	Work and Revisions to the Project Schedule Continue, but Delays Hamper Progress

Work in several areas has moved forward since the Subcommittee’s  October 18 CVC hearing, but additional delays have occurred, and AOC’s  construction management contractor has identified several concerns  about the project schedule. The contractor’s October  schedule indicates that, with some exceptions, construction work on the  base CVC project will be essentially complete by September 15, 2006, and  the remaining work will be completed by December 8, 2006. AOC  and its construction management contractor expect to complete their  reviews of this part of the schedule and resolve the Fire Marshal Division’s  concerns by December 31, 2005. Among our  reasons for concern are the uncertainty associated with the fire protection  system schedule, including the concerns expressed by AOC’s Fire Marshal  Division and our earlier work that raised questions about the amount of  time being provided for system testing and inspections; the schedule  slippages to date; the optimistic durations for a number of activities based  on the views of CVC team members and the results of the construction  management contractor’s recently completed review; the large number of  activity paths that are critical; and the risks and uncertainties that  continue to face the project. AOC Has Been Addressing Previously Identified Schedule-Related Issues

AOC and its construction management contractor have been working to  implement recommendations we have made to improve AOC’s schedule  management and to address other schedule-related issues we have  identified. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help ensure that Congress receives a more reliable estimate of the  project’s completion date in order to plan for the CVC’s opening to the  public and make more informed decisions about AOC’s funding needs for  CVC construction and operations, we recommend that the Architect of the  Capitol (1) implement the recommendations (which are consistent with  our prior recommendations on schedule management) made by its  construction management contractor in its November 9 report on its  schedule evaluation; and (2) reassess its proposal to open the CVC in mid- December 2006 when it is confident that it has a project schedule that  reflects realistic durations, enhanced logic, the resolution of concerns  expressed by the Fire Marshal Division, and the impact of delays and  contract changes. This preliminary estimate falls between our September 15,  2005, interim estimate of $525.6 million without provision for risks and  uncertainties, and our November 2004 estimate of about $559 million with  provision for risks and uncertainties. As we said at the Subcommittee’s October 18  hearing, we are waiting for the project schedule to stabilize before we  comprehensively update our November 2004 estimate of the cost to  complete the project, including any costs to the government for delays. Estimate Is Preliminary

Our preliminary estimate of the cost to complete the entire CVC project,  which we will discuss today, is based on information provided by AOC  and its construction management contractor. CVC Costs Are Likely to Increase, Largely Because of Actual and Anticipated Changes and Delays

Assuming that the base project and the House and Senate expansion  spaces are completed in the spring of 2007 and considering the  qualifications just discussed, our preliminary estimate of the cost to  complete the entire project is about $542.9 million without provision for  risks and uncertainties. This estimate is about $17.3 million greater than  our September updated estimate of $525.6 million without provision for  risks and uncertainties and about $16.1 million less than our November  2004 estimate of about $559 million with provision for risks and  uncertainties. Additional contingency funds. 3. Our Estimate Differs from MBP’s Estimate Largely Because We Included More Items in the Project Scope and More Funds for Contingencies

Our preliminary $542.9 million estimate of the cost to complete the CVC  project is significantly higher than MBP’s November 1, 2005, $481.9 million  estimate for several reasons. For  example, the CVC injury and illness rate declined, from 9.1 in 2003 and  12.2 in 2004, to 5.9 for the first 10 months of 2005—below the 2003  industry average of 6.1. AOC and its contractors have taken a number of actions during 2005 to  improve worker safety at the CVC site. Poor housekeeping has been an ongoing issue at the site, and the sequence  2 contractor has recently taken actions to address this issue.
Why GAO Did This Study

This testimony discusses the progress on the Capitol Visitor Center (CVC) project. Specifically, this testimony discusses (1) the status of the project schedule since Congress's October 18, 2005, hearing on the project, (2) the project's costs and funding, and (3) worker safety issues. We will discuss the progress made and problems encountered in completing scheduled construction work and in continuing to develop the project schedule, as we indicated during Congress's October 18 hearing; however, we will not be able to estimate specific completion dates until the project schedule is stable and the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) and its construction management contractor--Gilbane Building Company--have completed their assessments of the schedule and we have had an opportunity to evaluate them. Also, we will update the information we previously provided on the project's costs and funding, using readily available data, but we will wait until the project schedule is stable and has been fully reviewed before we comprehensively update our November 2004 estimate of the cost to complete the project and update the provision in our estimate for risks and uncertainties facing the project.

What GAO Found

Construction work in several areas has moved forward since Congress's October 18 CVC hearing, but additional delays have occurred, and AOC's construction management contractor has identified several concerns with the schedule that raise questions about its proposed mid-December 2006 opening of the base CVC project to the public. AOC and its construction management contractor expect to resolve outstanding scheduling concerns and issues by the end of this year. When AOC and its construction management contractor have prepared what they consider to be a reasonably stable project schedule, we will reevaluate the schedule and inform Congress of our results. In the interim, to help ensure that Congress has better information for making CVC-related decisions, we are recommending that AOC (1) implement the recommendations for obtaining a more reliable project schedule contained in its construction management contractor's November 2005 report, which are consistent with our previous recommendations on schedule management, and (2) reassess its proposed December 2006 date for opening the CVC to the public when it has a more reliable construction schedule. Our preliminary work indicates that the entire CVC project is likely, at a minimum, to cost $542.9 million. This preliminary estimate falls about midway between our September 15, 2005, interim estimate of $525.6 million, which did not provide for risks and uncertainties, and our November 2004 estimate of about $559 million, which did provide for risks and uncertainties. Specifically, this current $542.9 preliminary estimate is about $17.3 million more than the September 15 interim estimate and about $16.1 million less than the November 2004 estimate. The current $542.9 million preliminary estimate does not provide for risks and uncertainties or for additional payments to contractors to cover the costs of certain delays and other contingencies. Even without providing for risks and uncertainties, though, we have increased our cost estimate since September 15 because additional and more expensive changes to the project have been identified; we have increased our allowance for contingencies; and we have added funding for AOC and contractor staff that we believe are likely to be working on the project through the spring of 2007. Our preliminary estimate substantially exceeds MBP's November 2005 updated estimate of $481.9 million, largely because MBP's estimate does not cover a number of project components and does not, in our view, provide adequately for contingencies. According to our analysis of CVC data, worker safety rates have improved substantially this year, although the lost-time rate remains above industry norms. The injury and illness rate for the first 10 months of 2005 declined 52 percent from the rate for 2004, putting the CVC site's rate 3 percent below the average for comparable construction sites. The lost-time rate decreased 62 percent during the same period, but the CVC site's rate is still 29 percent higher than the average rate for comparable construction sites. AOC and its contractors have taken a number of actions during 2005 to improve safety performance on the project, such as conducting training to elevate safety awareness and placing safety posters around the worksite. In addition, senior managers are meeting periodically to develop strategies to improve safety. Poor housekeeping, however, has been an ongoing issue at the site, and the sequence 2 contractor has recently taken actions to address this issue.