The Housing Authority does not keep a comprehensive compilation of all residential units under its responsibility, making the task of identifying whether a residential unit falls under its responsibility or otherwise considerably more onerous, the National Audit Office (NAO) said.

In a performance audit report on the authority’s procurement of repair works on residential units, the NAO said it noted a number of good practices employed by the authority but had some concerns on its operations.

Significant weaknesses were identified in the manner by which the authority maintained its databases listing complaints lodged by residing tenants.

The NAO also identified a number of concerns on the manner by which the authority engaged in the reviewed procurement processes.

Of the more salient findings, the NAO noted that, as at end 2013, the authority had some 700 pending requests for works to be carried out and, in an attempt to address this backlog, it drafted a framework agreement so that it could start commissioning works to address this accumulation by direct orders, each not exceeding €6,000 (excluding VAT) in value.

“While this Office acknowledges the urgency of such a situation, it is nonetheless concerned about the fact that, by utilising such a procurement system, a considerable number of interventions are being awarded to selected contractors without the introduction of a competitive element, thereby forfeiting potential savings.

“NAO is also concerned on the manner by which the fixed prices quoted in these contracts were determined by the Authority as, rather than carrying out a study to establish fair and reasonable prices, HA based its rates on past bids submitted by contractors, subjecting itself to the risk of quoting inflated market prices.”

The NAO said that applications of 10 contractors were accepted by the authority after the expiration of the set deadline for submissions, while a further two were accepted even-though they did not fully meet the requirements set in the application.

The NAO also expressed concern at the number of instances in which it could not find any documented approvals for issuance of calls for quotations.