United States Government Accountability Office

GAO Report to Congressional Requesters

ARCHITECT OF THE 

CAPITOL 

Committed, Sustained 

Leadership Needed to 

Continue Progress 

February 2007 

 

GAO-07-407 
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

February 2007

ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL 

Committed, Sustained Leadership 

Highlights of GAO-07-407, a report to Needed to Continue Progress 

congressional requesters 

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) 

is responsible for the operation,

maintenance, renovation, and new 

construction of the Capitol Hill 

complex, including the U.S.

Capitol, the Library of Congress,

and the Senate and House Office

Buildings. In 2003, at the request of

Congress, GAO issued a 

management review of AOC that

contained recommendations

designed to help AOC become

more strategic and accountable. 

Subsequently, Congress directed 

GAO to monitor AOC’s progress in 

implementing recommendations. 

This is the fourth status report on

AOC’s progress and summarizes

GAO’s assessment of AOC’s overall

progress and remaining actions in 

becoming more strategic and 

accountable, including AOC’s 

responses to specific 

recommendations GAO made in

January 2003 and subsequently. To

assess AOC’s progress, GAO 

analyzed AOC documents; 

interviewed AOC officials; and 

relied on the results of related GAO

reviews, including reviews of the 

Capitol Visitor Center (CVC). 

AOC generally agreed with GAO’s

assessment of its progress, but 

noted that 2 additional 

recommendations—1 on financial 

management practices and 1 on

collecting worker safety data—

should be considered implemented. 

GAO acknowledges AOC’s efforts 

in these areas, but maintains that

further steps are necessary to fully

implement these

recommendations. 

AOC has made progress in becoming more strategic and accountable, but 

critical actions are needed to sustain and build on this progress. To date, 

AOC has filled key leadership positions, revised its strategic plan, improved 

communication, and continued initiatives to improve internal controls and 

accountability. AOC is thus establishing a foundation for becoming more 

strategic and accountable. However, completing the transition to new 

leadership—including the transition to a new Architect of the Capitol (a 

position that is now vacant)—and other actions remain to bring about lasting 

improvements in performance. For example, AOC must integrate nine new 

managers into the agency while ensuring its continued progress. In addition, 

the Chief Operating Officer faces the challenge of performing the Architect 

of the Capitol’s responsibilities and his own during the CVC project’s 

completion and AOC’s management transition. Furthermore, although AOC 

has revised its strategic plan to better focus on its mission and goals, it has 

not determined whether it can better deliver the services that support its 

mission and goals through outsourcing or in-house resources. Finally, a 

continued focus on communication and other areas that are key to greater

internal control and accountability—including financial, information 

technology, and project management—is needed to sustain and further 

AOC’s progress to date. For example, full implementation of AOC’s cost 

accounting system—a key financial management initiative—is needed to 

more accurately track facilities management cost measures. Improvements 

in project management could be achieved, in part, by applying lessons 

learned in managing the CVC project. 

Appendix I of this report summarizes AOC’s progress on recommendations 

that GAO has made since January 2003 to help AOC establish a strong 

strategic management and accountability framework. This year, AOC has 

implemented 21 recommendations. For example, AOC implemented 6 of the 

strategic management recommendations, including the development of 

congressional protocols and the involvement of stakeholders in developing 

the revised strategic plan. For project management, AOC implemented 7 

recommendations, including the development of performance measures. 

Implementing these 21 recommendations brings the total number of 

implemented or closed recommendations to 43 out of 64. 

AOC’s Progress in Implementing GAO’s Recommendations 

Issue area 

Implemented or closed

recommendations Total recommendations 

Strategic management 13 14 

Human capital management 7 9 

Financial management 1 4 

Information technology management 3 7 

Project management 9 13 

Facilities management 0 2 

Worker safety 5 8 

Capitol Power Plant management 1 3 

Recycling 4 4

Total 43 64

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-407.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Terrell Dorn at 

(202) 512-6923 or dornt@gao.gov. 
Contents 

Letter 1

Results in Brief 3 

Background 5

AOC Is Making Progress in Becoming More Strategic and

Accountable, but Completing the Management Transition and

Other Critical Actions Remain 7 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation 18 

Appendix I Status of AOC’s Progress on Recommendations 20 

Strategic Management 20 

Human Capital Management 26 

Financial Management 31 

Information Technology Management 37 

Project Management 44 

Facilities Management 49 

Worker Safety 51 

Capitol Power Plant Management 55 

Recycling 57

Appendix II GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 59 

Tables 

Table 1: Current Status of Recommendations on Strategic 

Management 21

Table 2: Current Status of Recommendations on Human Capital 

Management 26

Table 3: Current Status of Recommendations on Financial 

Management 32

Table 4: Current Status of Recommendations on Information 

Technology Management 38 

Table 5: Current Status of Recommendations on Project 

Management 45

Table 6: Current Status of Recommendations on Facilities 

Management 49

Table 7: Current Status of Recommendations on Worker Safety 52 

Table 8: Current Status of Recommendations on CPP Management 55 

Table 9: Current Status of Recommendations on Recycling 57 

Page i GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Figure 

Figure 1: New Senior-Level Managers at AOC since January 2006 8 

Abbreviations 

AOC Architect of the Capitol 

BSMO Business Systems Modernization Office 

CFO Chief Financial Officer 

COO Chief Operating Officer 

CPP Capitol Power Plant 

CVC Capitol Visitor Center 

EA enterprise architecture 

FMIS Facilities Management Information System 

FTE full-time equivalent 

ICS Inventory Control System 

IRB Investment Review Board 

IT information technology 

JHA job hazard analysis 

MOR Management Operations Reporting 

OAP Office of the Attending Physician 

OIRM Office of Information and Resource Management 

OOC Office of Compliance 

PRB Project Review Board 

SDLC systems development life-cycle 

SHEC Safety, Health, and Environment Council 

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Page ii GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, DC 20548 

 

February 28, 2007 

The Honorable Mary L. Landrieu 

Chairman 

The Honorable Wayne Allard 

Ranking Minority Member 

Subcommittee on Legislative Branch

Committee on Appropriations 

United States Senate 

The Honorable Debbie Wasserman Schultz 

Chair 

The Honorable Zach Wamp 

Ranking Minority Member 

Subcommittee on Legislative Branch

Committee on Appropriations 

House of Representatives 

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein 

Chairman 

The Honorable Bob Bennett 

Ranking Minority Member 

Committee on Rules and Administration 

United States Senate 

The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) is responsible for the operations, 

maintenance, renovation, and new construction of the Capitol Hill 

complex, including such high-profile and historic buildings as the U.S. 

Capitol Building, Senate and House Office Buildings, Library of Congress, 

and Supreme Court. AOC also is managing the construction of the Capitol 

Visitor Center (CVC)—the largest incremental growth in the history of the 

Capitol complex. Preserving and modernizing these buildings while 

meeting the needs of Congress and the visiting public poses challenges for 

AOC. In 2001, Congress raised concerns about management shortcomings 

at AOC and asked us to review the management of AOC’s operations. In

response, we issued a report in January 2003 containing recommendations 

that were designed to help AOC establish a strong strategic management 

and accountability framework.1

 Congress subsequently directed us to 

 1

GAO, Architect of the Capitol: Management and Accountability Framework Needed for

Organizational Transformation, GAO-03-231 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 17, 2003). 

Page 1 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
monitor AOC’s progress in implementing these recommendations. This 

report is the fourth in a series of status reports on AOC’s progress.2

 In our 

previous report on AOC’s progress, we emphasized the need for 

improvement in communication with external stakeholders and in 

development of internal controls and stressed the importance of 

leadership support for these improvements. 

To continue our efforts in monitoring AOC’s progress, this report includes 

an assessment of AOC’s overall progress and remaining actions in 

becoming more strategic and accountable, including responses to specific 

recommendations we made in January 2003 and subsequently. The 

recommendations involve nine areas—strategic management, human 

capital management, financial management, information technology (IT) 

management, project management, facilities management, worker safety, 

Capitol Power Plant (CPP) management, and recycling. 

To assess AOC’s progress in implementing our recommendations and 

identify remaining actions, we analyzed documents related to AOC’s 

actions and interviewed AOC officials responsible for implementing the 

recommendations. Our analysis also relies on the results of other work we 

conducted during this past year—including reviews of the extent to which 

AOC outsources operations,3

 AOC’s procedures to estimate project costs,4

and AOC’s efforts to improve the CPP’s utility tunnels5

—as well as our 

ongoing oversight of the construction of the CVC.6 We conducted our work 

from September 2006 through February 2007 in accordance with generally 

accepted government auditing standards. 

 2

GAO, Architect of the Capitol: Management Challenges Remain, GAO-06-290 

(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 21, 2006); Architect of the Capitol: Midyear Status Report on

Implementation of Management Review Recommendations, GAO-04-966 (Washington, 

D.C.: Aug. 31, 2004); and Architect of the Capitol: Status Report on Implementation of 

Management Review Recommendations, GAO-04-299 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 30, 2004). 

3

In September 2006, we briefed the House Appropriations Committee on AOC’s outsourcing

efforts. 

4

In June 2006, we briefed the Senate Appropriations Committee on AOC’s procedures for 

estimating project costs and a comparison of AOC’s and other agencies’ project costs. 

5

GAO, Capitol Power Plant Utility Tunnels, GAO-07-227R (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 16, 

2006). 

6

Since February 2006, we have testified at nine hearings on the status of the CVC project.

Our most recent testimony was in February 2007. See GAO, Capitol Visitor Center: Update

on Status of Project’s Schedule and Cost as of February 16, 2007, GAO-07-507T 

(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 16, 2007. 

Page 2 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
AOC has made progress in becoming a more strategic and accountable 

organization, but critical actions remain for the agency to sustain and 

build on this progress. Specifically, AOC has filled seven existing 

leadership positions—including the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the 

Chief Financial Officer (CFO)—and two new leadership positions 

established to help AOC better meet the needs of its customers. In 

addition, AOC revised its strategic plan, improved communication with 

congressional stakeholders, and continued initiatives to improve financial 

management, IT management, and project management. Through these 

actions, AOC is establishing a foundation for becoming more strategic and 

accountable. However, completing the transition to new leadership—

including the transition to a new Architect of the Capitol (a position that is

now vacant)—and other actions are needed to bring about lasting 

improvements in performance. For example, AOC’s new managers 

enhance its ability to advance the agency’s strategic transformation, but 

AOC must integrate these new managers into the agency while ensuring its 

continued progress. Furthermore, the agency must sustain this progress 

despite the vacancy in the position of the Architect of the Capitol 

(Architect). The COO is performing the Architect’s responsibilities in 

addition to his own; however, it will be challenging for one person to fulfill 

the critical roles of the Architect and the COO in completing the CVC 

project and continuing AOC’s progress in becoming more strategic and 

accountable. In addition, although AOC has revised its strategic plan to 

better focus on its mission and goals, it has not identified how best to 

deliver the services that support its mission and goals and has not 

determined whether its workforce has the skills and capacity to deliver 

those services. Finally, a continued focus on improving communication 

and other areas, including financial management, IT management, and 

project management, is needed to ensure that improvements already made 

in these areas are sustained and further progress is made. For example, 

sustained commitment is required to fully implement the cost accounting 

system to more effectively track costs across all of AOC’s operations. For 

project management, AOC’s management of the CVC project provides 

lessons learned that can be applied to all projects, such as the importance 

of communicating with stakeholders throughout all phases of the project.

Results in Brief 

Appendix I provides a summary of AOC’s progress on recommendations 

that we have made in January 2003 and subsequently. Over the last year, 

AOC has implemented 21 recommendations. For example, AOC 

implemented 6 of our strategic management recommendations by 

involving congressional and other stakeholders in the development of its 

revised strategic plan, finalizing procedures to facilitate communication 

with congressional stakeholders, and revising its employee feedback 

Page 3 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
process manual to establish a process for regularly collecting and 

reporting employee feedback information, among other things. In the 

project management area, AOC implemented 7 recommendations by 

taking several steps, such as developing tools to communicate priorities 

and progress of projects, informing congressional stakeholders on how 

and why specific projects are submitted for funding, and establishing 

project-management-related performance measures. Implementing these 

21 recommendations brings the total number of implemented or closed 

recommendations to 43 out of 64, or 67 percent. These 64 

recommendations were designed to help AOC establish a strong strategic 

management and accountability framework and were made in nine 

areas—strategic management, human capital management, financial 

management, IT management, project management, facilities management, 

worker safety, CPP management, and recycling.7

In responding to a draft of this report, AOC generally agreed with our 

assessment of the agency’s overall progress, but noted that the following 2 

additional recommendations—1 on institutionalizing financial 

management practices to support budgeting, financial, and program 

management and 1 on developing a rigorous approach for collecting 

worker safety data—should be considered implemented. According to 

AOC officials, the agency has made significant progress over the past year

and installed a solid foundation for further improvements. The officials 

also recognized that continued focused attention to the agency’s 

improvement initiatives is essential to maintaining progress. For our 

recommendation on financial management practices, AOC suggested that 

the two remaining actions for this recommendation—fully developing and 

implementing an appropriate risk-based internal control framework and 

cost accounting and management reporting initiatives—are addressed in 

the other financial management recommendations. We maintain that these 

two remaining actions are key strategies for institutionalizing internal 

control and accountability and strengthening and supporting effective 

budgeting, financial, and performance management at AOC and are 

necessary to fulfill this recommendation. For the recommendation on 

collecting worker safety data, AOC officials noted that they believe their 

current practices—including conducting biennial focus groups, conducting

daily shop safety meetings, and establishing a safety hazards hotline—

sufficiently meet the requirements of this recommendation. While we 

 7

Although this report draws on our ongoing work on the CVC, we did not include the status 

of the specific recommendations made to AOC on the management of the CVC project. 

Page 4 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
recognize that these initiatives provide the agency with some information 

on worker safety, these initiatives do not provide a rigorous and 

confidential approach for collecting employee perceptions of AOC’s safety 

climate, such as perceptions of management commitment, discipline 

policies, and hazard corrections. This lack of confidentiality can impede 

the quality of information collected. AOC also made clarifying and 

technical comments that we addressed in the text of this report. 

AOC is responsible for the operation, maintenance, renovation, and new 

construction of the buildings and grounds of the Capitol Hill complex. 

Organizationally, AOC consists of nine separate jurisdictions responsible 

for the day-to-day operations of the U.S. Capitol Building, Capitol 

Grounds, Senate Office Buildings, House Office Buildings, Library of 

Congress Buildings and Grounds, Supreme Court Buildings and Grounds, 

CPP, Botanic Garden, and Security Programs. AOC also has centralized 

staff that perform administrative and project management functions. AOC 

has managed major projects throughout the Capitol Hill complex and is 

currently managing the construction of the CVC. The historic nature and 

high profile of many of these buildings create a complex environment for 

AOC to carry out its mission; AOC must balance the diverse and 

sometimes divergent needs of congressional leaders, committees, 

members, and staffs as well as the visiting public. 

Background 

Congress has raised concerns about management shortcomings at AOC.8

For example, in 2001, the Senate Appropriations Committee cited several 

management issues, including a lack of strategic planning, inadequate 

financial and project management controls, and an unacceptably high level 

of worker injuries. Congress subsequently directed GAO to conduct a 

review of the management of AOC’s operations9

 and, later, to monitor 

AOC’s progress in addressing recommendations that arose from the 

review.10

Our January 2003 report contained 35 recommendations designed to assist 

AOC in transforming itself into a more strategic and accountable 

organization. The recommendations were in seven areas, including 

 8

Sen. Rep. No. 107-37, at 28-29 (2001) and H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 107-148, at 73 (2001). 

9

Pub. L. No. 107-68, 115 Stat. 560, 580 (2001), 2 U.S.C. § 1801 note. 

