State Department: Management of Overseas Real Property Needs Improvement
NSIAD-89-116
Published: Apr 13, 1989. Publicly Released: May 17, 1989.
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Highlights
In response to a congressional request, GAO examined the Department of State's management of U.S.-owned and leased overseas properties, focusing on State's: (1) implementation of its housing standards; (2) building maintenance program; (3) development of a management information system; and (4) procedure for acquiring and disposing of overseas government properties.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of State | The Secretary of State should vigorously enforce compliance with the procedures concerning space standards for overseas housing. |
In conjunction with post budget submissions, each Chief of Mission is now required to certify annually that housing for all agencies has been leased and assigned in accordance with existing regulations and procedures. In addition, the real property manager at each post is required to certify, in writing, that new leases comply with FBO policies.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should require the development of long- and short-range plans for the systematic acquisition and disposition of overseas properties. |
Because of limited resources, State has not developed long- and short-range asset management plans for each post. In 1991, State contracted for asset management studies at critical posts where there were opportunities to acquire new facilities that met State needs and dispose of assets that did not.
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| Department of State | The Secretary of State should expend the requisite effort to ensure that State has an effective real estate management system that includes current and reliable information for each post on a property-by-property basis. This effort should include: (1) training and follow-up assistance to the over 100 posts that do not have automated REMS; (2) better supervision at all posts to ensure accuracy of the data; and (3) obtaining feedback from posts on how to make the system more useful to them. |
State designed a standard data reporting format and provided it to all nonautomated posts. These posts are to report on a property-by-property basis. Currently, 37 posts are operating the REMS upgrade, which automated property information on 65 percent of the world-wide inventory. State hopes to have REMS installed at 76 posts by 1996.
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Topics
Americans employed abroadCost controlFederal property managementHousingInternal controlsInvestments abroadMaintenance costsManagement information systemsProperty disposalReal estate leases