State University Construction Fund

Selected Construction Contracting Practices

The State University Construction Fund oversees the rehabilitation and construction of facilities for the State University of New York. We examined the procedures used by the Fund to award construction contracts and evaluate change orders to these contracts. We found that, generally, the controls established by the Fund provided adequate assurance that construction contracts were properly awarded and change orders to the contracts were appropriately justified. However, we identified the need for improvement in certain aspects of the Fund’s construction contracting practices. For example, a breakdown in established internal controls may have contributed to a significant cost increase for one project, and improvements in the project design review process might be able to reduce the number of change orders.

For a complete copy of Report 2000-S-34 click here.