10H.R. Conf. Rep. No. 108-10, at 1225 (2003), accompanying Pub. L. No. 108-7 (2003). 

Page 5 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
strategic management, human capital management, financial management, 

project management, IT management, worker safety, and recycling. The 

report recognized this transformation as a long-term effort that involves a

fundamental change in AOC’s culture. For example, AOC faces the 

challenge of how best to marshal its jurisdiction-based resources to 

address the strategic planning and other functional issues that cut across 

the organization. Changes of this magnitude require the sustained 

commitment of the agency’s top leadership.11

Subsequent reports on AOC’s progress that we issued in 2004 and 2006 

concluded that, while AOC was making progress on all recommendations, 

substantial work remained to achieve the goal of becoming more strategic 

and accountable, and that sustained commitment and assertive 

involvement by AOC’s leadership would be key to instilling long-term 

management improvements. Specifically, our last report in this series, 

issued in February 2006, concluded that the agency had not addressed two 

issues—communication with external stakeholders and development of 

internal controls—that affect a wide range of AOC operations, including 

cost accounting, procurement, and information security. Furthermore, 

leadership support is vital to ensure that needed improvements are 

implemented and sustained, but key leadership positions—including those 

of the COO, CFO, Chief Administrative Officer, and Director of CPP—were 

vacant and the term of the agency head, the Architect, was due to expire in 

less than a year. Therefore, it was critical for AOC to quickly fill the vacant 

management positions with qualified people so AOC would have a 

cohesive management team in place in preparation for a change in the

agency’s top leadership. These reports and two others on the CPP 

included assessments of two additional areas—facilities management and 

the CPP—and 29 additional recommendations for AOC, bringing the total 

number of recommendations to 64.12

 11GAO-03-231. 

12The 29 additional recommendations include 4 issued in January 2004, 13 issued in August 

2004, 9 issued in February 2006, and 3 issued on the management of CPP. The 

recommendations to improve the management of CPP were issued in April 2005 and 

February 2006. See GAO, Capitol Power Plant: Actions Needed to Improve Operating 

Efficiency (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 8, 2005), which was issued as an unnumbered

correspondence; and Architect of the Capitol: Addressing Staffing and Training Issues Is

Important for Efficient and Safe West Refrigeration Plant Operations, GAO-06-321R 

(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 10, 2006) for the CPP recommendations.

Page 6 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
In addition, we and AOC recently worked together to identify lessons 

learned from the ongoing CVC project, including practices that could be

applied to AOC’s future projects and practices that could have been done 

better or differently. The lessons covered four areas—acquisition planning

and policy; decision making, coordination, and communication; project 

and contract management; and worksite safety and security—and included

such lessons as the importance of communicating and coordinating with 

all relevant stakeholders and identifying and mitigating risks early in the 

development of a major construction project. 

During the last year, AOC has filled nine key leadership positions, revised 

its strategic plan to better align its activities with its mission and goals, and 

continued initiatives to improve internal controls and accountability. 

These actions have furthered AOC’s progress in establishing a foundation

for becoming a more strategic and accountable organization. It is now 

important for AOC to continue to build on this foundation by transitioning 

to new management; determining how best to provide services to AOC’s 

customers; and making further improvements in communication, financial 

management, IT management, and project management. 

AOC Is Making 

Progress in Becoming 

More Strategic and 

Accountable, but 

Completing the 

Management 

Transition and Other 

Critical Actions 

Remain 

Leadership Continuity and 

Planning Are Key to New 

Management Transition 

The nine leadership positions that AOC has filled during the last year are 

vital to sustain improvements that have already been achieved, support 

further transformation efforts, and maintain operations during the 

transition to a new Architect. These new managers comprise 9 of the 20

managers that report directly to the Architect or the COO. (See fig. 1.) 

Most of these positions, including those of the CFO and the Chief 

Administrative Officer, were vacant because of retirements and 

resignations. To help AOC better meet the needs of its customers, AOC 

also created and filled two new leadership positions—the Director of 

Congressional and External Relations and the Director of Planning and 

Project Management. In addition to these nine positions, AOC has filled 

seven other management positions over the past year, such as the Deputy

Director for the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Deputy Director

of the Project Management Division, and Director of the Information 

Technology Division. 

Page 7 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Figure 1: New Senior-Level Managers at AOC since January 2006 

Office of Congressional

and External Relations

May 2006

Special Assistant to 

the Architect (2)

Office of Security 

Programs

Architect of the Capitol

Office of the Chief 

Operating Officer

March 2006

Office of Safety, Fire 

and Environmental 

Programs

Office of the General 

Counsel

Inspector General

Capitol Visitor Center 

Project Office

Superintendent

Senate Office 

Buildings

November 2006

Superintendent

U.S. Capitol 

Building

Office of the Chief 

Administrative 

Officer

June 2006

Superintendent

Library Buildings

and Grounds

August 2006

Executive Director

U.S. Botanic 

Garden

Director

Utilities and Power 

Plant Operations

March 2006

Office of the 

Chief Financial 

Officer

December 2006

Superintendent

U.S. Capitol 

Grounds

Facilities Manager 

Buildings and 

Grounds Supreme 

Court

November 2006

Director of Planning

and Project 

Management

June 2006

Superintendent

House Office 

Buildings

Source: Architect of the Capitol.

Shaded box indicates position was filled in 2006

Note: The Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) is organizationally aligned under AOC and reports 

administratively to the Architect (e.g., time and attendance). The OAP receives direction from the 

Attending Physician (a separate and distinct officer of Congress) and is not an AOC senior manager.

While these new managers can bring new energy and ideas to the agency,

the introduction of so many new managers within a short period makes it 

challenging to integrate them into AOC while sustaining the progress made 

thus far. The turnover in AOC’s senior leadership over the past year 

Page 8 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
resulted in a loss of leadership continuity, institutional knowledge, and 

expertise—a loss that could adversely affect AOC’s ability to continue its 

progress, at least in the short term. AOC has taken steps to mitigate these 

factors and integrate the new managers into the agency by, for example, 

holding weekly senior leadership meetings and monthly detailed briefings 

on various AOC construction projects. These managers are also part of 

AOC’s senior executive performance management system, which links the 

managers’ performance plans to AOC’s mission-critical goals and holds the 

managers accountable for results. AOC officials also noted that 4 of the 9 

new managers have been promoted from within the agency and have the 

institutional knowledge and expertise gained from several years of 

experience at AOC. 

The current vacancy in the Architect’s position further challenges AOC’s 

ability to sustain progress. The process for hiring the new Architect is in 

the early stages, and according to the COO, hiring the previous Architect 

took over a year.13 Until a new Architect is in place, the COO is authorized 

to act as the Architect and is assuming the Architect’s duties along with his 

own.14 In general, the Architect’s responsibilities include overall 

management of AOC, support and representation on boards and 

commissions—including the Capitol Police Board—and management of 

the CVC project, while the COO’s responsibilities involve developing the 

agency’s strategic and performance plans, proposing organizational and

staffing changes needed to carry out AOC’s mission, and reviewing and 

directing the operational functions of AOC. The COO identified the 

management of the CVC project as one of the agency’s major challenges to

becoming more strategic and accountable, because the CVC requires 

significant management attention that could otherwise be focused on 

AOC’s transformation initiatives. The management responsibilities for the 

CVC project could increase if, as scheduled, the CVC reaches a critical 

juncture in the next year as the construction phase ends and operations 

begin. For example, before the CVC becomes operational, the roles and 

 13Pursuant to 2 U.S.C. § 1801, the process for hiring a new Architect involves the 

establishment of a commission composed of the Speaker of the House; the President Pro 

Tempore of the Senate; the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and House, and the

Chairmen and Ranking Minority Members of the House Oversight Committee, the Senate 

Rules and Administration Committee, and the Senate and House Appropriations 

Committees. The commission recommends at least three individuals to the President for 

the position of the Architect. An Architect is then appointed by the President with the

advice and consent of the Senate for a term of 10 years. 

142 U.S.C. § 1804. 

Page 9 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
responsibilities for managing CVC operations, including those of AOC, will 

need to be determined. Furthermore, the CVC project executive is 

planning to leave the agency in March 2007, which is likely to place 

additional responsibilities on the COO. Given these factors, it will be 

challenging for one person to fulfill the critical roles of the Architect and 

the COO in completing the CVC and continuing AOC’s progress in 

becoming more strategic and accountable. 

AOC has begun preparing for the transition to a new Architect by 

determining how to support the COO in the absence of an Architect and

establishing a transition team for bringing in a new Architect. To support 

the COO, AOC has begun identifying individuals to assist the COO in 

managing various areas, such as project management and facilities 

management. While this strategy will provide support to the COO, it 

remains to be seen whether the strategy will provide the necessary 

support during the transition. AOC has also established a transition team 

that is chaired by the Director of Congressional and External Relations 

and that includes the COO and the Chief Administrative Officer, among 

others. This team has begun to prepare background materials for quickly 

bringing the new Architect up to speed on the agency and its initiatives, 

once a new Architect has been selected. The team also plans to be 

involved in preparing potential candidates for the confirmation hearings

by providing the candidates with information on AOC’s responsibilities 

and structure, including its strategic plan. 

AOC Revised Its Strategic 

Plan, but Has Not Clearly 

Delineated a Strategy for 

Best Delivering Its 

Services 

Over the past year, AOC has revised its strategic plan to better focus on its 

mission and provide a means to demonstrate results. In January 2007, AOC 

issued the revised plan, which sets forth AOC’s mission—to provide 

Congress and the public with a wide range of professional expertise and 

services to preserve and enhance the Capitol complex and related 

facilities. The revised plan also has three strategic goals—congressional 

and Supreme Court operations support, heritage asset stewardship, and 

leadership and administrative support—which cover all of AOC’s 

operations. The plan includes performance measures that allow AOC to 

regularly monitor progress in achieving its strategic goals and convey the

results of its activities in its annual performance and accountability report.

AOC’s revised strategic plan is an important building block in the agency’s 

efforts to become more strategic and accountable and provides a 

framework for assessing and prioritizing the agency’s activities. 

While AOC has defined its mission and goals in its revised strategic plan,

the agency has not identified how best to deliver the services—through 

Page 10 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
outsourcing or in-house resources—that support the mission and goals 

and has not determined whether its workforce has the skills and capacity 

to deliver those services. These two initiatives—identifying how best to 

deliver services and developing a workforce plan—are interrelated. For 

example, contracting out for a service requires a different set of skills to 

manage the contract than to conduct the work. While AOC has included 

both initiatives in its strategic plan and COO action plan15 and recognizes 

that coordinating these initiatives is important, the agency’s workforce 

planning efforts do not include an analysis of potential outsourcing 

opportunities that may arise as the result of AOC’s identification of how 

best to deliver services. 

Given recent trends and long-range fiscal challenges, we have reported the 

need for the federal government to engage in a fundamental review, 

reassessment, and reprioritization of what the government does, how the 

government does business, and who does the government’s business.16 In 

fiscal year 2005, AOC outsourced about 23 percent of the agency’s 

operations and maintenance expenditures; this percentage was within the 

range of operations outsourced by similar organizations (12 to 41 

percent).17 However, AOC has not comprehensively reviewed all the 

services it provides to determine whether the services could better be 

provided through outsourcing or in-house resources. Consequently, few 

activities are outsourced consistently throughout AOC, and contracts are 

seldom consolidated to obtain similar services across jurisdictions.18 In 

2006, the House Appropriations Committee instructed AOC to develop a 

plan that analyzes the costs, cost-effectiveness, benefits, and feasibility of 

the Architect’s entering into contracts with private entities for managing 

and operating its facilities.19 AOC submitted a plan to Congress that 

Service Delivery

 15In August 2006, AOC also issued a COO action plan, which is a 1- to 2-year plan that sets 

forth “quick hit” tactical actions intended to help AOC become a more strategic and 

accountable organization. According to the plan, once these actions are completed, the 

action plan will no longer be necessary, since the strategic plan will serve as the vehicle for 

change and process improvement. 

16GAO, Commercial Activities Panel: Improving the Sourcing Decisions of the Federal

Government, GAO-02-847T (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 27, 2002). 

17AOC also outsourced about 90 percent of capitalized expenditures for fiscal year 2005; 

however, AOC’s capitalized expenditures were not comparable with similar organizations. 

18We provided this finding in our September 2006 briefing to the House Appropriations

Committee on AOC’s outsourcing efforts. 

19House Rep. No. 109-485, at 14 (2006). 

Page 11 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
outlines a long-term strategy for comprehensively reviewing operations 

and identifying opportunities for additional contracting; however, the plan

does not provide time frames for executing this strategy. AOC officials told 

us that the time frames for the long-term strategy depend on coordination

with the new congressional leadership to brief them on AOC’s outsourcing 

plan. 

In 2002, the Commercial Activities Panel issued guiding principles for 

federal agencies to follow when making decisions on whether to 

outsource services.20 In briefings to congressional committees, we have 

reported that these principles could guide AOC in determining how best to 

deliver its services. For example, the panel recommended that the decision

on whether to outsource services should 

• support agency missions, goals, and objectives (as defined in the agency’s

strategic plan); 

• be based on a clear, transparent, and consistently applied process; 

• avoid arbitrary full-time equivalent or other arbitrary numerical goals; 

• ensure that competitions involve a process that considers both quality and 

cost factors; and 

• provide for accountability in connection with all decisions. 

In addition, AOC has not assessed its current workforce to determine 

whether it has the appropriate balance of skills needed to provide services 

and manage contracts for services that are outsourced. An assessment of 

AOC’s workforce can help AOC leadership further refine their decisions 

on whether to deliver AOC’s services with outsourcing or in-house 

resources. As we recommended, AOC has taken steps to identify current 

and future workforce needs and address potential skill gaps by hiring a 

contractor to assist in the development of a strategic workforce plan. 

Although the scope of the contractor’s work will include collecting and 

Workforce Planning 

 20Section 832 of the Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2001, Pub. L. No. 106-398, 114

Stat. 1654 (2000) required the Comptroller General of the United States to convene a panel 

of experts to study the process used by the federal government to make sourcing decisions. 

After a year-long study, this panel published its report in April 2002. See Commercial 

Activities Panel, Improving the Sourcing Decisions of the Government: Final Report 

(Washington, D.C.: Apr. 30, 2002), on the GAO Web site, http://www.gao.gov. 

Page 12 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
analyzing data on AOC’s workforce, it does not include an analysis of 

potential outsourcing opportunities that may arise as the result of AOC’s 

identification of how best to deliver services. Furthermore, the COO 

requested that the workforce planning efforts include an analysis of 

potential outsourcing opportunities, but the COO’s guidance came after 

AOC had finalized its workforce planning contract. An AOC official 

responsible for the contract stated that this level of analysis either would 

require additional resources for the current contract or would need to be

incorporated into a second phase of its workforce planning efforts. 

Another initiative in AOC’s workforce planning efforts—the 

implementation of a skills assessment survey—has been delayed to revise 

the survey instrument and make a more useful tool for collecting data on 

AOC’s current workforce. An official stated that AOC does not expect the 

skills assessment survey to be completed in the near future. Consequently,

data from the skills assessment survey will not be taken into account in

the work being done by AOC’s contractor responsible for developing the 

strategic workforce plan. 

