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SGAO
Accountability * Integrity Reliability
United States Government Accountability Office
Washington, DC 20548
July 27, 2005
The Honorable Bill Shuster
Chairman
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton
Ranking Democratic Member
Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public
Buildings, and Emergency Management
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
House of Representatives
Subject: Questions for the Record: Hearing on the Judiciary's Ability to Pay for
Current and Future Space Needs
On June 21, 2005, we testified at the Subcommittee's oversight hearing on the
judiciary's ability to pay for current and future space needs.' This report responds to
your June 23, 2005, request in which you asked additional questions about the Federal
Buildings Fund (FBF) and the judiciary's efforts to manage its space needs. To
respond to these questions, we primarily relied on our previous work and knowledge
of these areas. We prepared this response during June and July 2005 in accordance
with generally accepted government auditing standards. Because our response is
primarily based on previously issued products, we did not seek agency comments on
a draft of this report. Our answers to your questions follow.
Question 1. On page 6 [of your testimony] you mention the downside of
flexible design guidance - what does that mean and how does it affect
construction budgets?
As we reported in 1995,2 flexible design guidance refers to the wide latitude the
General Services Administration (GSA) and the judiciary had in choosing the
location, design, construction, and finishes of courthouse projects. These choices
significantly affected courthouse construction costs. Because of such choices, some
courthouses had more expensive materials or costly design configurations and
enhancements than other courthouses. This flexibility contributed to large degrees
'GAO, Courthouse Construction: Overview of Previous and Ongoing Work, GAO-05 -838T
(Washington, D.C.: June 21, 2005).
2 GAO, Federal Courthouse Construction: More Disciplined Approach Would Reduce Costs and
Provide for Better Decisionmaking, CLf)./TC _J D-9(i (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 8, 1995).
GAO-05-941 R Courthouse Construction Hearing Questions](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.gao/gaocrptascj0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)