Local
Audit: D.C. boiler inspections lacking, leaving public at risk
By: Michael Neibauer
Examiner Staff Writer
September 26, 2008
A D.C. government agency has failed to inspect and certify thousands of boilers in District buildings, a city auditor recently found, raising the risk of explosions and other perils that already draw fire response about once every six days.
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which is required by law to inspect every boiler in the city every year, is understaffed, overwhelmed by a massive backlog and has certified as safe some commercial boilers with problems such as leaking valves, the D.C. inspector general reported in a management alert issued last month.
“Boilers that have not been inspected properly and timely and certified as safe to operate have the potential to break down or explode, which could result in harm to people or property,” the inspector general wrote.
The D.C. fire department responded to 119 boiler incidents over the past two years, department spokesman Alan Etter told The Examiner on Thursday. No one was injured, he said, but “by far the biggest problem is explosion.”
The commercial inspections section of DCRA performs its boiler work either through in-person examinations or the certification of insurance company inspections.
The agency has focused its boiler inspections on schools, firehouses, police stations and libraries, the inspector general audit team was told, leaving many commercial boilers unchecked and private inspections unverified. As of August, according to the inspector general, the inspections section had still not processed 1,520 insurance boiler reports received in 2007 between May and October, leading up to the heating season.
What used to be a 12-person inspection unit is down to two people, auditors reported, eight short of what’s needed to get the job done.
Auditors also found that some boilers with problems cited by insurance inspectors — leaking relief valves, significant mineral buildups, inoperative safety valves — were certified anyway.
In a written response to the alert, Linda Argo, DCRA director, said steps are being taken to ensure there are adequate numbers of inspectors, and the backlog will be cleared by the end of the year. Michael Rupert, the agency’s spokesman, promised “dramatic and immediate improvement” in the inspection process.
There likely are thousands of boilers in city businesses, homes and apartment buildings, but DCRA still keeps its boiler-related documents in filing cabinets and was unable Thursday to provide an exact figure. Rupert said the files will be transferred “in the very near future” to a new online data system.
The Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, which is required by law to inspect every boiler in the city every year, is understaffed, overwhelmed by a massive backlog and has certified as safe some commercial boilers with problems such as leaking valves, the D.C. inspector general reported in a management alert issued last month.
“Boilers that have not been inspected properly and timely and certified as safe to operate have the potential to break down or explode, which could result in harm to people or property,” the inspector general wrote.
The D.C. fire department responded to 119 boiler incidents over the past two years, department spokesman Alan Etter told The Examiner on Thursday. No one was injured, he said, but “by far the biggest problem is explosion.”
The commercial inspections section of DCRA performs its boiler work either through in-person examinations or the certification of insurance company inspections.
The agency has focused its boiler inspections on schools, firehouses, police stations and libraries, the inspector general audit team was told, leaving many commercial boilers unchecked and private inspections unverified. As of August, according to the inspector general, the inspections section had still not processed 1,520 insurance boiler reports received in 2007 between May and October, leading up to the heating season.
What used to be a 12-person inspection unit is down to two people, auditors reported, eight short of what’s needed to get the job done.
Auditors also found that some boilers with problems cited by insurance inspectors — leaking relief valves, significant mineral buildups, inoperative safety valves — were certified anyway.
In a written response to the alert, Linda Argo, DCRA director, said steps are being taken to ensure there are adequate numbers of inspectors, and the backlog will be cleared by the end of the year. Michael Rupert, the agency’s spokesman, promised “dramatic and immediate improvement” in the inspection process.
There likely are thousands of boilers in city businesses, homes and apartment buildings, but DCRA still keeps its boiler-related documents in filing cabinets and was unable Thursday to provide an exact figure. Rupert said the files will be transferred “in the very near future” to a new online data system.