AOC took several steps over the past year to improve communication with 

its external stakeholders, and stakeholders are responding positively to 

these efforts. To improve communication with congressional stakeholders, 

AOC hired a Director of Congressional and External Relations. The 

director is responsible for developing and maintaining positive relations 

with congressional stakeholders, and she regularly provides them with 

updates on AOC issues. Other AOC officials, including the COO and the 

Director of Planning and Project Management, also periodically brief 

congressional stakeholders on a variety of issues, such as revisions to the 

strategic plan, the COO’s action plan, and AOC’s budget submission and 

the status of projects. As a result of these efforts, the COO believes that 

AOC better understands what Congress wants and is able to set 

expectations, obtain feedback, and make changes on the basis of that 

feedback. Congressional stakeholders we spoke with generally agree that

AOC’s outreach efforts have improved, and they said that the addition of 

the Director of Congressional and External Relations has improved AOC’s 

responsiveness to congressional questions and requests for information. 

Although AOC has taken steps to improve communication with its 

congressional stakeholders, it is critical for these improvements to be 

formalized and sustained. AOC is finalizing written procedures for 

communicating with congressional and other external stakeholders and 

plans to brief congressional leadership on these procedures. In instituting 

these procedures, AOC is working to establish “one voice” for the agency

Improved Communication 

Procedures Need to Be 

Sustained 

Page 13 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
and set expectations for AOC’s response time to stakeholder inquiries. 

Although congressional stakeholders generally agree that communication 

has improved, documentation of AOC’s communication procedures can 

help ensure that AOC deals with its congressional customers using clearly

defined, consistently applied, and transparent policies and procedures.21

AOC also has taken actions to improve communication with its employees, 

but the effectiveness of these efforts remains to be seen. AOC recently 

revised its process for collecting and assessing data on employee 

satisfaction to address our recommendations on systematically collecting 

and communicating employee feedback. AOC continues to distribute 

newsletters to its employees; hold biannual town hall meetings and 

monthly, small-group sessions with the COO; and address issues that were 

identified in employee focus groups, first held in 2004.22 AOC also 

contracted for an ombudsperson to serve as a confidential resource for 

responding to employee complaints, concerns, and questions on 

employment-related matters. Although these are positive steps, AOC will 

not be able to determine the extent to which communication has been 

improved until the next round of employee focus groups is completed and

compared with the results of the 2004 focus groups. AOC originally 

planned to conduct the next round of focus groups in fiscal year 2007; 

however, because of fiscal constraints and ongoing transformation efforts, 

AOC is considering the possibility of conducting focus groups in fiscal 

year 2008. 

The effectiveness of AOC’s communication improvements also depends on 

how well AOC can identify and address issues that may arise as well as 

communicate the actions that are being taken to address the issues. For 

example, in 2006, employees involved in repairing AOC’s utility tunnels 

expressed concerns over how AOC management communicated with 

them. Although AOC developed a plan to address problems in the utility 

tunnels, the tunnel workers expressed concern that they had no clear idea 

of when the problems would be solved. To improve communication, AOC 

began holding weekly meetings with the tunnel shop workers in April 2006 

to discuss tunnel issues and the actions being taken, but workers 

continued to express frustration about the lack of progress in addressing 

 21GAO-03-231. 

22AOC established employee focus groups as a method for collecting employee feedback

information on a regular basis.

Page 14 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
their safety and health concerns.23 As issues such as worker safety arise, it 

is important for employees to see that AOC’s leadership not only listens to 

their concerns, but also takes action and makes appropriate adjustments 

in a visible and timely way.24

AOC has made progress in financial management, IT management, and 

project management, but sustained commitment is required to continue 

progress on the long-term efforts in these areas, many of which are needed

to improve AOC’s internal controls and accountability. Internal control 

and accountability are critical elements in managing an organization. 

Internal control involves the plans, methods, and procedures used to meet 

missions, goals, and objectives and, in doing so, to support performancebased management. Accountability represents the processes, mechanisms, 

and other means by which AOC managers demonstrate their stewardship 

and responsibility for resources and performance. Internal control and 

accountability initiatives require sustained and committed leadership to 

ensure successful implementation. While AOC has made progress in all 

nine areas that are important to a strong strategic management and 

accountability framework, work remains to develop significant and lasting 

internal control and accountability improvements in the areas of financial 

management, IT management, and project management. (See app. I for 

more information on the status of recommendations in all nine areas, 

including strategic management, human capital management, facilities 

management, worker safety, CPP management, and recycling.) 

AOC has made progress in preparing its financial statements and 

implementing a new financial management system, but significant work 

remains to establish an effective internal control framework and cost 

accounting system. AOC achieved its goal of preparing auditable 

comprehensive agencywide financial statements with the successful audit

of its fiscal year 2005 and 2006 financial statements. To a significant 

extent, these achievements reflect the increased focus and attention by 

AOC’s senior management on financial accountability and control. For 

example, AOC’s senior management regularly meets with the AOC Audit 

Committee and its internal and external auditors to discuss the status of 

the financial statement audits, any related findings, and AOC’s corrective 

plans. In 2006, AOC also implemented the final phase of its new financial 

Further Progress in 

Improving Financial 

Management, IT 

Management, and Project 

Management Requires 

Ongoing Commitment 

Financial Management 

 23GAO-07-227R. 

24GAO-04-299 and GAO-04-966. 

Page 15 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
management system. AOC has begun efforts to establish a risk-based 

internal control framework, although progress has been impacted by

staffing shortages and limited resources. To improve accountability across 

the agency, AOC has begun the implementation of its cost accounting 

system, including working to get employees to charge their time to specific

activities and project codes in the time and attendance system and 

working to develop reporting formats that demonstrate the types of 

information that can be generated when the system is fully implemented. 

Although these are important steps, the system will have to be further 

developed to link AOC’s cost information to the strategic plan, 

performance measures, and performance-based budgeting—actions that 

are important to producing reliable information for decision making and 

performance evaluation. AOC officials noted that further progress in 

implementing the internal control framework and the cost accounting 

system will be limited by current resource constraints. Implementing this 

key effort impacts other AOC initiatives. For example, while AOC has 

taken steps to improve its cost and timeliness measures for facilities 

management, it will not be able to accurately and routinely track or 

benchmark these measures until the cost accounting system is further 

developed and linked with the facilities management information system. 

AOC officials noted that it will take several years for the systems and 

processes to evolve to the point that the system can be fully implemented. 

Successful implementation of these systems and processes that impact all

of AOC’s operations will require sustained organizational commitment to

ensure these efforts are appropriately funded, staffed, and monitored. 

Until these efforts are implemented and operating effectively, AOC 

continues to face substantial risk in the area of linking cost and financial 

information to organizational performance. 

AOC has made progress in improving IT management controls and 

accountability, but work remains to fully implement an effective 

agencywide approach to IT management. To improve management 

controls in AOC’s IT investment management process, AOC developed and 

approved an IT investment management policy that describes the agency’s 

investment management process and the roles and authorities of the 

boards involved in overseeing IT investments. AOC also has begun to plan

for and implement the practices in our IT investment management guide 

associated with corporate, portfolio-based investment decision making. 

However, AOC has yet to prioritize all IT investments, develop an IT 

investment portfolio, and oversee each investment from a portfolio 

approach to ensure that it achieves its cost, benefit, schedule, and risk 

expectations. According to AOC officials, AOC has begun the process of 

establishing an IT portfolio management program that will arrange IT 

IT Management 

Page 16 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
investment into a single portfolio and provide visibility, control, and 

decisions based on project objectives such as costs, resources, and risks. 

However, until AOC fully institutes these practices, it cannot ensure that 

the investments address the agency’s strategic goals, objectives, and 

mission. 

AOC also took actions to improve internal controls and accountability in 

the area of project management, but sustained commitment is needed to 

continue progress in managing project costs and developing a project 

information system to help manage and track projects. For example, AOC 

made internal control and accountability improvements by developing and 

tracking project-management-related performance measures, clarifying the

roles and responsibilities of staff in the Project Management Division, and 

revising its project management manuals. However, AOC’s lack of 

accurate cost data for the Construction Division—the division that 

provides construction services in-house (rather than by contractors)—

hampers its efforts to fully account for the costs of projects. In April 2006,

a peer review group within AOC issued recommendations designed to 

better track cost data for the division, including standardizing the cost 

estimating process. AOC is taking steps to address the peer review 

recommendations, such as developing centralized planning and estimating 

capabilities to provide better cost estimates for all Construction Division 

projects, but, according to AOC officials, the agency will not be able to

fully account for project costs until the cost accounting system is in place. 

In addition, AOC plans to modify its project information system to improve 

AOC’s ability to manage, track, and communicate the status of projects. 

AOC has developed the requirements for this system, which includes the 

automation of AOC’s quarterly construction projects progress report. AOC 

plans to begin modifications to the current system with available in-house 

resources in fiscal year 2007 and requested funding for further 

modifications in its fiscal year 2008 budget. Sustained support of these 

project management initiatives is critical to improving AOC’s efforts to 

manage projects, identify reasons for project cost and schedule changes, 

and report to the stakeholders. 

On the basis of our ongoing work and issued testimonies on AOC’s 

management of the CVC project, we and AOC worked together to identify 

lessons learned from the ongoing CVC project, some of which are also 

relevant for project management across AOC. For example, one lesson 

suggests the importance of establishing and maintaining a detailed, 

realistic, and complete project schedule and ensuring that the schedule 

sufficiently reflects the impact of problems and changes and the likely 

impact of known risks. Another lesson suggests the importance of clearly

Project Management 

Page 17 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
identifying qualifications and limitations associated with cost and 

schedule estimates; understanding risks and uncertainties; and providing 

Congress with accurate, timely updates on the project’s status, completion 

date, and costs. Recognizing the need to improve how AOC manages large

projects, the agency is adding capital project administrators to its Project 

Management Division to lead the design and construction activities of 

larger projects. 

In responding to a draft of this report, AOC generally agreed with our 

assessment of the agency’s overall progress, but noted that 2 additional 

recommendations—1 on institutionalizing financial management practices

to support budgeting, financial, and program management and 1 on 

developing a rigorous approach for collecting worker safety data—should 

be considered implemented. According to AOC officials, the agency has 

made significant progress over the past year and installed a solid 

foundation for further improvements. The officials also recognized that 

continued focused attention to the agency’s improvement initiatives is 

essential to maintaining progress. For our recommendation on financial

management practices, AOC suggested that the two remaining actions for

this recommendation—fully developing and implementing an appropriate 

risk-based internal control framework and cost accounting and 

management reporting initiatives—are addressed in the other financial 

management recommendations. In our August 2004 report, we noted the 

AOC’s limited progress on the financial management initiatives, which lead

us to make additional recommendations calling for senior management to 

provide strong and visible support and commitment to helping ensure that 

these important initiatives are successfully implemented. While some 

progress has been made on these initiatives, AOC officials noted that 

further progress will be limited by staffing shortages and resource 

constraints. The potential limited, near-term progress leads us to observe 

in this report that successful implementation of these systems and 

processes, which impact all of AOC’s operations, will require sustained 

organizational commitment to ensure these efforts are appropriately 

funded, staffed, and monitored. We maintain that full implementation of 

these initiatives is necessary for institutionalizing internal control and 

accountability and strengthening and supporting effective budgeting, 

financial, and performance management at AOC. For the recommendation 

on collecting worker safety data, AOC officials noted that they believe 

their current practices—including conducting biennial focus groups, 

conducting daily shop safety meetings, and establishing a safety hazards 

hotline—sufficiently meet the requirements of this recommendation. While 

we recognize that these initiatives provide the agency with some 

Agency Comments 

and Our Evaluation 

Page 18 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
information on worker safety, these initiatives do not provide a rigorous 

and confidential approach for collecting employee perceptions of AOC’s 

safety climate, such as perceptions of management commitment, 

discipline policies, and hazard corrections. This lack of confidentiality can 

impede the quality of information collected. Furthermore, although AOC 

established a schedule to collect employee feedback every other year, 

AOC has not conducted focus groups since fiscal year 2004 and does not 

have plans to do so until possibly fiscal year 2008. AOC’s recently revised 

employee feedback manual specifies that AOC can use other means or 

tools to collect and provide employee feedback information. This would 

allow AOC to pursue another, more rigorous and confidential method for 

collecting worker safety data. AOC also made clarifying and technical 

comments that we addressed in the text of this report. 

We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional 

committees. We are also sending this report to the Acting Architect of the

Capitol. We will make copies available to others upon request. In addition, 

this report will be available at no cost on the GAO Web site at 

http://www.gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of Congressional 

Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page of this report. 

If you or your staffs have any questions about this report, you may contact 

me at (202) 512-6923 or at dornt@gao.gov. Major contributors to this 

report are listed in appendix II. 

Terrell G. Dorn 

Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues 

Page 19 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Sta

Recommendations 

tus of AOC’s Progress on

Page 20 GAO-07-407

Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on 

Recommendations 

Since January 2003, we have made 64 recommendations in nine areas to 

improve the Architect of the Capitol’s (AOC) strategic management and 

accountability framework, which is needed to drive the agency’s 

transformation effort and address long-standing program issues. These 

nine areas are strategic management, human capital management, 

financial management, information technology (IT) management, project 

management, facilities management, worker safety, Capitol Power Plant 

(CPP) management,1

 and recycling. Over the past year, AOC has 

implemented 21 recommendations, bringing the total number of 

implemented or closed recommendations to 43 out of 64, or 67 percent. 

This appendix provides (1) the overall progress and remaining actions in 

each of the nine issue areas and (2) details on the status of the 

recommendations made in each area (see tables 1 through 9). For the 

recommendations that have been implemented, the “status” column in the 

tables includes the month and year of the GAO report that acknowledges 

the completion of that recommendation. Recommendations implemented 

since our February 2006 report were given an implementation date of 

February 2007. 

AOC has made progress in improving its strategic planning and 

organizational alignment, establishing meaningful performance measures, 

improving the process to obtain feedback from employees and customers, 

and strengthening the relationship between AOC and congressional 

stakeholders. As a result, AOC has implemented 6 of our strategic 

management recommendations over the year. Specifically, AOC has issued 

its revised strategic plan and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) action 

plan and provided periodic briefings to update congressional stakeholders

on these plans and related organizational changes. To improve 

communication with its employees, AOC revised its employee feedback 

process manual to establish a process for regularly collecting and 

reporting employee feedback information. Finally, to improve 

communication with its external stakeholders, AOC is establishing 

procedures for communicating with congressional and other external 

Strategic Management 

 1

During this same time period, GAO made an additional 8 recommendations related to the

Capitol power plant master plan. See GAO, Capitol Power Plant Utility Master Plan, 

GAO-04-456RNI (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 1, 2004). AOC implemented 6 of the

recommendations and is making progress in implementing the remaining 2 

recommendations. Due to the security sensitive nature of these recommendations, we did

not include these recommendations in this report. 

Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

stakeholders and has taken a more proactive approach to communicating 

with these stakeholders.

Although AOC has made progress in the area of strategic management, 

sustained commitment from the agency’s new leaders is necessary to build 

upon this progress. To ensure that the strategic plan is current and useful 

to the agency, AOC leadership should review and update the strategic plan 

regularly and incorporate any changes that may result from AOC’s review 

of options and strategies for delivering its services and operations. 

Furthermore, AOC should continue to work with congressional 

stakeholders to develop and report key measures that are meaningful to 

AOC’s customers and reflect the agency’s day-to-day operations. See table 

1 for more information on the implementation status of our 

recommendations on strategic management. 

Table 1: Current Status of Recommendations on Strategic Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of 

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. Improve strategic planning and 

organizational alignment by involving key 

congressional and other external stakeholders 

in AOC’s strategic planning efforts and in any

organizational changes that may result from 

these efforts. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has fulfilled our recommendation by involving 

congressional and other stakeholders in drafting the January 

2007 version of the strategic plan. For example, AOC 

conducted briefings with stakeholders on the strategic plan

and COO action plan, sought feedback, and integrated the 

suggested changes into the plans. In addition, AOC has 

hired a permanent COO and a Director of Congressional and 

External Relations to coordinate the flow of information 

between Congress and the Architect of the Capitol 

(Architect) and the COO.

