SIGAR

SIGAR OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES
the original award from 2009. However, this justification appears to conflict
with a prohibition on this type of award in ADS 303.3.6.5, which states that
an exception to competition based on an award recipient’s exclusive or
predominant capability may not be used to continue a relationship when
the applicant developed this capability during performance of any USAID
award. The documents USAID provided did not justify approving officials’
conclusion that the prohibition contained in ADS 303.3.6.5 did not apply to
this cooperative agreement extension.
SIGAR encouraged USAID to be sure that all future justifications for noncompetitive
follow-on awards and extensions include language that directly
and clearly explains why the benefits of continuing assistance with the
same recipient exceed the benefits of a competitive process. Additionally,
SIGAR encouraged USAID to consider revising ADS 303 to state expressly
whether noncompetitive follow-on awards or extensions may be justified
based on a recipient’s predominant capability developed during the performance
of any USAID award.
Alert Letter 17-2: Fire Doors at the MOI Compound in Kabul
On October 5, 2016, SIGAR wrote to the Secretary of Defense, the
commander of U.S. Central Command, the commander of U.S. Forces-
Afghanistan, the commanding general of the Chief of Engineers, U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), and the commander of the Combined
Security Transition Command-Afghanistan (CSTC-A) about serious safety
concerns surrounding the installation of noncertified fire doors in 25 buildings
on the recently constructed MOI compound in Kabul.
CSTC-A funded the construction of the compound and USACE administered
the contracts. The use of noncertified fire doors, despite contract
requirements calling for certified fire doors for specific rooms, corridors,
and stairwells, raises concerns about the safety of the buildings, whether
the government overpaid for inferior products, and whether the contractors
defrauded the government when they installed doors that did not meet
contract requirements. Although the letter focused on the MOI compound,
SIGAR’s concerns extended to all completed and ongoing USACE construction
projects in Afghanistan that required the installation of certified
fire doors.
Fire doors protect the main paths occupants may use to exit a building
when a fire occurs and are designed to limit the spread of smoke and
flames. Lack of such protection increases the occupants’ risk of injury or
death in the event of a fire.
Independent laboratories, such as the Underwriters Laboratory (UL),
Factory Mutual Engineering and Research (FM), or Warnock Hersey-
Interteck (WHI), use National Fire Protection Agency and UL standards
to test and certify doors, frames, hardware, and other components of
a fire door assembly to ensure they are manufactured to fire resistant
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SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL I AFGHANISTAN RECONSTRUCTION