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Council members press DPW on inspection staffing and contractor performance after report of missing inspectors and sinkholes
Summary
Council members raised concerns about construction inspection coverage, uneven contractor performance and change-order costs. DPW said it has recently hired additional engineers and inspectors, is developing a training program for inspectors, and will review change-order practices.
Council members questioned DPW about oversight of contractors working on capital projects, citing examples of missing inspectors, sinkholes and below‑grade cold patches after street cuts.
Steve Sharkey, bureau head for OEC (engineering and construction), told the council the department has held regular project staff meetings, recently hired five in‑house engineers and six new inspectors, and is creating formal construction training for inspectors that he expects in the next six months. "I definitely think that our inspectors need better training, and continued increased oversight," Sharkey said.
Council members asked for committee-level follow-ups: counts of inspectors, project assignments per inspector and time-at-site tracking. DPW said it will provide those data and meet with council members about specific sites and change-order histories. DPW and the chief financial officer noted that industry norms for change orders range around 10–15% of project value and that unusually high change-order rates would merit deeper review.
Councilman Torrance said he would request records of change orders in FY24 and asked DPW for internal controls that reduce excessive overrun risk.
Ending: DPW offered to meet with council members to review site-specific records and provide change-order totals, inspector assignments and proposed inspector training curricula and timelines.
