In 2006 the King County Council established the Capital Projects Oversight Program (CPO) in the County Auditor’s Office with the mission of controlling cost overruns and unforeseen expansion of project scopes, schedules, and budgets on King County’s large capital construction projects. The CPO program provides independent oversight, with a focus on high-risk projects and programs.

Key goals for the program include:

1. increase the likelihood of project success
2. identify problems in a timely manner
3. provide clear, succinct reports
4. facilitate Councilmember decision-making

The King County Auditor’s Office’s CPO Program promotes accountability and improved performance of King County’s capital endeavors and provides timely and useful information to policy and decision-makers. We do this in several ways:

• direct project oversight – oversee an individual project during some or all phases of work
• capital program oversight – monitor execution of a portfolio of projects (e.g., the combined sewer overflow program or the transit capital program)
• capital-focused audit work – conduct performance audits of topics that will positively impact the execution of capital work
• programmatic efforts – improve project management policies and procedures related to cost estimation, scheduling, risk management, and other key practices

All costs of the program are funded through the Capital Improvement Project budget.