During a recent jobsite audit, one of the identified a cost code as being manipulated over budget. It was the power consumption cost code. When interviewed as part of the audit, the experienced project staff blamed an engineer saying, "We can tell his Dad didn't yell at him to keep the door closed during the summer because we yelled at him constantly for it. He might be deaf because he left the door open every time he entered and exited the trailer. He did it all summer so we aren't suprised the power consumption code is high." The young engineer confirmed that he frequently, but not always, left the door open. At the time of the audit, it was obvious something happened with the power consumption cost code as the cost to date was 500% over the budgeted amount. Due to time constraints it was flagged for further review once the audit team returned to their offices.
Once the detailed ledger was pulled and corresponding invoices were collected, it was quickly identified that the actual power bill was in line with the budget. The overage was caused invoices for unrelated materials. During a follow up conversation with the project staff, they admitted to incorrectly coding invoices to the power consumption cost code. Digging deeper, it was discovered that these invoices were related to equipment replacement as the result of a robbery that took place during a night shift the engineer was working. As was his standard practice, he left the door on his way to the field. Opportunistic criminals saw this and made a quick heist and profit. Even though the overall project was making budget on total cost and fee, they wanted to avoid robbery related questions so they tried to spread the costs to different codes but inadvertently assigned all related costs to the power consumption code. The engineer caused the issue and blaming him for leaving a door open that caused a high power bill was feasible so they ran with it. They all ended up getting caught and were required to sit through a cost reporting and ethics training course on Saturday. With all the examples covered in the training, they now know more ways to work the budget and how to avoid getting caught.
As with any good project team, they are lightly retaliating against the engineer. When in daily staff meetings he has to sit in the corner with a dunce cap on. He also has a new name on his hardhat - Dunce. The project team posted sever no moron signs around the trailer in another attempt to gently remind the engineer to not be a moron and close the trailer door. They'd post "No Open Doors" signs but they are concerned it may be too specific. The "No Morons" sign is general and covers all less intelligent activity he or anyone else on the job might think up.
***This was another Fake Construction News article. Stay tuned for more.***
Kommentare