The Office of Inspector General for the City of New Orleans (OIG) conducted an evaluation of the Department of Property Management’s (DPM) Job Order Contracting Policies and Procedures.

Job Order Contracts (JOC) are a multi-layered procurement mechanism in which the City contracts with one or more general contractors to perform small maintenance and repair jobs on city properties.  The individual repair jobs may not exceed the value of $150,000 per job; however, the total of these projects over the course of a year could be more than $1M.  The DPM was the primary City agency responsible for managing the JOC program.  On average, the DPM spent $2.6M per year on projects between 2017 and 2019.  The total cost of the DPM’s JOC projects for the period under review was $7.7M.

The purpose of the OIG’s evaluation was to determine whether City departments were utilizing the JOC process efficiently and effectively, and in accordance with City policies and state law.  Evaluators also determined whether there were adequate internal and external controls in place to safeguard the procurement process.