2. To strengthen the relationship between AOC 

and its congressional and other stakeholders,

we recommend that the Architect of the Capitol 

direct the COO to actively consult with 

Congress on the design and implementation of 

meaningful outcome-based and performancebased measures that are useful to both AOC 

and Congress. This effort will enable AOC and 

Congress to assess AOC’s progress. 

August 2004 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has developed a mixture of outcome and output 

measures that are clearly linked to its strategic goals, and 

AOC has worked with congressional stakeholders to 

develop, review, and revise three documents designed to 

assist AOC in becoming a more strategic and accountable

organization. All three documents track performance 

toward specific targets that are linked to the agency’s 

strategic goals.

Page 21 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of 

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• The strategic plan contains AOC’s three strategic 

goals and a performance plan that outlines specific 

objectives and associated activities as well as

performance measures that are linked to the 

strategic goals. This plan is used by the COO and 

the Architect to move AOC forward and track

progress on AOC’s strategic goals. 

• The COO action plan is for use by the COO and the 

Architect in tracking progress on a set of 

complimentary tasks to AOC’s strategic plan. The 

action plan contains several short-term “quick hit” 

items intended to help AOC become a more

strategic and accountable organization. 

• The AOC dashboard summarizes AOC’s 

performance and contains a series of tactical or 

operational indicators that are tracked on a monthly 

basis and are for use by the COO and the Architect, 

as well as superintendents and division heads, to 

discuss AOC’s performance. 

Remaining action 

• Congressional stakeholders noted that they would like to 

see key measures that are meaningful to AOC’s 

customers and reflect the agency’s day-to-day operations. 

For example, response time on cleaning requests (such 

as a request to clean up a spill in a hallway) is important 

to AOC’s building occupants, but AOC does not have a 

measure that captures how quickly the agency responds 

to this type of request. Stakeholders also suggested that 

AOC could develop a top 10 key indicators list that 

succinctly shows AOC’s overall performance. 

3. Develop a comprehensive strategy to 

improve internal and external communications 

by providing opportunities for routine employee

input and feedback. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has established a process for obtaining employee input

and feedback and finalized a process manual for employee

feedback. The process manual provides guidance for 

obtaining employee feedback using a four-step approach: 

identifying concerns, obtaining data, giving feedback, and 

following up on results. The process manual also details 

responsibilities for staff and provides an implementation 

plan. While AOC has provided opportunities for routine 

employee feedback, it is important for AOC to collect a 

consistent and comprehensive set of data on a regular basis

in order to monitor progress against an established baseline. 

4. Gather and analyze employee feedback 

from focus groups or surveys before fiscal year 

2005, as well as communicate how it is taking

actions to address any identified employee

concerns. 

January 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC held focus group sessions in September 2004 and has 

communicated planned actions to employees by issuing 

three brochures. According to AOC, it has begun to 

implement several of the planned actions and will continue to 

communicate with employees as each action plan is 

implemented. In addition, AOC has issued a focus group 

guide that outlines procedures for conducting focus groups

and reporting on the results. 

Page 22 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of 

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

5. To improve communication with employees, 

we recommend that the Architect of the Capitol 

direct the COO to fully and effectively 

implement the basic framework as defined in 

its communications plan and process manuals, 

and finalize its draft employee feedback 

manual to ensure that the current progress 

already made is maintained. 

August 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC implemented the basic framework in its 

communications plan through a variety of communication 

methods to convey information to employees, including a 

weekly newsletter on project updates, policy 

announcements, management and communication tips, and

other agencywide messages. AOC has also distributed a 

process manual for employee feedback. 

6. Develop a comprehensive strategy to 

improve internal and external communications 

by completing the development of 

congressional protocols by involving 

stakeholders. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC is finalizing its congressional protocols, designed to 

facilitate and improve internal and external communications. 

AOC has worked closely with its congressional stakeholders

to develop these protocols to ensure that they are useful to 

AOC, Congress, and other external stakeholders. The 

Director of Congressional and External Relations has sought 

and incorporated input from both internal and external

stakeholders during the development of these protocols. 

7. Conduct a pilot of its congressional 

protocols in one or more of its jurisdictions to

determine how well its protocols would work in 

addressing customer requests for service, 

while balancing the need of multiple requests 

with the strategic plan and corresponding 

project priorities of the agency.

January 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has chosen to pilot its congressional protocols 

agencywide to avoid potential confusion among jurisdictions

operating under different protocols and to take advantage of 

the benefits of training all employees concurrently. AOC 

officials stated that AOC expects to receive feedback from its 

stakeholders during the protocol’s implementation and will

revise the protocols, as appropriate. 

8. Develop a comprehensive strategy to 

improve internal and external communications 

by improving annual accountability reporting 

through annual performance planning and 

reporting. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC fulfilled our recommendation through the release of its 

fiscal year 2003 accountability report and plans to publish 

annual accountability reports thereafter. In addition, AOC 

released a performance plan in April 2005 that details steps

to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. AOC staff, AOC 

Audit Committee staff, GAO, and other congressional 

stakeholders are involved in the development of these 

reports. AOC plans to monitor the progress toward meeting

milestones outlined in its performance plan through monthly 

assessment meetings. 

9. Develop a comprehensive strategy to 

improve internal and external communications 

by continuing to regularly measure customer

satisfaction AOC-wide. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(January 2004)

AOC has fulfilled our recommendation by implementing the

annual building services customer satisfaction survey. 

Information from the survey will be incorporated into AOC’s 

business plan and will be useful in monitoring the quality of 

AOC’s services and the progress of AOC’s improvement 

initiatives. 

Page 23 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of 

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

10. To strengthen the relationship between 

AOC and its congressional and other 

stakeholders, we recommend that the Architect 

of the Capitol direct the COO to expedite the 

release of the 2003 building services customer 

satisfaction survey, as a transparency and 

accountability mechanism, and to provide 

Congress and other stakeholders with 

assurance that actions are being taken in

response to their feedback. 

August 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has fulfilled our recommendation by releasing the 

results of the 2003 building services customer satisfaction 

survey in its 2004 report. The report tracked customer 

satisfaction between 2002 and 2004. In addition, AOC 

provided customers with letters detailing actions planned to

address their concerns. 

11. Establish action-oriented implementation

goals over the long term and a timeline with 

milestone dates to track the organization’s 

progress toward achieving those 

implementation goals. The Architect of the 

Capitol should work with key congressional 

and other stakeholders to develop plans. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(January 2004)

AOC fulfilled our recommendation by issuing its draft 

performance plan in March 2003, which was prepared to 

satisfy a congressional requirement for the development of a 

management improvement plan. This draft performance plan 

for fiscal years 2003-2007 established action-oriented

implementation goals over the long term and a timeline with 

milestone dates to track the organization’s progress toward 

achieving those goals. 

12. To enhance the usefulness of the COO

action plan, we recommend that the Architect 

of the Capitol and the COO consult with 

Members of Congress and key committees on 

the specific information regarding AOC’s plans, 

policies, procedures, actions, and proposed 

organizational changes. As part of this effort, 

the Architect of the Capitol and the COO

should work with Congress to determine

Congress’s information needs and the timing

and format of delivery of that information that 

will best meet Congress’s needs. Furthermore, 

consistent with our findings and 

recommendations with respect to 

congressional and other stakeholder 

involvement in general and the Capitol 

complex master plan in particular, as well as

our original January 2003 management review, 

specific emphasis should be placed on AOC’s 

project management. Particular issues to be 

discussed could include how 

• AOC’s projects’ priorities are determined; 

• AOC monitors and controls project cost, 

quality, and timeliness; 

• AOC uses lessons learned from projects 

and seeks to incorporate best practices; 

• project management accountability is 

assigned and managed; and

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC fulfilled this recommendation by taking several actions. 

• In March 2006, AOC hired a permanent COO.

• In August 2006, the COO issued an action plan, including 

actions related to project management. For example, the 

action plan includes establishing technical expertise in

project scheduling to improve AOC’s estimating process 

and enhancing project delivery services through continued 

use of an effective project process and monitoring of all 

projects to ensure completion of projects on time and 

within budget. 

• To ensure project priorities are determined, AOC 

continues to meet with congressional stakeholders to 

discuss how AOC targets its resources and prioritizes 

projects and revised its project prioritization process to 

more clearly articulate the criteria for assigning project 

ratings. 

• To monitor projects, AOC continues to issue quarterly 

reports to Congress on the cost and schedule of active 

projects. 

• To benefit from lessons learned, AOC developed and 

implemented design services and construction services 

surveys. Also, AOC developed and implemented an 

acquisition strategy process with an acquisition strategy 

board that meets on a regular basis to discuss, among 

other things, lessons learned from previous projects. 

AOC’s acquisition strategy board also discusses the best 

mix of in-house and contractor support as part of their 

regular meetings. 

Page 24 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of 

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• AOC determines the best mix of in-house and 

contractor support when designing projects. 

Subsequent COO action plans and status 

reports will likely be most helpful to Congress 

to the extent that they are rigorously specific as 

to the problem or issue that needs to be 

addressed, the actions that are being taken in

response, the progress to date, and milestones 

for additional actions. 

August 2004 

• To improve accountability, AOC established a project 

management organization with a project manager 

dedicated to each project from start to finish. Also, AOC 

uses its dashboard (see table 2, recommendation 1) to 

monitor project management performance and discuss 

performance issues with AOC senior management each 

month. 

• AOC officials, including the COO and the Director of 

Planning and Project Management, also regularly brief 

congressional stakeholders on a variety of issues, 

including AOC’s budget submission, status of projects, 

and project priorities. 

13. AOC should further refine its employee 

feedback efforts by establishing a method(s) to 

collect consistent and comprehensive 

information on a regular basis and to allow 

AOC to track results over time against an 

established baseline. 

October 2005 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has recently revised its employee feedback process 

manual, which establishes a process for regularly collecting

employee feedback information. In the revised employee 

feedback manual, AOC established the results of its 2004 

focus groups as a baseline for its work environment 

assessment and planned to conduct focus groups every 2 

years. AOC originally planned to conduct the next round of 

focus groups in fiscal year 2007; however, because of the 

fiscal constraints and ongoing transformation efforts, AOC 

may conduct focus groups in fiscal year 2008, according to 

AOC officials. AOC also plans to conduct other feedback 

efforts, such as surveys of customer satisfaction, as needed. 

14. AOC should improve its communications

strategy for employee feedback (as 

documented in its employee feedback manual) 

to ensure that employees and external 

stakeholders receive an adequate level of 

detail about employee feedback initiative 

results and related agency actions in a timely

manner. The communications strategy also 

should emphasize the need to summarize the 

documents and provide a consistent level of

detail. 

October 2005 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has improved its communication strategy for employee

feedback by revising its employee feedback process manual 

to reflect GAO’s recommendations on the timeliness of 

feedback to employees and is completing final edits on the

manual. For the next biennial assessment, AOC plans to 

make one person responsible for preparing initial feedback 

to employees as soon as practicable and for developing a 

feedback plan that provides information to stakeholders 

within 4 months of completing the assessment. AOC’s 

revised employee feedback manual also states that the level

of detail on feedback should be tailored for each audience 

and purpose. Although AOC has set up a process to fulfill 

this recommendation, AOC needs to demonstrate that it has 

improved its communication strategy in its next series of 

focus groups by providing employees and stakeholders with

timely information on focus group results and initiatives. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 25 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

AOC has taken steps to strengthen performance management and strategic 

human capital management by implementing our recommendation to 

develop the capacity for collecting and analyzing workforce data. 

Additionally, AOC has hired a contractor to begin developing a strategic 

workforce plan intended to provide AOC with information on its current 

and future workforce as well as recommendations on how AOC could 

meet its strategic goals. Although hiring the contractor is an important 

step, AOC’s current effort to develop a strategic workforce plan will not 

include an assessment of how best to deliver (either through outsourcing 

or in-house resources) the services it provides. Without this type of 

assessment, AOC’s strategic workforce plan will not provide AOC 

leadership with the appropriate set of strategies to acquire, develop, and

retain its current and future workforce. See table 2 for more information 

on the implementation status of our recommendations on human capital 

management. 

Human Capital 

Management 

Table 2: Current Status of Recommendations on Human Capital Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. Strengthen performance measurement and 

strategic human capital management by 

developing annual goals and measuring 

performance. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has implemented a performance management 

approach that includes strategic planning, annual 

performance planning and reporting, and assessment of 

AOC’s progress in meeting agencywide milestones and 

measures. AOC has identified four strategic goals: facilities

management, project management, human capital 

management, and organizational excellence. AOC also has 

identified a number of measures to monitor and evaluate 

performance, and these measures will serve as the basis for

employees’ annual performance goals as well as the 

assessment of AOC’s overall success in meeting its strategic 

goals. The measures include quality facility management; 

projects delivered on time, on budget, and of high quality; 

highly skilled and motivated employees; and effects of 

managerial oversight. In addition, AOC has developed a 

document—the AOC dashboard—that summarizes 

performance in each of its strategic focus areas: project 

management, facilities management, human capital 

management, and organizational excellence. The dashboard 

includes several high-level indicators to track performance 

for each of the strategic goals as well as a target goal for 

each indicator. 

Page 26 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

2. Strengthen performance measurement and 

strategic human capital management by creating 

“a line of sight” by linking AOC’s senior executive 

and employee performance management 

systems to mission-critical goals. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC’s senior executive performance management system 

and its employee performance evaluation system are linked

to AOC’s mission-critical goals. Employees are expected to 

ensure completion of a performance plan that outlines 

performance standards for each critical task related to the 

employee’s position. The employee’s performance is 

evaluated against the established performance plan as it 

relates to AOC’s strategic goals and objectives. The 

employee is given a rating of “outstanding,” “fully 

successful,” or “unsuccessful” for each element as well as a 

summary rating. 

3. Strengthen performance measurement and 

strategic human capital management by 

establishing agencywide core and technical

competencies and holding employees 

accountable for these competencies as a part of 

the performance management system. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC previously identified core competencies for most of 

the agency’s positions and has linked these competencies 

to the positions’ critical tasks. 

Remaining actions

• AOC is working with a contractor to develop a process to 

link identified core competencies to an individual’s training 

plan and performance assessment. AOC has not set a 

specific completion date for this phase. 

• Employees still need to be notified of the competencies 

that they will be evaluated against. AOC is currently 

working to develop a communications plan for this 

notification. 

4. Strengthen performance measurement and 

strategic human capital management by 

developing the capacity to collect and analyze

workforce data. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC’s Workforce Planning and Management Office has 

identified numerous ways to collect, report, and analyze 

workforce data. Additionally, several data sources have been 

identified for analyzing the agency’s workforce and 

developing products such as AOC’s retirement report. AOC 

also has developed a system to report and monitor full-time 

equivalents (FTE) on a regular basis using man-hours 

required for projects rather than estimating FTEs on the 

basis of funding. 

Page 27 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

5. Strengthen performance measurement and 

strategic human capital management by 

identifying current and future workforce needs 

and developing strategies to fill gaps. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has awarded a contract for the development of a 

strategic workforce plan, which AOC expects will identify 

and detail the (1) goals of the agency for the next 5 years, 

(2) areas where progress has previously been made, and 

(3) current and future changes that should be made to 

preclude gaps in staffing. The final plan was to be 

delivered in March 2007, but because of the increase in 

AOC’s workload resulting from office moves for the new 

Congress, the contractor was unable to hold focus groups 

as planned. AOC now anticipates receiving the completed 

plan in May 2007. 

• To assess and analyze current skill sets, AOC has 

developed a skills assessment survey and a draft 

communications plan for rolling out the survey. This 

survey, which will identify, measure, and track employee 

skills agencywide, was tested in a focus group as it was 

developed, and AOC has consulted the unions and 

jurisdictions about implementing the skills assessment 

survey and a strategy for the data collection. However, 

these consultations have been suspended because of the 

recent congressional election and related office moves as 

well as because of needed revisions to the survey 

instrument. 

