A D.C. audit has found gaps in safeguards for construction projects requiring closer scrutiny, including missed neighbor notifications, missing paperwork before permits were issued and limited checks on third-party inspectors. The findings raise questions about how the city monitors work as permit and inspection activity grows. The Office of the D.C. Auditor said the review identified problems with permitting requirements and oversight of safeguards, plan reviewers and inspectors.
Findings from a small, selected sample
The audit reviewed eight properties, one in each ward, selected from 57 cases flagged by advisory neighborhood commissioners as possible examples of dangerous construction, The Washington Sun reported. Auditors found that the Department of Buildings had completed required annual audits for just 14% of those eight properties, according to the Sun. Because the properties were selected judgmentally rather than randomly, the findings do not establish how often the same problems occur across all D.C. construction projects.
The review examined controls at several stages: notifying neighbors about adjoining construction, collecting required documents before issuing permits, and checking third-party agencies that review plans or inspect work. About three in five construction inspections in fiscal year 2025 were conducted by third-party inspectors, the Sun reported. DOB issued 63,675 permits that year, a 23% increase from FY23, according to the Sun.
More activity, and a dispute over remedies
Official figures show the workload had already risen in FY24: DOB reported issuing 54,356 permits, up 7% from FY23, and conducting 28,022 routine construction inspections, up 20%, in its FY25 performance testimony. Those totals provide workload context; they do not, by themselves, show that rising activity caused the audit findings.
DOB disputed the audit’s use of a judgmental sample. The Sun reported that Brian Hanlon said he believed the selection process embedded a predetermined judgment. The agency nevertheless agreed to most recommendations, including requiring approval of pre-construction meetings before work starts and limiting a general-contractor exemption to owners seeking it for their primary residence. DOB also agreed to work toward more consistent plan reviews. It rejected a recommendation for checklists covering every building-code requirement, arguing that the codes are too extensive for a single comprehensive checklist, the Sun reported.
A separate 2024 law establishes an eight-member Board of Construction Managers and General Contractors, according to the D.C. Law Library. The Sun reported that the law remains unimplemented because of a lack of funding. The audit sample’s limits leave the broader prevalence of the identified problems unresolved; the audit’s recommendations and DOB’s responses describe proposed or agreed changes, not proof that the gaps have been closed.
