1.1. Public works and projects involve the planning, design, construction and maintenance of I the following public facilities and structures :
1.2. In Brunei Darussalam, all public works are funded by the government. Government construction activities thus play a major part not only in the construction industry but in the whole economy. Building and infrastructure contractors rely heavily on public contracts, while local manufacturers of building materials participate in whatever the state spends for the public building sector. Technical know-how and industrial performance capability of contracting firms in the state have steadily improved as a result of increased building activity over the past decade. As local manpower has been insufficient to cope with the demands of the construction industry, the country relies heavily on foreign workers.
1.3. The Public Works Department is an entity under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Development which is responsible for the implementation of public works and projects. It is also entrusted with the co-ordination and monitoring of projects where professional architects and engineers have been appointed by the Minister of Development. The Public Works Department, headed by the Director General and assisted by the Deputy Director General, comprises seven departments each headed by a Director and with its own objectives and strategies to achieve the goals outlined in the Sixth National Development Plan.
The processes involved in implementing a project are as follows :
The client department/ministry prepares the general plan indicating floor space requirement, site requirement, qualitative justification and other pertinent social, physical, economic and environmental data. This phase may be accompanied by a feasibility and environmental impact report.
The client department/ministry requests the Town and Country Planning Department to allocate a suitable site based on the project brief and carry out a topographical survey of the proposed site.
The client department/ministry requests the Public Works Department to provide an estimate of the cost of the project.
The client department/ministry submits the project brief and other relevant documents to the Development Committee for initial consideration of the project. On approval, it is forwarded to the Budget Committee for further consideration and review of the financial aspects of the project. The Budget Committee then recommends to the Cabinet who will give the final approval for the implementation of the project.
The Appointment of Consultants Committee of the Ministry of Development will decide whether PWD itself will undertake the design and supervision of the project or whether professional architects and consultants are best suited to implement the project.
a) Preliminary Design Stage
The requirements of the Client Department are confirmed and conceptual design of the project is prepared by the architect or engineer. Additional survey works and geotechnical investigation if necessary are also implemented to complement the design.
b) Detailed Architectural/Engineering Design
The detailed architectural and/or engineering design are carried out. The architect and/ or engineer prepares the conditions of contract, specifications, schedules and bills of quantities as may be necessary to enable the client department to obtain tenders for the project.
2.7.1. For works exceeding B$25,000 but not less than B$ 150,000, the invitation for tender, evaluation and award is processed through the Mini-Tender Board of each Ministry. Form of Contract for Minor Works is used except for urgent or special projects where the use of Special Indent may be more suitable.
2.7.2. Where the project is more than B$ 150,000, the invitation for tender, evaluation and award is processed through the State Tender Board. Exemption from tender procedure must be approved by the Chairman of the State Tender Board with the consent of His Majesty the Sultan. In cases where the project is specialised or urgent in nature, the use of selective tender is more appropriate and has to be approved by the Chairman of the State Tender Board. In some cases, it is better to use the turnkey concept whereby design and construction is undertaken by the same contractor. The design is based on the needs statement given by the client department.
This involves the administration of the contract and the technical/quality control of the construction of the project. The architect/engineer advises the client department on various matters such as progress payments, variations, insurance, security deposits, construction schedules, settlement of disputes and claims and provides the client department with a report on the progress of the project on a regular basis.
When all contract work is completed, the architect/engineer conducts an inspection and advises client department whether work has been completed satisfactorily or not. During the Defects Liability Period, the architect/engineer monitors whatever defects arise and ensures that they are remedied before final acceptance.
3.1. As in most ASOSAI member countries, the accelerating expenditures for public works has made the SAI of Brunei Darussalam recognise the need to specialise in the audit of public works. In 1984 therefore, the Audit Department of Brunei Darussalam established a Technical Unit which specialises in the audit of this particular area. This unit comprises two Technical Auditors (one civil engineer and one quantity surveyor), two Assistant Auditors, one Senior Examiner and four Trained Examiners.
3.2. Each year hundreds of projects of varying degrees of complexities are being implemented not only by the Public Works Department but by other ministries as well. Because of this, it is not possible from the human resource point of view to audit all construction projects. In order for audits to be cost-effective, the Technical Unit uses two audit approaches - the comprehensive audit approach and the selective audit approach.
3.2.1. Comprehensive Audit Approach (CAA)
In the present context, the comprehensive audit approach involves the audit of a project throughout its project implementation process, i.e. from its planning stage to completion stage. In this type of approach, which is normally used in the audit of major projects, the following matters are examined:
3.2.1.1. Project Planning
This involves checking whether the aims and objectives of the project were clearly defined and mat selection of the project was made after adequate project analysis, appraisal, technical surveys, feasibility studies and co-ordination with the overall National Development Plan.
3.2.1.2. Design
The objective here is to ensure that the design adopted for the project is economical and effective. The auditor must be aware of the architect who wants an attractive and costly edifice. It is also important to audit the decision to use building materials and equipment to determine whether they have long service life, good stability and low maintenance costs.
3.2.1.3. Tender Procedure
The auditor must ensure that current Government rules and procedures were followed in the invitation, evaluation and award of tenders.
3.2.1.4. Contract Agreements
An ideal contract document must have terms and conditions that are fair to both the client and the contractor. Stipulations such as bank guarantee, insurances, retention fund and completion dates must be strictly adhered to.
