Capitol Visitor Center: Update on Status of Project's Schedule
and Cost as of May 22, 2008 (22-MAY-08, GAO-08-811T).
This testimony is based on our review of schedules and financial
reports for the CVC project and related records maintained by AOC
and its construction management contractor, Gilbane Building
Company; our observations on the progress of work at the CVC
construction site; and our discussions with the CVC team (AOC and
its major CVC contractors) and AOC's Chief Fire Marshal. We also
reviewed AOC's construction management contractor's periodic
schedule assessments, proposed change order log, and weekly
reports on construction progress.
-------------------------Indexing Terms-------------------------
REPORTNUM: GAO-08-811T
ACCNO: A82170
TITLE: Capitol Visitor Center: Update on Status of Project's
Schedule and Cost as of May 22, 2008
DATE: 05/22/2008
SUBJECT: Accountability
Construction contracts
Contract administration
Contract modifications
Cost analysis
Cost overruns
Facility construction
Federal facilities
Federal funds
Future budget projections
Public visitor-centers
Risk assessment
Schedule slippages
Strategic planning
Cost estimates
Capitol Visitor Center Project
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GAO-08-811T
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Schedule and Cost as of May 22, 2008' which was released on May 22,
2008.
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Testimony before the Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch, Committee
on Appropriations, House of Representatives:
United States Government Accountability Office:
GAO:
For Release on Delivery Expected at 10:00 a.m. EDT:
Thursday, May 22, 2008:
Capitol Visitor Center:
Update on Status of Project's Schedule and Cost as of May 22, 2008:
Statement of Terrell G. Dorn, Director,
Physical Infrastructure Issues:
GAO-08-811T:
Madam Chair and Members of the Subcommittee:
I appreciate the opportunity to be here today to assist the
Subcommittee in monitoring progress on the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC)
project. My remarks will focus on (1) the Architect of the Capitol's
(AOC) construction progress since the last CVC hearing on April 15,
2008,[Footnote 1] and (2) the project's expected cost at completion and
funding status.
Today's remarks are based on our review of schedules and financial
reports for the CVC project and related records maintained by AOC and
its construction management contractor, Gilbane Building Company; our
observations on the progress of work at the CVC construction site; and
our discussions with the CVC team (AOC and its major CVC contractors)
and AOC's Chief Fire Marshal. We also reviewed AOC's construction
management contractor's periodic schedule assessments, proposed change
order log, and weekly reports on construction progress.
Construction Is Nearly Complete, but Risks Remain:
Since the April 15, 2008, CVC hearing, the project's construction and
fire alarm acceptance testing have moved forward, and despite continued
delays in certain CVC and expansion space work, AOC still believes that
the project will be ready to open in November 2008. According to AOC's
construction management contractor, in dollar terms, the overall CVC
project remains 99 percent complete.[Footnote 2] However, risks to the
project's schedule remain in several time-critical activities,
including the fire alarm acceptance testing. Many punch list[Footnote
3] items also remain to be completed, and a steady number of proposed
change orders have to be resolved. At this time, however, AOC does not
expect the punch list items or the proposed change orders to affect the
project's completion date.
Since the last hearing, work on the project's current critical
path,[Footnote 4] fire alarm acceptance testing, has continued. For
example, the fire marshal has begun testing the building's smoke
exhaust system. Although some difficulties have occurred during this
testing, no new significant issues have emerged. AOC still expects to
receive a temporary certificate of occupancy for the project on or
before July 31, 2008. We reviewed the construction management
contractor's April 2008 schedule analysis, which indicates that the
dates for completing the remaining sequence 2 construction and the
House and Senate expansion spaces have continued to slip and are now
expected to extend into July 2008. According to the construction
management contractor, this remaining construction will not affect the
completion of fire alarm testing or AOC's receipt of the temporary
certificate of occupancy.
Once AOC has received the temporary certificate of occupancy, efforts
to complete the remaining construction and correct punch list items
may, however, be disruptive to congressional organizations that are
concurrently moving into the building. Consequently, such efforts will
require extensive coordination by AOC. For example, access to elevators
or certain parts of the building may be limited, and repairs may be
very noisy. The CVC team has gradually reduced the number of punch list
items, which we have cited at the last several hearings. According to
AOC, the number of punch list items has been reduced from over 15,000
to about 7,000. The exact number of punch list items is uncertain
because multiple punch lists are now being used. For example, the fire
marshal and the Office of Compliance are using separate lists to
document new items from ongoing inspections. Unless AOC carefully
reviews these new punch lists to separate true construction
deficiencies from requests by project stakeholders for new work, there
is a risk that increases in the project's scope could increase the
project's cost. Already, Office of Compliance inspectors have
identified several items they would like AOC to change, even though the
items comply with the construction contract and are not in violation of
applicable building codes.
In July 2005, we reported that a number of pavers were
damaged.[Footnote 5] At the last hearing, we reported that damage to
pavers on the East Front plaza had not been repaired and that AOC had
determined that substantial rework of the plaza may be
required.[Footnote 6] According to AOC's independent consultant,
problems in addition to the chipped pavers that may need to be
corrected include inadequate drainage, improper materials for the
pavers' setting bed, and a lack of adequate expansion joints. Also,
according to AOC, repairing these deficiencies would require
significant effort and at this time, there is no reliable estimate of
when repairs will be complete. AOC is discussing these issues with the
independent consultant and the plaza designer but has not yet
determined how much the rework will cost and who will pay for it.