Remaining actions

• AOC needs to assess how best to deliver its services—

through outsourcing or in-house resources—that support 

AOC’s mission and goals. This assessment is an 

important input into the development of a strategic 

workforce plan, which focuses on developing strategies to 

acquire, develop, and retain an organization’s total 

workforce (including full- and part-time in-house staff and 

contractors) to meet future workforce needs. 

• AOC’s contractor needs to complete work relating to a 

strategic workforce plan, including conducting focus 

groups with managers to ascertain the future direction of 

the agency. 

Page 28 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• AOC needs to complete the skills assessment survey. 

AOC plans to continue working with the contractor 

responsible for developing the survey to revise the survey 

instrument to produce the desired data. Once the 

revisions are completed and the survey has been 

approved by the union and AOC managers, AOC 

employees will complete the survey online. The results of 

the survey should be used as input into the strategic 

workforce planning process to identify the skill gaps of 

AOC’s current workforce and develop strategies to fill 

AOC’s future workforce needs. 

• To strengthen its organizational capacity and to leverage 

information collected in its Retirement Forecasting (2005-

2009) Report, AOC should begin developing a succession 

plan for its workforce. We have previously reported that 

leading organizations use succession planning efforts that 

(1) receive the active support of top leadership; (2) link to 

the agencies’ strategic planning; (3) identify talent from 

staff at multiple organizational levels, early in their 

careers, or identify staff with critical skills; (4) emphasize 

developmental assignments in addition to formal training; 

and (5) address specific human capital challenges, such 

as diversity. 

6. Strengthen AOC’s human capital policies,

procedures, and processes by continuing to 

develop and implement agencywide human 

capital policies and procedures and by holding

management and employees accountable for 

following these policies and procedures. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has approved a policy development schedule to revise

human capital policies as part of its human capital plan. In 

addition, AOC developed a document for supervisors, 

Supervisors’ Tools of the Trade, which provides 

supplemental guidance on human capital policies as needed. 

Supervisors are rated for performance in human capital 

management as part of AOC’s evaluation system. However, 

it is important that AOC continue to monitor whether 

supervisors and managers are fairly administering the 

policies as the revisions are implemented. 

7. Strengthen AOC’s human capital policies,

procedures, and processes by assessing ways in 

which AOC management could better gather and 

analyze data from the various employee relations 

offices and the employee advisory council while 

maintaining employee confidentiality. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation by holding monthly 

meetings between the Human Resources Director, the Equal 

Employment Opportunity and Conciliation Program Director, 

the chair of the employee advisory council, the employment 

council, the employee assistance program manager, and the 

Deputy Chief of Staff to review and discuss employee 

relations data. The group makes recommendations to senior

management on the basis of findings and takes action on the 

items. According to AOC, the importance of maintaining 

employee confidentiality is emphasized at each meeting. 

Page 29 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

8. To improve communications with employees, 

we recommend that the Architect of the Capitol 

direct the COO to conduct an analysis of both 

AOC management and employee needs with 

respect to resolving employee concerns and 

issues as well as assessing the capacity of 

existing offices to fulfill those needs. 

August 2004 

Closed – not 

implemented

Although AOC has not completed an assessment of the 

capacity of existing offices to resolve employee concerns 

and issues and does not plan to do so, the agency has 

implemented a variety of mechanisms to resolve employee 

concerns and issues. According to AOC, multiple offices and 

programs address employee concerns and issues, including

the Equal Employment Office, the Employee Assistance 

Programs, the standard grievance process, and the external 

Office of Compliance process. In addition, AOC holds 

monthly meetings between representatives of these offices 

to review and discuss employee relations data. The group 

makes recommendations to senior management on the 

basis of findings and takes action on the items. Employees in

bargaining units are also represented by the union and have 

a process in place to resolve individual employee issues. In 

October 2005, AOC issued a brochure to all employees on

all Equal Employment Office policies and the available 

programs. In addition, AOC is currently developing a 

proposal that would establish a mediation program as part of 

AOC’s operational business strategy. After implementing the

pilot program, AOC plans to assess its use and effectiveness 

and make any needed modifications before making it a 

permanent program and expanding the group of trained 

mediators. AOC should continue to monitor the effectiveness 

of the programs through employee feedback. 

9. Establish a direct reporting relationship 

between the ombudsperson and the Architect of 

the Capitol consistent with professional 

standards. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

According to AOC, a direct reporting relationship has been 

established between the ombudsperson and the Architect. 

Officials noted that the ombudsperson has the ability to 

speak directly with the Architect at any time about any issue 

that the ombudsperson feels necessary to bring to the 

Architect’s attention. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 30 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

Since our initial follow-up effort in January 2004, AOC has made 

progress—to varying degrees—on key control and accountability 

initiatives. AOC has developed agencywide audited financial statements, 

implemented a new financial management system, and continued to 

develop and implement a risk-based internal control framework and a cost

accounting system that, when fully implemented, should generate 

meaningful cost and performance reporting information for managers. 

However, AOC’s senior management needs to continue supporting the full 

implementation of key financial management and accountability efforts 

that are critical to AOC’s operations. Although AOC senior management 

has helped to strengthen AOC’s financial accountability by regularly 

monitoring and overseeing AOC’s efforts to prepare agencywide 

comprehensive financial statements and have them audited, it needs to 

increase focus and attention on completing the development and 

implementation of the other three key financial management improvement 

initiatives—an internal control framework, a cost accounting system, and 

a management reporting system. According to AOC officials, current 

staffing shortages and funding constraints will likely limit meaningful nearterm progress on these efforts. To continue AOC’s progress, it will be 

essential for AOC’s senior management to provide the commitment, 

attention, and resources needed to ensure the successful implementation 

of these important control and accountability initiatives. See table 3 for 

more information on the implementation status of our recommendations 

on financial management. 

Financial 

Management 

Page 31 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

Table 3: Current Status of Recommendations on Financial Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. Continue to improve AOC’s approach to 

financial management by developing 

strategies to institutionalize financial 

management practices that will support 

budgeting, financial, and program 

management at AOC. Such strategies 

could include developing performance 

goals and measures and associated roles 

aimed at increasing the accountability of 

nonfinancial managers and staff, such as 

jurisdictional superintendents, program 

managers, and other AOC staff—whose 

support is critical to the success of AOC’s 

financial management initiatives—and

ensuring that these staff received the 

training needed to effectively carry out 

their roles and responsibilities. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

AOC has reported continued progress on key financial management 

initiatives intended to improve budgeting, financial management, 

and accountability agencywide.

• According to AOC, it follows established governmentwide policies 

and procedures (OMB Circular A-11) for formulating and 

executing its budgets, but has not formally documented AOCspecific budget policies and procedures. 

• AOC officials reported that with the exception of two policies that 

are being drafted or revised, all accounting and financial reporting

policies, procedures, and operating practices have been 

documented and implemented. 

• According to AOC, in January 2006, it completed the final phase 

of its multiyear implementation of a financial management system 

with the implementation of its inventory module. AOC reported 

that the financial management system as implemented satisfies 

all of the agency’s functional system requirements. 

• AOC has achieved its goal of preparing auditable comprehensive 

agencywide financial statements with the successful audit of its 

fiscal years 2005 and 2006 financial statements, which received 

unqualified opinions on all statements audited. 

• AOC has initiated a multiphase approach for documenting and 

implementing a risk-based internal control framework. The 

approach calls for documenting relevant processes and policies; 

identifying, analyzing, and implementing needed controls; and 

monitoring the effectiveness of the controls. Initially, AOC is 

applying its approach to its three highest-risk areas—

procurement (from purchase authorization through payment), 

payroll, and project management. AOC reported substantially 

completing the documentation of relevant processes and policies 

and identification and analysis of needed internal controls for both 

the procurement and the payroll areas, continuing to develop 

documentation of the current project management processes, 

and substantially implementing needed internal controls for the 

procurement area. AOC reported that it has begun manually 

monitoring implemented controls and hopes to implement an

automated tool to monitor the effectiveness of its internal controls 

in the near future.

Page 32 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• AOC reported making progress on its cost 

accounting/Management Operations Reporting (MOR) initiative 

by initiating its cost accounting system. Under this system, 

employees charge their payroll time to specific activities and

project codes in the time and attendance system. AOC also 

reported rolling out an interim cost reporting structure to all 

jurisdictions and working with operating units to demonstrate the 

types of cost, finance, and performance-reporting information that 

can be generated when the cost accounting system is fully 

implemented. To make progress on these important initiatives, 

AOC has relied heavily on support contractors. According to AOC 

officials, further progress on these important efforts is likely to be 

limited by staffing shortages and funding constraints. 

Remaining actions

While AOC has made considerable progress on key financial 

management initiatives since we made our recommendation in 

2003, additional actions are needed to fully implement two important 

remaining initiatives—its risk-based internal control framework and 

its cost accounting/MOR initiative. 

• AOC needs to complete the documentation, analysis, 

implementation, and monitoring of internal controls associated 

with project management, payroll, and procurement high risk

areas. In addition, AOC needs to identify all other areas of its 

operations where internal controls need to be documented, 

analyzed, implemented, and monitored. 

• AOC needs to continue its development and implementation of its 

cost accounting/MOR initiative by ensuring that all applicable 

employees are coding their time charges; by developing 

mechanisms for rationally assigning applicable indirect costs—

those not directly tied to specific project codes; and by working to 

refine and improve the usefulness of the cost, finance, and 

performance information available to managers. 

Adequate resources in the form of AOC staff or contractor support 

and sustained leadership and management attention and support 

are needed to help ensure progress in institutionalizing these 

important financial management improvement initiatives. 

Page 33 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

2. To help strengthen and sustain AOC’s 

emerging foundation of financial 

accountability and control, we recommend

that the Architect of the Capitol, the COO,

the Chief Financial Officer, and other 

senior management provide strong and 

visible support for efforts to prepare 

auditable financial statements and 

implement an effective internal control 

framework by monitoring the 

implementation and related milestones for 

each effort, ensuring the commitment to 

and support for each effort by participating

AOC units, and acting to resolve any 

impediments that may arise. 

August 2004 

Making progress Progress 

AOC senior management reported supporting the development of 

annual AOC-wide financial statements and an effective internal 

control framework. 

• According to AOC, senior management and the Audit Committee, 

which senior management established, have provided regular 

monitoring and oversight of AOC’s efforts to prepare agencywide 

comprehensive financial statements and have them 

independently audited. 

• While these audits have resulted in unqualified opinions on the 

statements, they also have continued to note material internal 

control weaknesses that adversely limit AOC’s ability to establish 

a foundation for financial accountability and control. 

• Because AOC lacks in-house expertise, AOC senior 

management approved a permanent staff position and funding for 

contractor support needed to develop and implement an effective 

internal control framework. AOC is implementing this framework 

through a multiphased approach that documents processes and 

policies, identifies and implements needed controls, and 

establishes mechanisms to monitor the effectiveness of internal 

controls for its three highest-risk areas—procurement (from 

purchase authorization through payment), payroll, and project 

management. In implementing the framework, AOC officials 

applied available resources to these highest-risk areas. 

• AOC officials, however, noted that staffing shortages and limited 

resources have hampered progress in implementing internal 

controls for the three highest-risk areas. For example, AOC 

officials reported that they had difficulty finding qualified 

candidates for the permanent staff position approved by senior 

management to manage the development of the internal control 

framework and the contractor support provided for developing 

and implementing the internal control framework will be affected 

in fiscal year 2007 by current constraints on AOC’s annual 

appropriations.

• Senior management support for the internal control framework 

also included periodic presentations and discussions on ongoing 

implementation efforts at bimonthly meetings of AOC’s 

Management Council. AOC also reported developing a high-level

executive briefing on the internal control framework and training 

for those with a role or responsibility in designing or operating the 

controls within the three highest-risk areas. 

Page 34 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

Remaining actions

• To expedite the implementation of an effective internal control 

framework, which represents an important accountability initiative, 

AOC senior management needs to enhance its management, 

monitoring, and oversight of AOC’s current efforts to analyze, 

implement, and monitor needed internal controls in AOC’s three 

highest-risk areas. As part of this initiative, AOC senior 

management needs to monitor and oversee efforts to develop 

and implement actions needed to resolve various material 

weaknesses identified as part of AOC’s annual financial 

statement audit. AOC officials noted that they are developing a 

team of top executives and managers to act as a steering 

committee over internal control issues, but no date has been set 

for establishing the committee. Through such a committee, AOC 

senior management could regularly assess the progress on

internal control-related efforts and identify and address 

impediments to planned progress (including those associated

with limited staffing and resources). 

• Once the framework for the three highest-risk areas is fully 

implemented, AOC management needs to assess the rest of 

AOC’s operations to determine the extent to which other areas 

need to be included in the risk-based internal control framework. 

3. To enhance the successful 

development of useful financial, cost, and 

performance reporting for major operating 

units and appropriate cost accounting, we 

recommend that the Architect of the 

Capitol direct the COO and the Chief 

Financial Officer to work with operating 

managers to assess the usefulness of 

financial-statement-level information, take 

an active role in AOC near-term efforts to 

develop agencywide performance 

measures, and review all available options 

to determine whether substantial work can 

begin, prior to fiscal year 2006, on the 

analyses needed to identify changes 

necessary to implement useful cost 

accounting at AOC. 

August 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC reported that it has made considerable progress since last 

year on efforts to develop useful cost, financial, and performance 

information; develop agencywide performance measures; and start 

implementing its cost accounting system. AOC reported that the 

Architect and the COO have taken an active role in developing of 

the revised strategic plan and related agencywide performance 

measures and in supporting the cost accounting/MOR initiative. 

• As part of its efforts to implement its cost accounting/MOR 

initiative, AOC determined that financial-statement level

information was of limited use to jurisdictional managers. As a 

result, AOC management focused its attention on how it could 

provide useful cost, financial, and performance information to its 

operational managers. In so doing, AOC reported that it 

developed potential formats for MOR information that 

demonstrates to operating unit managers the types of cost, 

financial, and performance information that can be generated 

when the cost accounting system is fully implemented. AOC also 

reported that it now generates biweekly cost accounting/MOR 

reports for each jurisdiction and division.

• AOC reported that it recently completed the development of a 

results-based strategic plan that includes comprehensive 

agencywide outcome (performance) measures. This effort started 

with the Architect and the COO revising AOC’s Strategic Goals, 

which were then used to develop the revised strategic plan. The 

Architect and the COO monitored the plan’s development and 

actively participated in the plan’s review and finalization.

Page 35 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• AOC reported that during fiscal year 2006, it completed a pilot 

test of its cost accounting system and began implementing the 

system, including gathering cost data. In addition, AOC has 

begun recording salary-related cost information in its cost 

accounting system by working with all employees to charge their 

payroll time to specific activity and project codes in the time and 

attendance system. 

The collective actions taken on this recommendation are sufficient to 

close out this recommendation.

4. To enhance the successful 

development of useful financial, cost, and 

performance reporting for major operating 

units and appropriate cost accounting, we 

recommend that the Architect of the 

Capitol direct the COO and the Chief 

Financial Officer to have senior 

management visibly demonstrate its 

continuing commitment to and support for 

making AOC-wide system, procedural, 

and cultural changes necessary to provide 

managers with timely financial, cost, and 

performance information by monitoring the 

efforts’ implementation and related 

milestones, ensuring the commitment to 

and support for the efforts by participating

AOC units, and acting to resolve any 

impediments that may arise. 

