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GAO-14-661R 1 (2014-07-08)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaibz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: cAO U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 July 8, 2014 Congressional Addressees Afghanistan: Kabul Embassy Construction Costs Have Increased and Schedules Have Been Extended Since re-opening in 2002, the U.S. embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, experienced a dramatic increase in staffing, followed by a gradual drawdown. To address space needs, the Department of State (State) awarded two contracts in 2009 and 2010, totaling $625.4 million, to construct additional housing and office facilities on the embassy compound. State has since partially terminated one contract for the convenience of the U.S. government, and has expanded the construction requirements of the second. We performed our work under the authority of the Comptroller General to conduct evaluations on GAO's initiative because of broad congressional interest in the oversight and accountability of U.S. funds used in Afghanistan. We reviewed * what contracts State put in place to construct new U.S. embassy facilities in Kabul starting in 2009; * the extent to which construction requirements, cost, or schedule have changed, and the reasons for the changes; and * the extent to which the present expansion matches projected needs. To conduct this work, we obtained and evaluated construction planning and contract documents, interviewed State and contractor officials, and traveled to Kabul in February 2014 to perform fieldwork. This report formally transmits the briefing we presented to congressional committees in June 2014 (see the enclosure for GAO's briefing presentation). We conducted this performance audit from July 2013 to July 2014 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on our audit objectives. Background State's Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) is responsible for project planning, design, and construction of U.S. diplomatic facilities abroad. From 2002 through 2009, State took several actions to expand the U.S. embassy compound in Kabul. Initially, OBO refurbished the existing office building, built in the 1960s. Additionally, OBO GAO-14-661R U.S. Embassy Kabul Construction Page 1

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