Audit of USAID/India"s management of residential and office real property

The audit covers the period through 5/90. The Mission"s property management is flawed is several areas. Of the 21 residential houses in USAID/I"s inventory, 6 exceed footage standards for size by more than 10%. The Mission has not requested waivers for these cases. Controls over routine maintenance costs are adequate, but additional monitoring is necessary to improve controls over utility costs. The Mission has failed to encourage staff to use existing clean and functional furniture cover and draperies in the residential buildings. Furthermore, the Mission has not enforced A.I.D. redecorating regulations, which require the use of neutral colors and standard types of fabrics for drapes, curtains, rugs, upholstery, etc. Instead, occupants have been allowed to purchase any type of fabric they desire, which may not agree with the tastes of future occupants. The Mission disputed this finding, claiming that pollution in New Delhi makes it impractical to regulate fabric selection, since most fabrics need to be replaced after two years. USAID/I did not properly record and report the service charges for the installation of capital assets in the new office building. This occurred because the Mission used the incorrect object classification codes related to the capital acquisitions and installation of capital assets. As a result, the balance of capital assets reported to A.I.D./W were understated by about $552,000. Finally, USAID/I"s contractor may have violated a New Delhi municipal regulation by modifying the electrical high tension panel room of the new office building, which appears to have created a fire or safety hazard.