The Washington State Auditor's Office issued a finding that the Douglas County Sewer District No. 1 violated competitive bidding laws when it issued three change orders totaling $784,456 to an existing $631,713 contract, an increase of 124% over the original contract amount.
The original contract was for extending approximately 2,280 feet of sewer lines.
A New Project: The three change orders added another 2,000 feet of extension to the project. The audit finding noted that the change orders were "not within the original scope of the project and therefore should have been separately bid or the project should have been re-advertised to include the additional line."
A New Project: The three change orders added another 2,000 feet of extension to the project. The audit finding noted that the change orders were "not within the original scope of the project and therefore should have been separately bid or the project should have been re-advertised to include the additional line."
Agency Response: The Sewer District responded that the change orders were necessary in order to meet schedules related to nearby development and that they saved the mobilization costs that would have been incurred with bidding the work separately.
Additional Changes Total Almost $1 Million: In addition, the audit noted but did not criticize an additional four change orders totaling $942,178 that were issued to deal with unstable soil and unexpected surface water encountered by the contractor. While I do not know the details of these change orders, the magnitude of these changes raises questions about the adequacy of the contract documents, and whether the Sewer District managed the change order and pricing process appropriately.
The Douglas County Sewer District No. 1 serves the City of East Wenatchee, Washington.
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