SUN VALLEY : Audit Faults DWP for $6.8-Million Cost Overrun
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s slipshod oversight of construction of an office building in the San Fernando Valley was partly to blame for a 25% cost overrun on the project, an audit by the city controller’s office alleges.
The DWP spent $34.4 million to complete the Anthony Office Building in Sun Valley, $6.8 million more than projected, as it hurried to meet a targeted completion date last summer.
Officials let construction begin on portions of the building with incomplete designs, were tardy in obtaining construction permits and failed to force contractors to justify delays, the audit found.
A DWP spokesman conceded that there were cost overruns, but said the office building was part of a $62-million project, completed under several contracts that came in under budget. “We don’t think it’s a problem at all,” the spokesman said.
City Controller Rick Tuttle called DWP contract management “flawed” and said the audit justifies his office’s review of all DWP contracts.
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