Compliance with Electrical and Fire Protection Standards of U.S. Controlled and Occupied Facilities in Afghanistan

Abstract

At selected U.S. controlled and occupied facilities in Kandahar Air Field (KAF) and Bagram Air Field (BAF), Afghanistan, we inspected for the following: Compliance with the National Electrical Code (NEC); Compliance with the Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC), and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards; and Corrective actions for previous DoD Office of the Inspector General (OIG) electrical and fire protection findings (Report Nos. SPO-2009-005, D2010-D000JB-0078, and DODIG-2012-089). The findings were as follows: Hazardous conditions due to a lack of consistent adherence to minimum NEC and NFPA standards as evidenced by 1,089 findings (440 findings violate NEC electrical standards and 649 findings violate UFC and/or NFPA fire protection standards); Fire protection systems were not maintained and/or repaired; Garrison commands lacked qualified Government or dedicated contractor electricians, fire alarm, or fire suppression technicians on their staffs to perform inspection, testing, and maintenance; Inadequate Government oversight and inspection of facilities; Lack of independent technical support for the Government Contracting Office resulted in overreliance on facility construction and maintenance contractors; The Base Camp Master Plans (BCMPs) lacked a comprehensive fire protection plan; and Corrective actions for previous DoD OIG audits and inspections were incomplete and ineffective for many findings. Among the Recommendations: that a priority be given to correcting the 71 critical findings tallied in Table 2 of this report; that all 1,089 findings be addressed and prioritized according to a robust risk management plan; and that U.S. Forces-Afghanistan (USFOR-A) review the government oversight and inspection requirements for electrical and fire protection systems and ensure that sufficient qualified resources are available and deployed to meet requirements throughout the USFOR-A area of responsibility.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 18, 2013
Accession Number
ADA585733

Entities

People

  • Randolph R. Stone

Organizations

  • Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Buildings And Structures
  • Construction
  • Control Panels
  • Detection
  • Emergency Egress
  • Fire Alarm Systems
  • Fire Extinguishers
  • Fire Hazards
  • Fire Prevention
  • Fire Protection
  • Fire Safety
  • Fire Suppression
  • Residual-Current Devices
  • Safety
  • Standards
  • United States Central Command
  • Warning Systems

Readers

  • Defense Financial Management and Audit.
  • Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Proposed Air Force Base Actions.
  • Fire Suppression Systems Design.