Audit of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority (UMBA)

This is a state performance audit of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority, covering July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018.

“In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority (UMBA) for the period July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2018.”

Auditors checked whether UMBA properly managed design and construction contracts, invoices, change orders, project closeouts, and contractor compliance with the Prevailing Wage Law.

“In this performance audit, we determined whether UMBA properly administered its design and construction contracts in accordance with its policies and monitored the payment of invoices and the processing of change orders.”

Public construction projects must pay workers at least the required wage for their job type, and weak monitoring can make it hard to know whether that happened.

“The Massachusetts Prevailing Wage Law for public works projects, Sections 26–27H of Chapter 149 of the Massachusetts General Laws, requires contractors to pay the prevailing wage.”

If you are a taxpayer, student, worker, or member of the public, this matters because UMBA spent about $614 million on construction projects during the audit period, and the audit looked at whether public project rules were being followed.

“During our audit period, UMBA had 83 projects in various stages of construction, on which it spent a total of approximately $614 million dollars.”

The main problem was not that every worker was proven underpaid; it was that many payroll records had job classifications that did not match state wage sheets, so auditors could not tell whether the correct wages were paid.

“We found 1,608 employees of the University of Massachusetts Building Authority’s (UMBA’s) contractors, from a sample of 3,344 who worked on public works projects during our audit period, whose job classifications on certified payrolls did not match the Department of Labor Standards’ (DLS’s) prevailing wage rate sheets, so we could not determine whether they were paid the appropriate prevailing wage.”

The auditor recommended that UMBA create a clear policy telling its project managers how to check certified payrolls.

“UMBA should establish a policy detailing the process for its OPMs to follow when monitoring certified payrolls.”

The auditor said UMBA needs stronger oversight because UMBA is still responsible for making sure its project managers actually meet their contract duties, including wage-law monitoring.

“Although UMBA is correct in pointing out that its OPMs are contractually required to monitor contractor compliance with the Prevailing Wage Law, it is concerning to OSA that UMBA fails to recognize that as a contracting agency, it is responsible for ensuring that its OPMs effectively meet all of their contractual obligations, including those related to Prevailing Wage Law compliance.”

An owner’s project manager is the person or firm UMBA hires to oversee a construction project, including cost, contractors, schedules, and wage records.

“UMBA contracts with an owner’s project manager (OPM) to oversee each project from design to completion, including monitoring cost, managing contractors and subcontractors, and managing the project schedule while communicating progress to UMBA.”