Each month, the CVC team continues to identify proposed change orders.
AOC and its contractors have continued to work together to reduce the
number of open (outstanding) proposed change orders, and the number of
open orders has declined since our last statement. Sustained attention
to this issue is, however, needed to reduce uncertainty about the
project's costs. Figure 1 compares the number of outstanding proposed
change orders with the number settled each month.
Figure 1: Outstanding and Settled Proposed Change Orders by Month,
March 2006 through April 2008:
This figure is a combination line graph showing outstanding and settled
proposed change orders my month, March 2006 through April 2008. The X
axis represents the date, and the Y axis represents the number of PCOs.
One line represents Outstanding PCOs, and the other line represents
PCOs settled this month.
Date: March 31, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 336;
PCOs settled this month: 27.
Date: April 30, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 360;
PCOs settled this month: 32.
Date: May 31, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 372;
PCOs settled this month: 24.
Date: June 30, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 340;
PCOs settled this month: 23.
Date: July 31, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 403;
PCOs settled this month: 26.
Date: August 31, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 367;
PCOs settled this month: 19.
Date: September 30, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 369;
PCOs settled this month: 19.
Date: October 31, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 374;
PCOs settled this month: 26.
Date: November 30, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 391;
PCOs settled this month: 23.
Date: December 31, 2006;
Outstanding PCOs: 417;
PCOs settled this month: 10.
Date: January 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 445;
PCOs settled this month: 29.
Date: February 28, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 456;
PCOs settled this month: 16.
Date: March 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 421;
PCOs settled this month: 28.
Date: April 30, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 444;
PCOs settled this month: 28.
Date: May 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 451;
PCOs settled this month: 49.
Date: June 30, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 443;
PCOs settled this month: 35.
Date: July 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 437;
PCOs settled this month: 21.
Date: August 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 432;
PCOs settled this month: 54.
Date: September 30, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 432;
PCOs settled this month: 33.
Date: October 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 451;
PCOs settled this month: 39.
Date: November 30, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 425;
PCOs settled this month: 18.
Date: December 31, 2007;
Outstanding PCOs: 425;
PCOs settled this month: 21.
Date: January 31, 2008;
Outstanding PCOs: 398;
PCOs settled this month: 30.
Date: February 29, 2008;
Outstanding PCOs: 413;
PCOs settled this month: 42.
Date: March 31, 2008;
Outstanding PCOs: 385;
PCOs settled this month: 41.
Date: April 30, 2008;
Outstanding PCOs: 333;
PCOs settled this month: 37.
[See PDF for image]
Source: AOC's construction management contractor.
[End of figure]
AOC's Cost Estimate Remains the Same, and Additional Funds Will Be
Needed:
AOC's current estimate of the cost to complete the CVC project's
construction, first reported in September 2007, remains about $621
million. We believe this estimate is realistic and contains a
sufficient allowance for contingencies, provided there are no
unexpected delays over the next 2 months, when construction is
scheduled to be complete. To date, about $569.5 million has been
approved for CVC construction, and AOC has $16.2 million more in fiscal
year 2008 CVC appropriations that it plans to use for construction
after it obtains congressional approval to obligate these
funds.[Footnote 7] In addition, AOC has estimated that it will still
need an additional $2.6 million in fiscal year 2008 to fund CVC
construction. Furthermore, AOC has requested $31.1 million in fiscal
year 2009 funds for CVC construction. Given its current cost-to-
complete estimate, AOC may need an additional $2 million in fiscal year
2009 to complete the project.
Madam Chair, this completes my prepared statement. I would be pleased
to answer any questions that you or Members of the Subcommittee may
have.
Contacts and Acknowledgments:
For further information about this testimony, please contact Terrell
Dorn on (202) 512-6923 or [email protected]. Other key contributors to this
testimony include Shirley Abel, Michael Armes, Lindsay Bach, Maria
Edelstein, Elizabeth Eisenstadt, Jeanette Franzel, Jackie Hamilton,
Kara Patton, and Joshua Ormond.
[End of section]
Footnotes:
[1] GAO, Capitol Visitor Center: Update on Status of Project's Schedule
and Cost as of April 15, 2008, GAO-08-677T (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 15,
2008).
[2] In other words, the sequence 2 contractor has received about 99
percent of the current contract value. This value does not include the
costs of unsettled proposed change orders, potential claims, and work
performed outside the current sequence 2 contract, such as the fire
marshal's fire alarm acceptance testing.
[3] A punch list identifies tasks, usually minor, to be completed at
the end of a project.
[4] The critical path is the single longest path of activities through
a project's schedule. Each day of delay in the critical path could
delay the completion of the entire project.
[5] GAO, Capitol Visitor Center: Update on Status of Project's Schedule
and Cost, GAO-05-910T (Washington, D.C.: July 14, 2005).
[6] GAO-08-677T.
[7] For fiscal year 2008, AOC received $28,753,000 (before rescission)
in appropriations for the CVC project. Pub. L. No. 110-161. Of that
amount, AOC is allowed, but not required, to use up to $8.5 million for
operations. AOC is currently planning to use the $8.5 million for
operations.
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