3.2.1.5. Construction Stage
Throughout the contract period, the auditor will check the following :
3.2.1.6. Completion Stage
Before the handing over of the project to the client, the auditor is also involved in checking the following:
3.2.1.7. Defects Liability Period
During this period, the auditor will make another site visit for the purpose of checking whether there are structural defects, complaints from users/client department and whether the purpose for which the project has been planned or anticipated has been attained.
3.2.2. Selective Audit Approach (SAA)
3.2.2.1. In the present context, the selective audit approach means that a particular project is specifically selected for audit due to indicators of problem(s). This is normally applied to relatively minor projects, as distinct from major projects.
The type of audit is conducted by an initial examination of the probable cause(s) of the problem, its impact and implications. The auditor then evaluates the seriousness of the problem and determines whether there are potential issues for audit reporting. The following can be considered as good indicators of problems :
3.2.2.2. An efficient auditor should be able to detect the above problem indicators by studying progress reports and other documents received from the Public Works Department such as breach reports, variation orders, progress and final payment certificates and minutes of meetings. The auditor should also be aware of the progress of the various projects being implemented by conducting regular site visits. On noting indicators of problems, the auditor should arrange for an interview with the supervising officer and other officers involved in the project for the purpose of determining the seriousness and need for further investigations.
If the initial investigation reveals that a project has serious problems and there are potential issues for the audit report, the auditor conducts a thorough investigation to establish the causes of the problems and their implications. If necessary, the auditor should visit the site and observe whether:
4.1.1. Based on the data and results of the two types of audit approaches discussed above, an audit report is prepared. If the comprehensive audit approach was used, the audit report is presented using the following format:
4.1.2. During the course of the comprehensive audit, it may be necessary to prepare an advance report or audit query whenever a significant finding or major question arises. The auditor should immediately arrange a meeting with the auditee to explain the problem or finding and solicit the auditee's official comments or explanations. It may be possible to effect major savings and/or improvements before completion of the comprehensive audit. This report briefly explains the problem, its cause and suggested corrective action.
4.1.3. In the selective audit approach, however, there is no standard format used. Normally, the report would mention briefly some facts about the project and then the audit findings, recommendations and/or conclusions are presented.
An agreement should take place between the auditors and the auditee with regard to what actions should be taken on the audit findings. This may take place through a meeting by both parties and subsequent confirmation of the agreements reached. Each finding is carefully evaluated and a management plan of action and timetable is developed, jointly agreed upon and the status of corrective actions appropriately monitored. Where the selective audit approach is used, it may not be necessary to have a post-audit conference so that the auditee could simply reply in writing stating his comments on the audit report.
The S AI has not experienced any problems or limitations with regard to its authority to conduct the physical examination or verification of work. The auditees (Public Works Department and consultants) are well informed of the roles of the Technical Auditors and other staff. Before the start of audit, the auditees are informed of the objectives and scope of audit and arrangements are also made to ensure that disruption to auditee's work is minimised.
The timing of audit is very important particularly when the comprehensive audit approach is used. The auditors should have early access to project data in order to check whether proper management principles and techniques were used in the planning, appraisal and budgeting for the project. At present the SAI is limited in auditing at the planning stage as the necessary information to start the audit does not become available to the SAI until such time as the project has been awarded and contract documents are signed. Further, present audit resources are barely sufficient to cope with selective audit of the ever-increasing infrastructure projects. As it is important to make the audit presence visible at all stages, it is hoped to overcome these constraints in the near future.
The main constraint of the SAI is insufficient staff to service the growing number of public works and projects. However, staffing levels are reviewed periodically to ensure that audit capability is commensurate with the increase in public works and project. In addition, auditing operations have highlighted the need for expert assistance where technical problems of a non-accounting nature are encountered.
The SAI has also endeavoured to conduct audits of design where, for example, concrete mix, asphalt mix, road pavement design and concrete and soil testing procedures are involved. However, there are instances where the expertise of a non-accounting expert, such as a structural engineer or geotechnical engineer, are urgently required due to the inherent complexity of the problem encountered. While it is possible to hire such experts on a temporary basis, Brunei Darussalam is such a small country that it is difficult to employ independent experts who can provide unbiased opinions.
There is no independent body appointed by the government to undertake technical examination of works.
There is no state-owned company which competes with private contractors for public works and projects. However, the Public Works Department is involved in minor building and road maintenance works using direct labour and government-owned equipment.
8.1. The Public Works Department and its seven departments use computers extensively in their operations. The most common usage is word processing, database and spreadsheet. However, certain sections in the department use computers in more sophisticated environments such as:
The SAI does not audit the computer environment of the Public Works Department. However, if it is necessary to do so in the future, assistance will be obtained from the Computer Unit of the Audit Department which specialises in the audit of computer-related issues.
8.2. The Technical Unit of the Audit Department does not use computers directly in the audit of public works and projects. However, computers are used indirectly through the following :
There are no foreign-funded projects in Brunei Darussalam.
The SAI audits the design of public works and projects. The Technical Unit undertakes the audit of architectural and building design, road pavement design, concrete and bitumen mix design and soil and concrete test procedures. However, the audit of the SAI does not extend to more specialised areas such as structural design, foundation/geotechnical design, hydraulic/water structures design and pre-stressed concrete design which require the input of specialists or experts in these areas.
The Technical Unit of the SAI is only involved in the post-audit of the tender process and is not directly involved in the evaluation of tenders.