Summary: Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO examined the Veterans Administration's (VA) 1987 through 1988 relocation and renovation of VA central offices, focusing on the: (1) offices and number of staff moved; (2) purpose and justification for the moves; (3) costs and benefits; and (4) square feet of office space involved.
GAO found that: (1) between September 1987 and March 1988, VA relocated and renovated the offices of 186 staff located in the VA central office; (2) the purpose was to make the managers more accessible to the VA Administrator and each other and to improve agency efficiency; (3) since regulations did not require VA to provide formal plans, written justifications, or cost-benefit analyses for the relocation and renovation, VA did not prepare any; (4) VA failed to prepare economic analyses for its furniture purchases, but indicated that it would do so in the future; (5) relocation, renovation, and other related costs totalled $215,713, and the new furniture cost $511,353; and (6) 23,708 square feet of office space was involved in the move.