August 2004 

Making progress Progress 

• As previously noted, AOC reported that it has developed AOCwide performance measures and has taken actions to develop a 

cost accounting system and related cost, financial, and 

performance reporting. AOC senior management has been taking 

an active role in supporting these initiatives. Effectively 

implementing these initiatives, as well as other important financial 

management improvement initiatives has required and will

continue to require AOC-wide system, procedural, and cultural 

changes. 

Remaining action 

Implementing effective cost accounting and reporting systems—

ones that provide operating managers with useful cost, financial, 

and performance information—will require continuing leadership 

attention from AOC senior management to help ensure that needed 

system, procedural, and cultural changes occur. 

• To do so successfully, the COO, the Chief Financial Officer, and 

other AOC senior managers need to continue demonstrating their 

commitment and support for making the needed changes by 

working to ensure that these initiatives have sufficient staff and 

resources, by regularly monitoring progress against established 

milestones, and by working with senior managers AOC-wide to 

identify and resolve impediments to successful implementation. 

For example, AOC’s senior management may wish to apply its 

leadership and attention by establishing a senior management 

level steering committee, similar to the one planned to monitor 

and oversee internal control issues, to help ensure that the cost 

accounting and management reporting initiatives are effectively 

implemented. Such a committee could regularly review the 

initiative’s progress and work with AOC senior managers to

resolve impediments as they arise. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 36 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

AOC continues to make progress toward adopting an agencywide 

approach to information management and has implemented 2 IT 

recommendations over the year. Specifically, AOC has developed, 

approved, and implemented a process, including those practices in our IT

investment management guide, for controlling existing projects. AOC also 

has established the management structure for developing, implementing, 

and maintaining an enterprise architecture (EA) and has made significant 

progress toward planning for and implementing the practices in our 

architecture management guide. These practices include ensuring that 

adequate resources (i.e., funding, people, tools, and technology) are 

devoted to the program and developing a written policy for architecture 

development and maintenance. 

Information 

Technology 

Management 

In addition, AOC has made progress toward addressing our remaining 

recommendations. For example, it has developed a policy that describes 

the procedures, practices, and guidelines that govern the management of 

its IT systems and the required processes that are to be followed when 

acquiring and developing these systems. Furthermore, AOC has taken 

steps toward establishing and implementing an effective information 

security program by designating a chief information security officer with 

the authority to implement an agencywide security program and by 

certifying and accrediting its general support systems and major 

applications. However, more work remains to fully implement our 

recommendations. For example, AOC has yet to prioritize all IT 

investments, develop an IT investment portfolio, and oversee each 

investment using a portfolio approach to ensure that AOC achieves its 

cost, benefit, schedule, and risk expectations. Until AOC completes these 

activities, it cannot ensure that the investments address not only the 

agency’s mission and strategic goals and objectives, but also the impact of

the investments on each other. Moreover, AOC has yet to fully implement 

key architecture practices, such as defining “as is” and “to be” architecture 

descriptions in terms of performance. Without instituting these practices, 

AOC risks limiting the quality and utility of its architecture and may not 

realize the benefits of a well-managed architecture program. In addition, 

the agency has not consistently demonstrated quality assurance, 

configuration management, and contract tracking and oversight processes. 

Until AOC consistently demonstrates these key acquisition processes, the 

agency runs the risk of projects not performing as intended, being 

delivered late, and not meeting estimated cost and schedule goals. AOC 

also has yet to develop system contingency plans for all of its systems and 

implement a security process to monitor and evaluate policy and control 

effectiveness. Without instituting these practices, AOC’s data and systems 

are at risk of inadvertent or deliberate misuse, fraud, improper disclosure, 

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Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

or destruction, possibly without detection. See table 4 for more 

information on the implementation status of our recommendations on IT 

management. 

Table 4: Current Status of Recommendations on Information Technology Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. Establish a chief information officer or 

comparable senior executive, with the 

responsibility, authority, and adequate resources 

for managing IT across the agency, who is a full 

participant in AOC’s senior decision-making

processes and has clearly defined roles, 

responsibilities, and accountabilities. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(January 2004)

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation by issuing a centralized 

IT management policy that assigned a senior executive—

namely, the Office of Information and Resource Management 

(OIRM) director—the role, responsibility, and authority for 

managing IT across the agency, including the development, 

management, and oversight of IT. In addition, the policy made 

the OIRM director a key participant in executive decision 

making, such as serving as the principal adviser to the Architect 

of the Capitol in applying IT to improve business processes. 

The OIRM director’s role also includes controlling AOC’s IT

budget and chairing the IT project management board. 

2. Develop and implement IT investment 

management processes with the full support and 

participation of AOC’s senior leadership. 

Specifically, the Architect of the Capitol must

develop a plan for developing and implementing 

the investment management processes, as 

appropriate, that are outlined in our IT investment 

management guide. At a minimum, the plan 

should specify measurable tasks, goals, time 

frames, and resources required to develop and 

implement the processes. The Architect of the 

Capitol should focus first on the management 

processes associated with controlling existing

projects and establishing the management 

structures to effectively implement an IT

management process. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation by developing and

implementing an IT investment management process with

support and participation of AOC’s senior leadership and in

accordance with our guidance through the development and

approval of an IT investment management policy. Consistent 

with best practices, AOC has divided its investment 

management process into three phases: select, control, and 

evaluate. To effectively control existing and future projects 

through these phases, AOC established and assigned specific 

roles and responsibilities to three boards: Business Systems 

Modernization Office (BSMO), Investment Review Board (IRB), 

and Project Review Board (PRB). BSMO provides guidance 

during the select phase on items, such as the procurement 

schedule and stakeholder involvement, while the IRB and the 

PRB participate during the select, control, and evaluate phases. 

In particular, the PRB reviews specific areas of the project, 

including status, schedule and system development life-cycle 

documentation, and the IRB, among other things, provides 

approval and advice on items, including additional funding and 

critical issues that may arise on the project. Membership on

these boards includes senior-level officials from various 

departments and offices throughout the agency. 

AOC has demonstrated this investment management process 

as evidenced by our review of two of AOC’s large-size IT

systems—Facilities Management Information System (FMIS) 

2005 and Inventory Control System (ICS). Both systems were 

approved by the appropriate management structures in 

accordance with AOC’s IT investment management process. 

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Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

3. Plan for and implement those practices in our 

IT investment management guide associated

with corporate, portfolio-based investment 

decision making, such as (1) implementing

criteria to select investments that will best 

support the organization’s strategic goals, 

objectives, and mission; (2) using these criteria to 

consistently analyze and prioritize all IT

investments; (3) ensuring that the optimal

investment portfolio with manageable risks and 

returns is selected and funded; and (4) 

overseeing each investment within the portfolio to 

ensure that it achieves its cost, benefit, schedule, 

and risk expectations. 

January 2004 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has begun to plan for and implement those practices in

our IT investment management guide associated with 

corporate, portfolio-based investment decision making. 

• AOC has developed criteria to select investments that best 

support the organization’s strategic goals, objectives, and 

mission. 

• According to AOC officials, the agency has begun the 

process of outlining an IT portfolio management program that 

will arrange IT investments into a single portfolio and provide 

visibility, control, and decisions on the basis of project 

objectives, such as costs, resources, and risks. 

Remaining action 

• AOC has yet to prioritize all IT investments, develop an IT

investment portfolio, and oversee each investment from a 

portfolio approach to ensure that it achieves its cost, benefit, 

schedule, and risk expectations. 

Until AOC completes these activities it cannot ensure that the 

investments address not only the agency’s strategic goals, 

objectives, and mission, but also address the impacts that the 

projects have on each other. 

4. Develop, implement, and maintain an EA to 

guide and constrain IT projects throughout AOC. 

The Architect of the Capitol should implement the 

practices, as appropriate, as outlined in the Chief 

Information Officer Council’s architecture 

management guide. As a first step, the Architect 

should establish the management structure for 

developing, implementing, and maintaining an

EA by implementing the following actions: 

• developing an agencywide policy statement 

providing a clear mandate for developing, 

implementing, and maintaining the 

architecture; 

• establishing an executive body composed of 

stakeholders from AOC mission-critical 

program offices to guide the strategy for 

developing the EA and ensure agency support 

and resources for it; and 

• designating an individual who serves as a 

chief enterprise architect to develop policy, 

lead the development of the EA, and manage

it as a formal program. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation by developing and

approving an agencywide IT policy that provides for developing, 

implementing, and maintaining an EA. The agency also has

established an EA Executive Steering Committee, composed of 

senior-level officials from across the agency, to direct, oversee, 

and approve the AOC EA. The latest version of the EA—EA 

FY06 version 1.0—was approved by the executive committee in 

December 2005. In addition, AOC has assigned responsibility 

for guiding EA development to the Chief Enterprise Architect. 

According to program officials, the Chief Enterprise Architect

position was filled in February 2007. The chief architect’s 

responsibilities include reviewing investments and investmentrelated projects to ensure that they are in compliance with the 

EA; developing and maintaining the EA documents to ensure 

that they continue to reflect the AOC strategic plan, business 

needs, and technological advancement; and providing expertise 

to the business systems modernization office and AOC 

management on EA concepts and implementation. 

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GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

5. Plan for and implement the practices in our

architecture management guide associated with 

leveraging an EA for organizational 

transformation, such as (1) ensuring that 

adequate resources are devoted to the program 

(funding, people, tools, and technology); (2) 

ensuring that the architecture describes both the 

“as is” and the “to be” environments in terms of 

performance; (3) ensuring that architecture 

business, performance, information and data, 

applications and services, and technology 

descriptions address security; and (4) ensuring

that metrics are used to measure EA progress, 

quality, compliance, and return on investment. 

January 2004 

Making progress Progress 

In April 2003, we published version 1.1 of our EA management 

maturity framework, which is a five-stage architecture 

framework for managing the development, maintenance, and 

implementation of an architecture and understanding the extent 

to which effective architecture management practices are being 

performed and where an organization is in its progression 

toward having a well-managed architecture program. In short, 

the framework consists of 31 core elements that relate to 

architecture governance, content, use, and measurement. 

These elements reflect research by us and others showing that 

architecture programs should be founded upon institutional 

architecture commitment and capabilities, and measured and 

verified products and results. 

• AOC has made significant progress toward planning for and 

implementing the core elements in our architecture 

framework. 

• Specifically, AOC has fully satisfied 25 (81%), partially 

satisfied 4 (13%), and has not satisfied 2 (6%) of the 31 core 

elements identified in our EA management maturity 

framework. 

• Among the core elements that AOC has fully satisfied are 

ensuring that adequate resources are devoted to the 

program (funding, people, tools, and technology); developing 

a written policy for architecture development and 

maintenance; and measuring and reporting progress against 

architecture plans. 

• AOC has developed metrics for measuring and reporting EA

progress, quality, and compliance. 

Remaining actions

• AOC has yet to fully implement some key elements. 

Specifically, AOC has yet to complete an “as is” and “to be” 

architecture description in terms of performance that also 

addresses security. 

• AOC has not yet implemented the measuring and reporting

of EA return on investments and reported on the percentage

of systems in compliance with the EA. 

Without these core elements, AOC may face the risk of limiting 

the quality and utility of the architecture and may not realize the 

significant benefits of a well-managed architecture program. 

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Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

6. Require disciplined and rigorous processes for 

managing the development and acquisition of IT

systems and implement the processes 

throughout AOC. Specifically, these processes 

should include the following: 

• quality assurance processes, including 

developing a quality assurance plan and 

identifying applicable process and product 

standards that will be used in developing and

assessing project processes and products; 

• configuration management processes, including 

establishing a repository or configuration 

management system to maintain and control

configuration management items; 

• risk management processes, including 

developing a project risk management plan, 

identifying and prioritizing potential problems, 

implementing risk mitigation strategies, as 

required, and tracking and reporting progress

against the plans; and 

• contract tracking and oversight processes, 

including developing a plan for tracking 

contractor activities, measuring contractor 

performance and conducting periodic reviews, 

and conducting internal reviews of tracking and 

oversight activities. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has developed a systems development life-cycle 

(SDLC) policy that describes the procedures, practices, and 

guidelines that govern the management of IT systems and 

processes that are to be followed when acquiring and 

developing these systems. Specifically, these processes 

include the following: 

• A quality assurance process that requires the 

development of a quality assurance plan and several 

quality checkpoint reviews during a project’s life cycle. 

• A configuration management process that requires a 

configuration management plan that identifies 

configurations at given points in time, controls

changes to the configuration, and maintains the 

records of all changes. 

• A risk management process that requires the 

development of a risk management plan; the 

identification of risks, risk assessments, risk impact 

and status, probability of occurrence, and mitigation 

strategies; and the tracking and reporting of progress 

against the plan. For FMIS 2005 and ICS systems, 

AOC demonstrated its risk process by developing risk 

reports that included the identification, description, 

owner, impact, status, probability, and mitigation of the 

risks. 

• AOC also has developed and approved a policy for contract

administration, which assigns authority for administering 

contracts to the contracting officer. Further, the agency 

requires a communications plan, which directs senior 

management and stakeholders to monitor program 

management activities, use a project plan to manage and 

control contract activities and requirements, and develop 

change control procedures to manage contract changes. 

Remaining actions

AOC has not consistently demonstrated quality assurance,

configuration management, and contract tracking and oversight 

processes. 

• Although AOC developed quality assurance plans, not all 

quality checkpoint reviews were completed to ensure that the 

projects met the contractual agreements and quality 

standards or complied with SDLC processes. According to

officials, quality checkpoint reviews were determined a best 

practice and developed in June 2006 and, therefore, had 

occurred after the implementation of the FMIS 2005 system. 

• For configuration management, although AOC had 

developed a configuration management plan for the ICS 

system, it did not develop a plan for the FMIS 2005 system

and did not control and maintain project changes for both 

systems. 

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GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• Although AOC has a policy for contract administration, it has 

not developed and implemented contract tracking and 

oversight processes that include measuring contractor 

performance by developing and using metrics of software 

and system quality. Development and use of such metrics is 

a recognized best practice. For example, a communications

plan was not developed for FMIS 2005 and metrics were not 

developed and used to measure product quality for both 

FMIS and ICS. 

Until AOC consistently demonstrates these key acquisition

processes, the agency runs the risk of projects not performing 

as intended, being delivered late, and not meeting estimated 

cost and schedule goals. 

7. Establish and implement an information 

security program. Specifically, the Architect of the 

Capitol should establish an information security 

program by taking the following steps: 

(1) designate a security officer and provide him

or her with the authority and resources to 

implement an agencywide security program,

(2) develop and implement policy and guidance 

to perform risk assessments continually, 

(3) use the results of the risk assessments to 

develop and implement the appropriate controls, 

(4) develop policies for security training and 

awareness and provide the training, and 

(5) monitor and evaluate policy and control 

effectiveness. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has designated the chief information security officer 

with the authority to implement an agencywide security 

program and has reported that adequate resources (funding 

and staff) have been assigned to implement the program. 

• AOC designated a chief information security officer in 

January 2007. 

• AOC also has developed a policy to perform risk 

assessments on 50 major applications by March 2008. 

• In March 2006, AOC completed its certification and 

accreditation of its general support systems and major 

applications and, according to officials, findings from the risk 

assessment have been placed into a plan of action and 

milestones, as a control measure, to track the corrective 

actions taken by the agency. 

• According to AOC, it is on target in certifying and accrediting 

mission-critical applications by March 2007 and missionsupport and essential applications by March 2008. 

• AOC also has developed and issued policies for security and 

awareness training, which, according to the agency officials, 

has been completed by all employees. 

• Additionally, AOC has developed a process to monitor and 

evaluate the effectiveness of policies and controls.

