The facilities (or construction) department within an owner’s organization is typically subject to audits. The audits are time consuming and taxing on the folks that have to pull the information together. An audit, because it’s ‘after the fact,’ focuses on documentation. A satisfactory audit report has to do with the quality and availability of documentation more than anything else.
A recent article in the Miami Herald (one of our local papers) about audit issues at Miami-based Jackson Health System highlighted major financial issues related to funding and accounting practices. To add to their issues, the Office of the Inspector General received complaints alleging favoritism in the procurement of architectural and engineering services triggering a number of audits.
As you might imagine, the audit revealed deficient record-keeping and poor documentation during procurement as well as construction. This is not surprising – when you focus on the day-to-day, fast pace of project management, documentation takes a back seat. You won’t have good documentation unless you (1) have a system to automatically capture the project documentation and history; or (2) you dedicate staff and resources to it . . . and these days most construction departments are understaffed. The audit also revealed a lack of process and a lack of transparency in procurement and construction. A copy of the audit finding is available here.
As credit and funding tighten up at institutions all around the country, capital expenditures are being scrutinized like never before. For the projects that are given the go-ahead, the stakeholders are demanding transparency. The audit findings regarding Jackson Health Systems capital program are not unique. This scrutiny is what is driving the use of web-based construction management systems. These make it possible for organizations to centralize the project information, enforce policies and procedures, and bring transparency and accountability to capital program execution without an undue amount of effort that would further strain resources that are already thin.
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