Afghan Ministry of Commerce and Industries Replacement Building in Kunduz Province: Some Construction Deficiencies Were Not Addressed and the $3.5 Million Building May Not be in Use
Abstract
This report discusses the results of SIGARs inspection of the Ministry of Commerce and Industries (MOCI) replacement building in Kunduz Province. In September 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) awarded a $3.2 million firm-fixed-price contract to Technologists Inc. (TI), a U.S. company, to design and construct a building for the MOCI, whose previous building was damaged by a U.S. airstrike in October 2015. The contract also required TI to clear mines and unexploded ordinance, demolish and remove all debris, and conduct a geotechnical investigation and topographical site survey. Following three contract modifications, the contract value increased to $3.5 million. During our February and August 2019 site visits, we found that TI generally constructed the building according to contract requirements. However, we identified five construction deficiencies involving (1) building expansion joints that were not filled with the required material, (2) p-traps that were improperly installed under the sinks, (3) hot water pipes that were not insulated, (4) counterfeit fire extinguishers, and (5) electrical cableidentification tags that were missing. After SIGAR alerted USACE to these deficiencies in May 2019, USACE stated that it would direct TI to correct four of the five deficiencies. However, during an August 2019 follow-up inspection, we found that TI had only addressed one of the five deficiencies. We also found that neither USACE nor U.S. ForcesAfghanistan (USFOR-A) followed transfer, acceptance, and warranty procedures. USACE determined that the project was ready for transfer to USFOR-A on June 22, 2018, which began the 1-year construction warranty period. However, USFOR-A did not transfer the replacement building to the MOCI until March 20, 2019. This resulted in MOCI only receiving about 3 months of warranty coverage on the building and its systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 23, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1100135
Entities
People
- John Sopko