The U.S. government has its hands more than full when it comes to managing its vast array of buildings nationwide. For one thing, the General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees federal facilities, is plagued by an abundance of empty buildings. Complicating the issue is the fact that the GSA is hampered in getting rid of the buildings because in desperate need of maintenance and repair.
Now, a new report from the Government Accounting Office (GAO) finds that the backlog of needed repairs is getting larger and more costly to address.
Estimates for deferred maintenance and repair in four select agencies – the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the GSA -- increased about $22 billion (83 percent) from fiscal years 2017 through 2022, according to the report. Agency officials attributed the increases, which ranged from 63 to 126 percent, to factors including funding constraints, labor and material cost increases, and the size and age of agencies’ real property portfolios.
Agencies' budget documents include information on maintenance needs. But, to give Congress and the public a more complete picture, the GAO recommends including more information on reasons for estimate changes, categories of assets included in estimates, and which projects are mission critical.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
