The brief
Our auditor received a whistleblowing allegation relating to the Maintenance Manager at a supported housing client authorising invoices for payment, for works that had never been completed, or had only been partially completed at a number of the Client’s remote housing scheme.
It was further alleged that the Maintenance Manager had an undeclared personal interest with one of the Client’s preferred contractors and that this contractor was being awarded works without these being competitively tendered/quotes for.
Rather than simply selecting and testing a traditional sample of invoices, our auditor utilised TIAA’s in house maintenance compliance team to carry out a sample of property/works surveys in order to establish the extent of any possible over charging.
The auditing process and outcome
The work carried out by the auditor and his Team was able to provide comprehensive assurance that the Client had not paid for any maintenance works that had not been completed. However, some significant weaknesses in the works specification process were identified. As a results, changes were made to the maintenance contract specification which achieve enhanced value for money for the Client.