Skip to main content

General Services Administration: Improvements Needed in Managing Delegated Authority of Real Property Activities

GAO-07-1000 Published: Sep 05, 2007. Publicly Released: Oct 05, 2007.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

The General Services Administration (GSA) issues different types of delegations, whereby agencies may request authority to perform certain real property activities, such as leasing space and maintaining property. Effective management of the program is critical to ensuring that federal dollars are well spent and adequate workspace is provided. GAO was asked to determine (1) what real property authority GSA has delegated to its tenant agencies, (2) what policies GSA used to manage delegated authority, and (3) reasons the tenant agencies requested delegated authority. GAO reviewed the law, federal regulations, and GSA policies relating to six types of delegated authority and interviewed GSA officials and officials from six select tenant agencies. GAO analyzed GSA data on delegations issued from fiscal years 1996 to 2006.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
General Services Administration To improve GSA's ability to oversee the various delegated authorities, the Administrator of GSA should develop written procedures for reviewing the different sources of its lease delegation data to identify and determine an accurate count of the leases awarded using all three types of leasing delegations.
Closed – Implemented
In 2007, GAO found that GSA had inconsistent data on delegations of real estate leasing authority. Within GSA, the Public Building Service (PBS) and Office of Governmentwide Policy (OGP) collected disparate sets of data on delegations of real estate leasing authority. PBS collected data on the number of general purpose lease delegations issued while OGP collected data on the number of leases awarded using three types of lease delegations, which include general purpose, categorical, and special purpose. The lease delegation data that PBS and OGP collect are inconsistent and have not been reconciled. Without accurate data on the number of leases awarded using the real estate leasing delegations, GSA is missing an important management control to evaluate whether the delegation of real estate leasing authority is operating as intended. GAO recommended that GSA develop written procedures for reviewing the different sources of its lease delegation data to identify and determine an accurate count of all the leases awarded. In response, GSA issued a policy memorandum specifying that PBS will annually review and reconcile the lease delegation data that both it and OGP have collected. As a result, GSA can ensure that delegations are an efficient use of federal dollars or in the best interest of the government.
General Services Administration To improve GSA's ability to oversee the various delegated authorities, the Administrator of GSA should update the guidance for managing delegations, including procedures for assessing the cost-effectiveness of individual repair and alteration delegations above $100,000, operations and maintenance delegations, general purpose leasing delegations, and special purpose leasing delegations that exceed 2,500 square feet.
Closed – Implemented
In 2007, GAO found that GSA did not use mandated cost-effectiveness criteria when deciding to delegate authority for individual repair and alterations above $100,000. GSA lacked current guidance for the procedures used to assessing cost-effectiveness of individual repair and alteration delegations above $100,000. Therefore, GAO recommended that GSA update its guidance for managing real property delegations, including procedures for assessing the cost-effectiveness of individual repair and alteration delegations above $100,000. GSA responded to this recommendation by issuing revised guidance for these delegations. With the revised guidance, GSA will be able to ensure that such delegations are an efficient use of federal dollars or in the best interest of the government.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Cost effectiveness analysisData integrityFederal procurementFederal propertyFederal property managementFederal regulationsReal estate leasesReal propertyTenantsPolicies and procedures