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Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

Remaining actions

• AOC has yet to implement the process of monitoring and 

evaluating policy and control effectiveness or to provide us 

with evidence that training is based on user roles and 

responsibilities, and that identified risks are being 

documented in system security plans. These practices are 

important because if they are not in place, AOC’s data and 

systems are at risk of inadvertent or deliberate misuse, fraud, 

improper disclosure, or destruction, possibly without 

detection. 

• Additionally, system contingency plans have yet to be 

developed for all systems. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

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Recommendations 

AOC has made progress on several initiatives that should improve project

management and accountability and has implemented 7 project 

management recommendations over the year. For example, AOC has 

established performance measures, including measures to track the quality 

and costs of projects. AOC also has clarified the roles and responsibilities 

for staff in the Project Management Division and updated guidance for 

managing projects. In addition, AOC is continuing efforts on longer-term 

initiatives to improve project management and accountability. For 

example, AOC plans to modify its project information system to assist 

managers in more proactively managing projects, provide needed cost and

schedule data on projects, and track reasons for changes across all 

projects. AOC has developed the requirements for this system, which 

includes the automation of AOC’s quarterly construction projects progress 

report, and plans to begin modifications with available in-house resources 

in fiscal year 2007. Additionally, AOC has conducted a review of 

Construction Division operations and management in 2006 and is currently 

implementing the recommendations from that review, including 

recommendations to improve project cost estimating and tracking. 

However, the new cost accounting system—a system that will be phased 

in over several years—must be completed before AOC can implement all 

of the recommendations intended to improve accountability for the 

Construction Division. Furthermore, AOC is reviewing its methods for 

estimating Construction Division project costs, including contingency

costs and allocations for construction management and administration, to 

improve the accuracy of project cost estimates. AOC also is finalizing the 

Capitol complex master plan and anticipates that a draft of the plan will be 

ready for congressional review in the spring of 2007. See table 5 for more 

information on the implementation status of our recommendations on 

project management. 

Project Management 

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Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

Table 5: Current Status of Recommendations on Project Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. Develop a Capitol complex master plan and 

complete condition assessments of all buildings 

and facilities under the jurisdiction of AOC. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• The Capitol complex master plan has three components—

the vision statement, framework (concept) plan, and 

jurisdiction plans. 

• AOC is working with the leadership of each jurisdiction 

(e.g., the Librarian of Congress and the Marshal of the 

Supreme Court) and the consultant working on the plan to 

finalize these documents for consultation with 

congressional stakeholders. 

• As we reported last year, AOC has completed facility 

condition assessments for all facilities within the complex, 

except the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. 

Remaining actions

• AOC needs to finalize the Capitol complex master plan. 

We reported last year that the master plan was scheduled 

to be completed at the end of 2006. AOC told us that the 

plan was delayed to obtain additional input from within the 

agency and the new congressional leadership. AOC 

estimates that a draft of the plan will be ready for 

congressional review in the spring of 2007. 

• AOC needs to complete the facility condition assessment 

for the Library of Congress and has requested funding for 

that assessment in its fiscal year 2007 and 2008 budget. 

• AOC needs to complete the facility condition assessment 

for the Supreme Court and plans to do so when 

renovations of the Supreme Court are completed. The 

renovations are estimated to be completed in 2009. 

2. To improve Capitol complex master planning 

efforts, we recommend that the Architect of the 

Capitol, with support from the COO, lead efforts 

to ensure that congressional and other 

stakeholders are engaged early and throughout 

the development of the Capitol complex master 

plan. 

August 2004 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has involved congressional stakeholders and AOC 

stakeholders in the development of the Capitol complex 

master plan. 

• AOC’s planning team has met with Senate Rules 

committee staff and House leadership staff to discuss a 

strategy for communication and outreach related to the 

master plan. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to formulate and carry out a communication 

and outreach strategy for vetting the master plan. AOC 

expects to formulate this strategy in early 2007 and vet 

the master plan between April and June 2007. 

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Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

3. Develop a process for assigning project 

priorities that is based on clearly defined, welldocumented, consistently applied, and 

transparent criteria. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC implemented a program development process in 2003 

that rated projects in the following five categories: (1) historic 

preservation and stewardship; (2) fire, life, safety, and code

compliance; (3) impact on mission; (4) economics; and (5) 

security, with a score from 1 to 100. In the spring of 2004, 

AOC improved the program development process by 

establishing extensive procedures designed to ensure that 

project scopes fully met both customer needs and all criteria 

and standards. The project evaluation criteria are currently 

being expanded to include urgency (such as immediate, 

high, medium, or low) and classification of a project (such as

deferred maintenance or capital improvement). This 

expansion of the evaluation criteria results from information 

being received from facility condition assessments. In 

September 2005, the AOC’s project prioritization panel will

evaluate these recommended changes. 

4. To improve the process for prioritizing projects, 

we recommend that the Architect of the Capitol, 

with support from the COO, lead efforts to ensure 

that AOC informs and obtains agreement from 

congressional and other stakeholders on how 

and why specific projects are submitted for 

funding. 

August 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC fulfilled this recommendation by taking steps to inform

congressional stakeholders on how and why specific projects 

are submitted for funding. For example, AOC has held and 

continues to hold regular briefings with congressional staff 

on AOC’s funding requests and project prioritization process.

In August and September 2006, AOC briefed congressional

stakeholders on the status and results of facility condition 

assessments, its project prioritization process, and the future

direction of AOC’s facility programs. Congressional 

stakeholders noted that AOC has made improvements in 

developing a transparent process for understanding how and

why projects are submitted for funding. 

5. Develop tools to effectively communicate 

priorities and progress of projects, as a part of a 

broader communication strategy. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has established tools to effectively communicate 

priorities and progress of projects. For example, AOC has 

developed and continues to communicate its project 

prioritization processes through regular briefings to 

congressional stakeholders. According to feedback from 

congressional and other stakeholders, AOC made changes 

to the project prioritization process and plans to implement 

those changes in its fiscal year 2008 budget proposal. AOC

continues to produce a quarterly status report on the budget

and schedule status of projects that are released to 

congressional appropriators. 

6. Define project-management-related 

performance measures to achieve missioncritical strategic and annual performance goals. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has defined project-management-related performance 

measures through its quarterly status report, dashboard, and

performance plan. These measures include the status of 

project schedule, budget, cost, and safety. AOC also 

developed and implemented surveys on the quality of design 

and construction services. AOC could consider tracking the 

safety of its construction contractors, as is currently being 

done with the Capitol Visitor Center project.

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Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

7. To strengthen the relationship between AOC 

and its congressional and other stakeholders, we 

recommend that the Architect of the Capitol 

direct the COO to work with Congress on the

design and implementation of a transparent 

process to facilitate an understanding between

AOC and its congressional stakeholders about 

how AOC targets its efforts and resources to the 

highest project priorities and how strategic and

tactical decisions and trade-offs are made. 

August 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC fulfilled this recommendation by taking steps to develop

and implement a transparent process for how AOC targets 

its efforts and resources to highest project priorities. AOC 

continues to meet with congressional stakeholders to 

discuss how it targets its resources and prioritizes projects. 

On the basis of its experience in evaluating projects for the 

fiscal year 2007 budget and input from congressional and 

other stakeholders, AOC revised its project prioritization 

process to more clearly articulate the criteria for assigning 

project ratings. In October 2006, AOC prepared an interim 

project prioritization guide to facilitate the prioritization of 

projects for the fiscal year 2008 budget submission. AOC 

issued a revised guide in February 2007. Congressional 

stakeholders noted that AOC has made improvements in 

developing a transparent process for understanding how and

why projects are submitted for funding. 

8. Align project management staff and resources 

with AOC’s mission-critical goals. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

In October 2005, AOC implemented a project management 

organization. The organization includes 32 personnel with

responsibilities for project management, construction 

management, and inspection. The organization is focused on

“cradle-to-grave” project delivery. Duties considered to be 

“collateral,” such as design reviews, are being reassigned to 

other AOC officials outside of the new organization. 

9. Develop a method to establish and track more 

accurate budget targets. This method could 

include tracking and reporting on the following to 

help AOC refine targets: 

• accuracy of cost estimates compared with 

bids; 

• accuracy of budget compared with final project 

costs; 

• amount of excess project funds and how funds 

are used; and 

• cost data for the Construction Branch (which is 

within the Construction Division), including 

current working estimates. 

September 2005 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has established additional measures that should 

help the agency develop and track more accurate budget 

targets for projects. 

• In addition to measures for (1) the ratio of the government 

estimate to the average of the bid amount and (2) the 

contract award cost versus the government estimate, 

AOC has implemented the use of a project closeout sheet 

that project managers are required to complete at the 

conclusion of each project. The sheet includes information

on the accuracy of the budget compared with final project 

costs and the disposition of excess project funds. 

Remaining actions

• AOC must develop the capability to better track cost data 

for the Construction Division, including current working

estimates for projects conducted by the division. A peer 

review group within AOC issued recommendations in April 

2006 designed to improve the agency’s ability to track 

cost data for the division, including standardizing the cost 

estimating process. 

• AOC is also reviewing its methods for estimating 

Construction Division project costs, including contingency 

costs and allocations for construction management and 

administration, to improve the accuracy of project cost 

estimates. 

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Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

10. Expedite the development of a customer 

satisfaction survey for construction services. 

September 2005 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC completed the development of its customer satisfaction 

survey for construction services in March 2006. 

11. Clarify roles and responsibilities of staff, 

including the role of jurisdictional executives and 

responsibility for developing Programs of 

Requirements. 

September 2005 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC defined roles and responsibilities and completed 

position descriptions for the jurisdictional executives, project 

managers, and construction managers. AOC has discussed 

and plans to continue discussing these roles and 

responsibilities at its staff meetings and individually with the 

jurisdictional executives, project managers, and construction

managers. 

12. Revise project management manuals to 

reflect changes in how AOC plans for, designs, 

and constructs projects; develop management 

controls to ensure compliance with manuals.

September 2005 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has identified revisions for and continuously revises its 

project management manuals. These manuals are made 

available through AOC’s internal network. AOC tracks 

compliance with the manuals through its project performance 

measures. 

13. Develop or modify information systems to 

provide needed cost and schedule data on 

projects and track reasons for changes across all 

projects. 

September 2005 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC currently tracks cost and schedule data and reasons 

for changes across all projects in its quarterly status 

report—a report that is manually prepared and not 

supported by AOC’s current information systems. 

• AOC’s steering group, the Project Information Center 

Business Reengineering Task Force, identified AOC’s 

project information system requirements, which includes 

the automation of AOC’s quarterly construction projects 

progress report.

• AOC officials noted that reengineering of the project 

information system is one of AOC’s top project 

management priorities for AOC. 

• AOC requested funding for an assessment of the current 

system in its fiscal year 2007 budget. 

• In the interim, AOC plans to begin modifying the current 

project information system with available in-house 

resources in fiscal year 2007 and requested funding for 

further modifications in its fiscal year 2008 budget. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to complete the modification of its project 

information system to assist managers in more proactively 

managing projects, provide needed cost and schedule 

data on projects, and track reasons for changes across all 

projects. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 48 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

AOC has taken steps to improve how it measures performance and tracks 

demand work orders. For example, in May 2006, AOC began implementing 

a new facilities management information system that will enhance its 

tracking and reporting capabilities. Currently, all jurisdictions are using 

the new system to track demand work orders. As implementation 

continues, AOC plans to continue analyzing its workload data to develop 

metrics for the new system. Additionally, AOC officials plan to benchmark 

AOC’s performance measures with peer organizations. These officials said

that they used the International Facilities Management Association’s key 

performance indicators to develop performance measures for AOC’s 

revised strategic plan. While these are important steps, AOC must 

complete the development of its metrics and input its preventive 

maintenance work orders before it can more accurately track 

performance. Furthermore, the new facilities management information 

system must be used in conjunction with the new cost accounting 

system—a system that will be phased in over several years—before AOC 

will be able to fully use data provided by the new facilities management 

information system. See table 6 for more information on the 

implementation status of our recommendations on facilities management. 

Facilities 

Management 

Table 6: Current Status of Recommendations on Facilities Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. To improve how AOC measures its performance in

the areas of timeliness and cost, the agency should 

do the following: develop more specific timeliness 

measures that more accurately reflect the amount of 

time required to complete tasks; develop the

capability to comprehensively and routinely track cost 

performance measures; and benchmark performance 

measures against those of similar institutions, such as 

the Smithsonian Institution and state capitols. 

December 2005

Making 

progress 

Progress 

• To develop more specific timeliness measures, AOC 

made timeliness a requirement in the system 

specifications for the new facilities management 

information system—a system that is currently being 

implemented. Although this new system currently has the 

capability to collect data as granular as needed, AOC has 

not been collecting data at a level less than 30 days. AOC 

plans to assess whether there is a need for data in other 

timeliness categories. 

• As part of the implementation process for the new system, 

AOC officials told us they are collecting and analyzing

data on their workload to develop more accurate metrics. 

Page 49 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

• To benchmark performance measures, AOC has plans to 

reach out to peer organizations, including the Smithsonian 

Institution and Texas state capital. AOC officials told us 

that that they used the International Facilities

Management Association’s operations and maintenance 

benchmarks to develop performance measures for AOC’s 

revised strategic plan.

Remaining actions

• AOC needs to continue analyzing its workload data to 

develop more accurate timeliness and cost metrics. 

• Although AOC continues to develop more accurate cost 

metrics, the new facilities management information 

system must be used in conjunction with the new cost 

accounting system—a system that will be phased in over 

several years—before AOC will be able to fully use data 

provided by the facilities management information system.

• AOC needs to continue with its benchmarking efforts with 

peer organizations.

2. Use the new facilities management information 

system to track preventive maintenance and demand 

work orders across all jurisdictions, including the time 

taken to complete work orders. 

December 2005

Making 

progress 

Progress 

• Currently, all AOC jurisdictions are using the new facilities 

management information system to track demand work 

orders. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to input its preventive maintenance work 

orders into the new facilities management information 

system to improve the tracking of these work orders 

across all jurisdictions. According to AOC, these work 

orders will be implemented case by case, on the basis of 

funding and data availability. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 50 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

AOC has taken steps to improve worker safety and has implemented 1 

worker safety recommendation over the past year. Specifically, AOC has 

implemented 7 of 34 specialized safety policies,2

 completed a job hazard 

analysis process to identify hazards, and implemented a system to track 

investigations of incidents and follow-up. AOC also has selected a data

management system that will track and record employee training, 

licensing, and certification and clarified the role of the Office of the 

Attending Physician (OAP), including having OAP provide reports to AOC 

jurisdictions when employees are due or past due for their medical 

surveillance examinations. Overall, AOC’s injury and illness rate declined 

from 17.9 in fiscal year 2000 to 4.9 in fiscal year 2006. However, several 

critical actions remain to further improve worker safety. For example, 

AOC will not be able to fully achieve its goal of long-term cultural change 

until it fully implements the specialized safety policies, which current draft 

plans indicate will not occur until the end of fiscal year 2009. AOC also 

needs to align its training system with its system to track and identify 

corrective actions for hazards and incidents in order to target training 

needs to address high-risk areas. Finally, although AOC added worker 

safety as a standard topic in its biennial employee focus group script, AOC 

needs a more rigorous (and anonymous) approach to measuring 

employee’s perceptions of AOC’s safety climate, which may identify 

successful strategies to expand and areas that need focused attention to 

improve. See table 7 for more information on the implementation status of 

our recommendations on worker safety. 

Worker Safety 

While AOC is making progress in improving worker safety, in March 2006, 

the utility tunnel workers sent a letter to Congress complaining of unsafe 

working conditions in the tunnels, including falling concrete, asbestos, and 

extreme heat. In February 2006, the Office of Compliance (OOC) filed a 

complaint against AOC concerning hazards in the tunnels, including falling 

concrete, an inadequate communication system for these confined spaces, 

and inadequate escape exits. AOC has taken steps to address these 

issues—including establishing safety and access procedures for the 

tunnels and upgrading 15 tunnel entry and exit points—and continues to 

work with the tunnel workers and the OOC to address these issues. 

