accounts in order to assess their financial stability; in a number of cases contractors have followed recommendations as to the injection of fresh capital and other financial adjustments in order to bring their financial position up to an acceptable standard. During the year 42 sets of accounts were examined and of these only 4 were eventually considered to show insufficient resources to support the applications for inclusion, confirmation or promotion in the P.W.D. list, while 34 cases were approved and 4 were still under discussion at the end of the year.
TECHNICAL AUDIT
Chief Technical Examiner:
D. M. HARDING, F.R.I.C.S., F.I.Q.S., A.I.Arb.
2.40 The fifth year of this Unit saw a continuation of the surveillance of all contractual aspects of the Department's construction tenders and contracts, with continuing emphasis on checking of site office records and remeasurement books.
2.41 Advice was given, where requested by construction Sub-departments, on a wide range of contractual matters.
2.42 Audit of the sharply increasing number of contracts involving Private Architects, Private Quantity Surveyors and Consulting Engineers continued and some headway was made in bringing them into line on staff disciplines, procedures, and standards of contract control, comparable with internally managed contracts.
2.43 Recruitment exercises for new professional staff continued, resulting only in the re-engagement of a previous Technical Examiner. The staff position continued to be one of concern, varying from nil to two Technical Examiners during the year, due to leave and delayed recruitment, and the Unit was for the second year in succession unable to function along the lines of its agreed policy.
2.44 No instances concerning malpractices by members of the Department were observed by, or brought to the attention of, this Unit, and most instances of less than satisfactory comments were caused by the heavy work overload, and by the acute shortage of experienced and expert professional staff generally throughout the Department.
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