaining funds in the best and worst cases.

Table 1: Funds Provided to AOC, Obligated, and Remaining for the WRPE
Project

                                                                  Unobligated 
Project                           Funds provideda Obligationsb    balancec 
West Refrigeration Plant                                                   
Expansion                             $81,670,076  $78,028,511  $3,641,565
Distributed controls                                                       
system-boiler house                     6,461,650    5,188,793   1,272,857
Fuel oil tank                           4,175,220    3,913,059     262,161 
Boiler deaerator tank and                                                  
feedwater pumps                         1,375,000    1,375,000           0
Electric modernization                  4,400,000    3,957,544     442,456 
Emergency generator                     1,625,000    1,580,071      44.929 
Condenser water filtration and                                             
basin heating                             360,000      331,090      28,910
Miscellaneous projectsd                   802,945      802,945           0 
Total                                $100,869,891  $95,177,013  $5,692,878 

Sources: Federal legislation and AOC.

Notes: Our analysis is based on unaudited project financial information
provided by AOC.

aIncludes appropriations for construction and related activities for
fiscal years 2003 and 2004, authorized reprogramming, and Capitol Power
Plant (CPP) operation funds.

bThrough contract modification 48.

cAuthorized reprogramming would be required to combine the funding for
these separate projects.

dThese projects are being funded with CPP operating funds.

Table 2: Our Best- and Worst-Case Estimates of Potential Additional
Funding Needed for WRPE

Project                                      Best casea Worst caseb 
West Refrigeration Plant Expansion           $2,893,940  $9,146,287 
Distributed controls system-boiler house              0   1,123,734 
Fuel oil tank                                    13,600     127,539 
Boiler deaerator tank and feedwater pumps         7,000     124,054 
Electric modernization                                0     165,000 
Emergency generator                              28,000      43,000 
Condenser water filtration and basin heating          0           0 
Total                                        $2,942,540 $10,729,614 

Sources: Federal legislation and AOC.

Notes: Our analysis is based on unaudited project financial information
provided by AOC.

aOur analysis of best possible outcomes of potential change orders (PCO).
This includes PCOs currently being negotiated, identified as estimates of
future work, and previously denied.

bOur analysis of worst possible outcomes of PCOs. This includes PCOs
currently being negotiated, identified as estimates of future work, and
previously denied.

Table 3: Our Best- and Worst-Case Estimates of the Cost to Complete the
Entire WRPE Project and Remaining Funds

Amount/estimate                          Best case   Worst case 
Funding provided through October 2005 $100,869,891 $100,869,891 
Obligations through                                             
                                                      
October 2005                            95,177,013   95,177,013
Potential additional                                            
                                                      
funding needed                           2,942,540   10,729,614
Estimated cost to complete              98,119,553  105,906,627 
Remaining funds                          2,750,338  (5,036,736) 

Sources: Federal legislation and AOC.

Note: Our analysis is based on unaudited project financial information
provided by AOC.

Enclosure II

                     GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments

GAO Contact

Mark L. Goldstein, (202) 512-2834 or [email protected]

Staff Acknowledgments

In addition to the contact named above, Terrell Dorn (Assistant Director),
Michael Armes, George Depaoli, Timothy DiNapoli, Elizabeth Eisenstadt,
Kimberly Gianopoulos, Susan Michal-Smith, and Walter Vance made key
contributions to this report.

(543136)

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