 2

AOC reduced the number of specialized safety policies from 43 to 34. 

Page 51 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

Table 7: Current Status of Recommendations on Worker Safety 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining actions

1. Identify performance measures for safety goals 

and objectives, including measures for how AOC 

will implement the 43 specialized safety programs 

and how superintendents and employees will be 

held accountable for achieving results. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• As of December 2006, AOC’s plan is to consolidate 

individual safety policies into a safety manual (with a 

tentative completion date of December 31, 2007). The 

individual safety policies, which now number 34, remain at 

various stages of implementation. Seven policies have 

been implemented; AOC has identified draft

implementation dates for the remaining policies, ranging 

from September 2007 to September 2009. In addition to 

these 34, AOC has implemented 2 additional safety 

policies covering safety meetings among senior 

management officials (Safety, Health, and Environment 

Council (SHEC)) and jurisdiction-level officials 

(Jurisdiction Occupational Safety and Health

Committees). 

• AOC has developed workbooks to help AOC staff 

implement the safety policies. AOC employee evaluations 

contain a broad safety evaluation criterion, which can be 

customized to individual employees. 

Remaining action 

• AOC has yet to fully implement the safety policies. AOC 

plans to complete its safety manual by the end of calendar 

year 2007. It has developed draft plans to finish 

implementing the policies by the end of fiscal year 2009. 

2. Establish clearly defined and documented 

policies and procedures for reporting hazards

similar to those that apply to injury and illness

reporting. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has completed a job hazard analysis (JHA) process 

including describing the steps associated with each job task, 

identifying potential hazards associated with each task, 

developing the appropriate controls to eliminate or reduce 

the hazards, developing a training program to perform JHAs, 

and assisting first-line supervisors with performing qualitative 

JHAs. In addition, AOC has completed a “step-by-step plan” 

that provides a general approach for jurisdictions to manage

their implementation of the JHA process. Finally, AOC has 

included a telephone number for reporting hazards in its 

monthly safety newsletters, which are distributed AOC-wide. 

The Architect has approved the Hazard Assessment and 

Control Policy.

Page 52 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining actions

3. Establish a consistent AOC-wide system for 

conducting investigations and follow-up. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation with the approval of

its interim incident notification, investigation, and reporting

policy. AOC also implemented the incident analysis module,

a component of the facility management assistant program. 

This module provides an electronic recordkeeping approach 

to track the investigation of incidents associated with AOC 

personnel and property. In addition, the module interfaces 

with the facility management assistant program by creating a 

deficiency report when corrective actions associated with an

incident are identified. Moreover, an AOC-wide incident 

investigation form has been implemented across the 

jurisdictions. Finally, lessons learned are shared in a number

of ways, including through AOC’s safety support group. 

4. Establish a safety-training curriculum that fully 

supports all of the goals of the safety program and 

further evaluate the effectiveness of the training 

provided. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation in establishing

training that supports the goals of the current safety policies.

For example, during the implementation review process, 

AOC revalidated training requirements against regulatory 

requirements. Moreover, Safety Policy Managers have 

worked with the Human Resources Management Division to 

ensure that training required by upcoming policies has been 

identified. In addition, AOC has completed a training 

workbook exercise to assess the overall impact of required

safety policy training on its budget. Also, central staff safety 

professionals continue to audit training courses and provide

feedback to course instructors. Finally, AOC has been using

injury and illness data to identify training needs. 

5. Assign clear responsibility for tracking and

recording training received by AOC employees, 

including maintaining an inventory of employees’ 

certifications and licenses. 

January 2003 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has chosen a data management system—AVUE—

that will, among other things, track and record employee 

training, licensing, and certification. Safety personnel have 

met with AVUE designers to ensure that the designers 

fully understand AOC’s safety training needs. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to develop AVUE’s capacity to track 

employee training. AOC expects to implement the first 

phase of AVUE in July 2007. This phase would establish 

an automated training request and approval process. The 

second phase of AVUE implementation will expand the 

system’s capacity to track required training, licenses, and 

certification, but AOC has not set a specific completion 

date for the second phase. 

Page 53 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining actions

6. Clarify and explore the possibility of expanding 

the role of the Office of the Attending Physician 

(OAP) in helping AOC meet its safety goals, 

consistent with the broad responsibilities laid out 

in the 1998 Memorandum of Understanding 

between AOC and OAP. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation by working with OAP 

to ensure that the lists of medical surveillance program 

participants are current. In addition, OAP is providing reports 

to AOC jurisdictions when employees are either (1) due or 

(2) past due for their medical surveillance examinations. 

AOC is also drafting a document on the scope of medical 

surveillance services to better define and communicate the

agency’s requirements to OAP to ensure a common 

understanding and set of expectations. 

7. Establish a senior management work group that 

will routinely discuss workers’ compensation 

cases and costs, and develop strategies to reduce 

these injuries and costs. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(August 2004)

AOC has fulfilled this recommendation by developing 

performance measures to assess the long-term impact and 

trends of workers’ compensation injuries and costs. In 

addition, through SHEC, safety and human resource officials 

are exchanging information and data to control workers’ 

compensation injuries and costs. Finally, through SHEC, the 

relationship between safety and workers’ compensation 

injuries and illnesses is being promoted. 

8. To enhance worker safety performance 

measures at AOC, the Architect of the Capitol 

should direct the COO to expand upon its safety 

perception survey by developing a more rigorous 

methodological approach and collecting such

information on a more regular basis. 

August 2004 

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has added worker safety as a standard topic in its 

biennial focus group script, indicated it conducts daily 

shop safety meetings, and included a telephone number 

for reporting hazards in its monthly safety newsletters. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to adopt a more rigorous (and anonymous) 

approach to measuring employee’s perceptions of AOC’s 

safety climate—perceptions, for example, of management 

commitment, discipline policies, and hazard corrections—

that could help AOC identify successful strategies for 

application to other areas as well as areas that need 

focused attention to improve. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 54 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

AOC has made progress in improving CPP management3 and efficiently 

staffing the modernized power plant, but more work remains. For 

example, AOC took interim steps to modify existing positions—as they 

have been vacated—to reflect the additional skill sets required to 

successfully operate and maintain the modernized plant. Since October 

2005, AOC has been working with a consultant to develop a new workload 

analysis and staffing implementation plan and received the results of the 

analysis and recommendations in November 2006. On the basis of these 

results, AOC is developing a reorganization plan to reflect the

recommendations, which it expects to submit to Congress for approval in

March 2007. In anticipation of the staffing changes, AOC has been using 

attrition to reduce and realign the CPP workforce and is currently keeping 

seven vacated positions vacant, four of which will be filled by internal 

candidates and will not impact the staffing numbers. See table 8 for more 

information on the implementation status of our recommendations on CPP 

management. 

Capitol Power Plant 

Management 

Table 8: Current Status of Recommendations on CPP Management 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. By the end of fiscal year 2005, AOC should 

develop an implementation plan for adopting its 

consultant’s November 2004 recommendations 

without decreasing system reliability or violating 

environmental air permits that are in effect. The 

consultant’s report recommended that AOC 

• use the most economically priced fuel to operate 

the steam boilers and 

• reduce current CPP staff from 88 positions to 46 

positions. 

April 2005a

Making progress Progress 

• AOC evaluates and adjusts fuel sources on an ongoing 

basis to use the most economically priced fuel. 

• AOC has worked with a contractor to develop a new 

workload analysis and staffing implementation plan. The 

workload analysis, completed in November 2006, 

recommends a reduction in staff, and AOC is developing a 

reorganization plan. 

• AOC also has been using attrition to reduce and realign 

the CPP workforce in anticipation of recommended 

changes. For example, seven vacated positions are 

currently being kept vacant, four of which will be filled by 

internal candidates and will not affect CPP’s staffing 

numbers. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to develop and implement a staffing plan that 

is based on the recommendations from the recent 

consultant’s study. 

 3

As previously reported, we also reported on CPP’s 2004 master plan during this same time 

period. Due to its security sensitive nature, we did not include it in this report. 

Page 55 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

2. AOC should not wait to implement prudent 

operational and incremental organizational changes 

in anticipation of a more permanent organization 

when the West Refrigeration Plant Expansion 

project is complete. If carefully planned, anticipated 

workforce reductions can be managed in a manner 

that minimizes adverse impacts. Workforce 

planning can result in CPP employees being placed 

in other AOC organizations and can account for 

natural attrition by considering the retirement 

eligibility of current employees. 

April 2005a

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC fulfilled our recommendation to implement prudent 

operational and incremental organizational changes in 

anticipation of a more permanent organization when the 

West Refrigeration Plant Expansion project is complete. In 

January 2007, the CPP took use and possession of the new

West Refrigeration Plant Expansion chiller systems to 

support the campus cooling loads. The West Refrigeration 

Plant Expansion project is scheduled to finish in June 2007, 

but the construction contract will remain open until the Boiler 

House Distributed Control System project is completed in 

January 2008. To implement incremental organizational 

changes, AOC indicated that it has taken steps to modify 

existing positions—as they have been vacated—to reflect 

the additional skill sets required to successfully operate and 

maintain the modernized plant. These steps are intermediate 

to permanent staffing changes that are expected to be made

once AOC implements the staffing plan outlined in its 

November 2006 consultant’s report. Moreover, the 

completion of AOC’s staffing study, which includes a phased

implementation plan to achieve CPP’s permanent 

organizational structure, supersedes the need to make 

interim changes. Accordingly, we expect AOC to take no 

further action to implement this recommendation. 

3. To ensure that CPP is staffed efficiently and that 

CPP personnel are trained to operate the 

modernized power plant safely, we recommend that 

the Architect of the Capitol

• develop and implement a staffing plan for CPP 

that is based on the results of its most recent 

consultant’s study and 

• evaluate the training provided to CPP operators 

and use the evaluation results in implementing

the staffing plan. 

February 2006b

Making progress Progress 

• AOC has worked with a consultant to develop a new 

workload analysis and staffing implementation plan. The 

consultant issued the results of the study in November 

2006. On the basis of these results, AOC is developing a 

reorganization proposal, which it expects to deliver to 

Congress for approval in March 2007. 

• The consultant also evaluated the operator training 

program and is preparing its evaluation report. AOC 

expects to receive the results of the evaluation by early 

March 2007. 

Remaining action 

• AOC needs to develop and implement a staffing plan for 

CPP and incorporate the results of the training evaluation. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

a

GAO, Capitol Power Plant: Actions Needed to Improve Operating Efficiency (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 

8, 2005), issued as unnumbered correspondence.

b

GAO, Architect of the Capitol: Addressing Staffing and Training Issues Is Important for Efficient and 

Safe West Refrigeration Plant Operations, GAO-06-321R (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 10, 2006). 

Page 56 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

AOC has implemented the recommendations related to developing a 

strategic approach to recycling. In January 2006, AOC finalized its 

recycling program mission, goals, and performance measures. The 

performance measures are also in AOC’s revised strategic plan and the 

Senate and House business plans. To monitor performance, AOC reports 

on the status of its recycling performance measures in the quarterly Safety, 

Health, and Environmental Council meetings. Additionally, AOC formed a 

Legislative Branch recycling group that met for the first time in September 

2006. This group plans to meet quarterly to discuss common issues and 

best management practices. To clarify responsibilities and hold staff 

accountable for achieving recycling goals, AOC has included recycling 

tasks in its position descriptions and included recycling responsibilities for 

recycling managers and supervisors in its evaluation system. For example, 

the performance evaluation system includes recycling objectives in the 

ratings of Senate and House recycling managers to hold them accountable 

for program results. See table 9 for more information on the 

implementation status of our recommendations on recycling.

Recycling 

Table 9: Current Status of Recommendations on Recycling

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

1. Develop a clear mission and goals for AOC’s 

recycling program with input from key 

congressional stakeholders as part of its proposed

environmental master plan. AOC may want to 

establish reasonable goals on the basis of the total 

waste stream—information it plans to obtain as part 

of its long-term environmental management plan—

that could potentially be recycled. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC drafted a mission statement, goals, and performance 

measures for its recycling program and shared this draft with

congressional stakeholders. The mission for the recycling 

program is to foster an environment that encourages 

recycling by the legislative branch staff through convenient 

and efficient programs, resulting in the diversion of wastes 

from the solid waste stream. AOC established three main 

goals for its recycling program: (1) increase overall recycling

rates by diverting office wastes, (2) increase overall recycling

tonnage by diverting nonoffice wastes, and (3) improving 

communication and coordination among interested 

legislative branch agencies by establishing a recycling 

working group by the end of fiscal year 2006.

2. To further assist AOC in developing a more

strategic approach for its recycling programs and to 

ensure that congressional input is obtained when it 

would be most useful, we recommend that the 

Architect of the Capitol direct the COO to obtain 

preliminary input from congressional stakeholders 

on its environmental program plan—particularly as 

the plan relates to the mission and goals of AOC’s 

recycling programs—prior to the completion of the 

plan. 

August 2004 

Implemented 

(February 2006) 

AOC relied on input from internal and external stakeholders,

including congressional stakeholders, to assist in the 

development of the mission, goals, and performance 

measures as part of its recycling program. 

Page 57 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix I: Status of AOC’s Progress on

Recommendations 

GAO recommendation and date of the 

recommendation

Status 

(month/year of

GAO report) Progress and remaining action

3. Develop a performance measurement, 

monitoring, and evaluation system that supports 

accomplishing AOC’s recycling mission and goals. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC has established a performance measurement, 

monitoring, and evaluation system that supports its recycling 

mission and goals. AOC finalized its recycling program 

mission, goals, and performance measures in January 2006.

These performance measures are in AOC’s revised strategic 

plan and the Senate and House business plans. To monitor

performance, AOC reports on the status of its recycling 

performance measures in the Safety, Health, and 

Environmental Council meetings. Additionally, AOC formed a 

Legislative Branch recycling group that met for the first time 

in September 2006. This group plans to meet quarterly to 

discuss common issues and share best management 

practices. 

4. Examine the roles and responsibilities of AOC’s 

recycling program staff to ensure that they are 

performing the right jobs with the necessary 

authority, and holding the staff accountable for 

achieving program and agency results through 

AOC’s performance management system. 

January 2003 

Implemented 

(February 2007) 

AOC included recycling tasks in its position descriptions and

included recycling responsibilities for recycling managers 

and supervisors in its evaluation system. For example, the 

performance evaluation system includes recycling objectives

in the ratings of Senate and House recycling managers to 

hold them accountable for program results. 

Source: GAO analysis of AOC data. 

Page 58 GAO-07-407 Architect of the Capitol
Appendix II: 

A

GAO Contact and Staff 

cknowledgments 

Page 59 GAO-07-407

Appendix II: GAO Contact and Staff 

Acknowledgments 

Terrell G. Dorn, (202) 512-6923, or dornt@gao.gov

In addition to the individual named above, key contributors to this report 

were Shirley L. Abel, Mark Bird, John C. Craig, Elizabeth Curda, Amr 

Desouky, Elizabeth R. Eisenstadt, Elena P. Epps, Brett S. Fallavollita, 

Jeanette M. Franzel, Mary Hatcher, Randolph C. Hite, Heather Krause, 

Neelaxi Lakhmani, Steven G. Lozano, Valerie Melvin, David Merrill, Susan 

Michal-Smith, Sara Ann Moessbauer, Stephanie Sand, Natalie Schneider, 

Bernice Steinhardt, John J. Reilly, Jr., Sarah E. Veale, Sara Vermillion, and 

Merry Woo. 

GAO Contact 

Staff 

Acknowledgments 

(545048) Architect of the Capitol
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