USACE's Local National Quality Assurance Program: USACE Used Qualified Personnel to Monitor Construction in Afghanistan and Is Taking Steps to Improve Contractor Reporting

Abstract

Beginning in 2006, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) employees could not always visit construction sites and perform required oversight because of security issues in Afghanistan. To mitigate security risks and fulfill its oversight requirements, USACE began using local Afghans to perform on-site monitoring of construction projects that USACE employees could not visit. From September 2012 through July 2017, USACE spent more than $90 million on a personal services contract with Versar Inc. to help oversee USACE construction projects in Afghanistan. The contract required Versar to hire qualified local Afghan engineers and specialists, known as local national quality assurance (LNQA) employees, to perform oversight activities that USACE employees normally carried out. In addition, the LNQAs were required to report daily to their USACEsupervisors on construction status and any quality assurance concerns. USACE employees, in turn, were required to review the LNQAs daily reports and photographs to monitor construction progress, and ensure that LNQAs properly applied USACEs oversight standards and procedures. In addition to the LNQA monitoring and reporting requirements, USACEs construction contracts require its contractors to conduct quality control activities and provide documentation of them to USACE. This audits objectives were to determine the extent to which (1) Versar met its personal service contract requirements and USACE oversaw Versar as required, and (2) USACE oversaw its construction contractors and used LNQAs to provide on-site monitoring of them.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2019
Accession Number
AD1137663

Entities

People

  • Ashley Hartt
  • Clifton Spruill
  • David Stephens
  • Gwendolyn Toops
  • Julie E. Silvers
  • Preston Heard
  • Tiffany Wallace
  • Wilhelmina Pierce

Organizations

  • Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Acquisition
  • Army Corps Of Engineers
  • Contractors
  • Contracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Employment
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Governments
  • Management Personnel
  • National Security
  • Personnel Management
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Quality Control
  • Security
  • Standards

Readers

  • Facility/Structural Engineering.
  • Government Contracting/Procurement.