Even as the White House continues its efforts to shrink the footprint of buildings owned or leased by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), a federal government watchdog has spotlighted an operations issue that threatens the condition of many of these buildings.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently added the condition of federal buildings to its most recent high-risk report because of the increase in deferred maintenance in federal buildings. The GAO says that unless this trend reverses, federal assets will continue to deteriorate and need premature replacement, which can be much more expensive than the cost of repairs had they not been delayed, according to FedWeek.
Management of federal real property has been on that list since 2003, but the cost for deferred maintenance increased from $216 billion in 2022 to $370 billion in 2024 and is more than double the $171 billion total of 2017.
In a 2023 report, GAO also found that four agencies it reviewed did not fully communicate the potential costs of maintenance backlogs to Congress. For example, none of the agencies provided sufficient information in their financial and budget documents to explain the way much of their backlog was for projects necessary to fulfilling agency missions.
Other findings of recent years that contributed to building condition being considered a high risk included a 2023 report finding that military barracks were in poor condition, including some with safety risks like sewage overflow and inoperable fire systems and a 2024 inspector general report finding that the GSA had not effectively monitored its maintenance contractors to ensure they implemented required maintenance and repairs.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.?
