Public Services and Procurement Canada
Summary of conclusions and recommendations: Evaluation of the Real Property Services Program
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Office of Audit and Evaluation, Public Services and Procurement Canada—June 2018
Initiative description
The Real Property Services (RPS) Program is located within the Real Property Services Branch (RPSB) of Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Under the program PSPC provides real property services for all buildings and other real property assets for which it is the custodian. As well it provides real property services to other federal departments and agencies: on an optional basis to custodians and on a mandatory basis to tenants of buildings of which PSPC is the custodian.
These services cover a wide range of activities from lease administration, through ongoing maintenance to major capital repairs and refits. RPS services are provided under 3 main service lines: project delivery, property and facility management and advisory services.
Evaluation objective, scope and methodology
The objective of the evaluation was to assess the relevance (legislative or policy requirement for the program, alignment with governmental and departmental priorities and continued need for the program), and performance (achievement of immediate outcomes, program efficiency) of the RPS. The evaluation also examined program design (the extent to which program accountabilities are clearly articulated and well understood by PSPC and clients, the extent to which the program database effectively supports program management, evaluation and performance monitoring).
The program was evaluated based on the following lines of evidence: document review; comparative review; financial analysis; interviews; data analysis and surveys.
Evaluation constraints and limitations
Limitations included a lack of data from comparator organizations, inability to interview senior management of other government departments that are clients of the RPS, a limited survey population, and difficulties with program data, including gaps in data for some fields and difficulties in reconciling with program financial statements.
Program outcomes
Custodians of federal real property have access to timely and quality oversight and management of project delivery in federal real property assets which complies with client and other requirements and standards.
Custodians of federal real property have access to timely and quality oversight and management of operations and maintenance in federal real property assets, in compliance with client and other requirements and standards.
Custodians of federal real property have access to timely and quality information and advice in support of informed real property-related decision-making.
Custodians of federal real property assets benefit from effective and efficient services which, from a whole of government perspective, are cost-neutral as a result of leveraged economies of scale (not within scope of evaluation; to be evaluated as part of a future meta-evaluation of all accommodation and real property service programs).
Evaluation findings
Relevance
Is the program still relevant? Yes
There is both a legislative and policy requirement for PSPC to provide real property services. The program is aligned with PSPC's strategic outcome of sound stewardship and with the department's strategic priorities: value-for-money, innovative solutions and service excellence. The program is also responding to a continuing need for real property services. Demand for RPS services increased by 23% from 2012 to 2013 to 2016 to 2017 and 86% of clients expect to have an increased demand in the future. The program has also played a key role in the delivery of the Accelerated Infrastructure Program (AIP) initiative. However, the level of need may be affected in the next few years, as AIP funding comes to an end.
Is the program efficient? Yes
Program costs for management and oversight of its major private sector contractor, which delivers a substantial portion of the program, are at levels similar to the previous contract while providing a more comprehensive management and oversight regime. As well, the fees charged to clients for internal staff fees are appropriate given the underlying cost structure of the program, although the program would benefit from more clarity around charges from other branches recovered through internal transfers, where these are not the subject of memoranda of understanding (MOUs). Finally, revenues per full-time employee, despite decreasing slightly from 2013 to 2014 to 2014 to 2015, have increased 17.4% over the period covered by the evaluation.
Performance
Is the program achieving its intended outcomes? Yes, for the most part.
The program is, for the most part, achieving its immediate outcomes: to ensure that custodians have access to timely and quality real property services. Clients rate the quality and timeliness of RPS services quite highly. Projects over $1 million are being completed on time and on budget, based on departmental data. However, projects are not fully complying with PSPC's requirements under the National Project Management System (NPMS). Compliance rates are currently 66%, compared to a target rate of 90%.
Is the program design effective? Program design could be improved.
Client agreement documents do not consistently articulate overall accountabilities for programs or projects of work, creating the potential for misunderstandings on the part of clients. The program database maintained on the departmental SIGMA system lacks adequate documentation, contains a number of fields that appear to overlap with one another and others that are not completed consistently. In addition, financial data contained in this system is not easily reconciled with other sources of program financial information.
Recommendations
The Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Services Branch should ensure that the execution of the annual assessment of conformance to the NPMS is centralized, that the rigour of the process is improved and that the results are used to drive continuous improvement in compliance.
The Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Services Branch should take steps to ensure that RPS program officials have a clear understanding of the authorities, allocation methodologies and the current rationale for charges allocated to the program through other internal transfers, not the subject of MOUs.
The Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Services Branch should review and update its client agreement documents to ensure that they all provide clear and consistent statements of the overall accountabilities of PSPC and client departments for programs or projects or work and that signatures are present.
The Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Services Branch should undertake a comprehensive review of the RPS SIGMA database to improve documentation on the database; to ensure the accuracy of project and financial data; to address possible redundancies; and to ensure the consistency and completeness of project information entered on the database.