Summary

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on: (1) the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) construction of its office building at the Lincoln, Nebraska airport; and (2) major legislative and administrative initiatives to reform the federal procurement process. GAO noted that: (1) the building's construction cost was more than twice that of similar buildings in the Lincoln area; (2) factors that contributed to the building's higher cost included more stringent FAA construction standards, local market conditions that limited competition and available subcontractors, limited economies of scale and supply discounts, and the rigidity of the federal procurement process; (3) numerous parties have long recognized the need to reform the federal procurement process; and (4) there have been many legislative and administrative initiatives to reform the procurement process and to reinvent and reengineer procurement and support services functions.