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The United States General Services Administration (“GSA”) has initiated a program titled:
Water Testing Modification Effort (“WTME”).
The stated purpose of WTME is to address stagnant water concerns in federally owned facilities and leased spaces.
GSA is a federal agency that constructs, manages, and preserves government buildings and provides workplaces by leasing and managing commercial real estate.
GSA is issuing what it describes as:
…pre-priced unilateral change orders to include a scope of work for baseline water quality testing in our existing leases, with certain exceptions.
The unilateral change orders are stated to be issued under the “Changes” clause via unilateral lease amendments. They are stated to include a scope of work for the testing along with a not-to-exceed payment authorized by GSA. A focus of the water stagnation concerns includes issues related to Legionella.
Testing required by the change order must be performed by an independent third party. If a problem is identified, GSA states it is a responsibility of the lessor to remediate to be in full compliance with the lease and perform any follow-up testing necessary.
A copy of the WTME issued by GSA can be downloaded here.
The WTME also includes links to the following documents:
- Water testing compliance.
- Frequently asked questions.
- Water testing compliance checklist.
