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The city could be buying loads of crummy asphalt, based on the results of an investigation by the auditor general.
In fact, the city wasn’t even testing asphalt for its small road projects outside the winter months to make sure the material was adequate, the audit revealed.
Auditors tested samples from two suppliers and neither met the requirements set in the city’s contract.
It might be only two samples, but the fact that both failed to meet the specifications is “concerning,” according to the audit released on Thursday.
The audit didn’t include winter maintenance contracts, but when the roads branch tested another asphalt sample recently as part of the 2016-2017 winter maintenance program, it found another substandard sample, prompting the branch to re-tender the contract.
Taking samples of asphalt for lab tests can cost $3,000 a shot, but auditors warn that not doing the tests could mean the city could be paying for bad asphalt.
(The infrastructure department, which buys much more asphalt, tests the material it receives for major projects, such as road resurfacing).
Part of the problem might be simply that the roads branch isn’t requesting the right type of asphalt, the audit says.
Auditors were particularly interested in the external contracts and the quality of the material being purchased by the city.
The roads branch bought $1.4 million in gravel and $845,000 of asphalt in 2016.
When it comes to the gravel, auditors learned the city has a process to make sure the material meets the city’s standards.
However, auditors expected to see the city make sure the suppliers’ scales were properly calibrated to make sure the city receives the quantity of material paid for. Gravel contracts make the suppliers send a certificate on the 15th of each month but the city wasn’t bothering to follow up on that requirement.
Auditors asked the roads branch to request calibration certificates and out of 25 scales, two didn’t have current calibration certificates and another six scales had certificates that were issued after the previous certificates expired.
Auditors visited five worksites and talked to road services supervisors tasked with overseeing contracted work. How the supervisors gauged the work varied across the areas of the city. Sometimes job tickets, completed to prove that the work was done, didn’t have enough information to support payments.
The audit included ironworks contracted by the roads branch, partly prompted by a tip to the fraud and waste hotline. A tipster found City of Ottawa-branded stormwater covers in a commercial parking lot, making auditors wonder if any extra covers were taken from a city yard by workers.
When auditors took an inventory in mid-2017, they found 207 units worth a combined $22,500 missing compared to the records.
The contracting work of the roads branch was one of seven audits released Thursday by auditor general Ken Hughes.
More to come.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
In fact, the city wasn’t even testing asphalt for its small road projects outside the winter months to make sure the material was adequate, the audit revealed.
Auditors tested samples from two suppliers and neither met the requirements set in the city’s contract.
It might be only two samples, but the fact that both failed to meet the specifications is “concerning,” according to the audit released on Thursday.
The audit didn’t include winter maintenance contracts, but when the roads branch tested another asphalt sample recently as part of the 2016-2017 winter maintenance program, it found another substandard sample, prompting the branch to re-tender the contract.
Taking samples of asphalt for lab tests can cost $3,000 a shot, but auditors warn that not doing the tests could mean the city could be paying for bad asphalt.
(The infrastructure department, which buys much more asphalt, tests the material it receives for major projects, such as road resurfacing).
Part of the problem might be simply that the roads branch isn’t requesting the right type of asphalt, the audit says.
Auditors were particularly interested in the external contracts and the quality of the material being purchased by the city.
The roads branch bought $1.4 million in gravel and $845,000 of asphalt in 2016.
When it comes to the gravel, auditors learned the city has a process to make sure the material meets the city’s standards.
However, auditors expected to see the city make sure the suppliers’ scales were properly calibrated to make sure the city receives the quantity of material paid for. Gravel contracts make the suppliers send a certificate on the 15th of each month but the city wasn’t bothering to follow up on that requirement.
Auditors asked the roads branch to request calibration certificates and out of 25 scales, two didn’t have current calibration certificates and another six scales had certificates that were issued after the previous certificates expired.
Auditors visited five worksites and talked to road services supervisors tasked with overseeing contracted work. How the supervisors gauged the work varied across the areas of the city. Sometimes job tickets, completed to prove that the work was done, didn’t have enough information to support payments.
The audit included ironworks contracted by the roads branch, partly prompted by a tip to the fraud and waste hotline. A tipster found City of Ottawa-branded stormwater covers in a commercial parking lot, making auditors wonder if any extra covers were taken from a city yard by workers.
When auditors took an inventory in mid-2017, they found 207 units worth a combined $22,500 missing compared to the records.
The contracting work of the roads branch was one of seven audits released Thursday by auditor general Ken Hughes.
More to come.
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
