BOE Headquarters Building Assessment

More than a full year has passed since the discovery of mold led to the closure of the top three floors of the BOE headquarters building at 450 N Street in Sacramento.

At the time of the floor closures, BOE retained industrial hygiene consultant, Hygiene Technologies Incorporated (HTI), to advise BOE on indoor air quality issues including testing, investigation and remediation. We asked HTI to make the health and safety of our employees their top priority. Over the last year, HTI has conducted testing throughout the building, and monitored DGS and their consultants' work. From the outset, HTI was tasked with making the health and safety of our employees their top priority. Over the past months, some employees have expressed skepticism about the work being done by HTI and the information provided by them because they are being paid by BOE. This skepticism is unfortunate, but we believe the work done by HTI has a critical component of protecting your health and safety in this building. We have, and will continue to post their completed reports on the web page for your review. If you have any building related questions for them, please feel free to make that inquiry through this webpage.

As we reported a few weeks ago, the elevator shafts were inspected by DGS, their new consultant La Croix Davis, and fungal growth was discovered in the elevator shafts. HTI monitored this inspection. Elevator consistency has also been a concern. We have asked DGS to resolve the consistency issue and provide us with a plan to address the mold in the elevator shafts. Once that plan is received, it will be posted to this website. We have asked HTI to monitor the air quality in the lobby areas near the elevators until the remediation of the shafts is completed. Information related to the elevators can be found on the Floor-by-Floor matrix on this page under "elevators".

At this time, there are no firm dates for re-occupancy of the top three floors of this building. Please know that because the health and safety of our employees continues to be our top priority, re-occupancy will not occur until the areas related to these floors have been fully remediated by DGS and their consultants and cleared by BOE's hygienists.

Cleanliness of this building is another issue that has been raised by our employees. We have asked DGS to establish cleanliness as a priority. They have responded and you will find a newly established schedule of floor cleaning services here. If you are aware of or discover a special janitorial need, please let us know by filling out a "Report a leak/event" form on this page.

Over the last year, we have relocated several employees. Some because of the floor closures, some to relocate paper records from below the mechanical operations on the12th floor, and others will be moved because we have simply outgrown the building. We are working with DGS to right-size the headquarters building by finding space elsewhere for employees. Initially, 520 people will be moved once appropriate space is identified, secured and improved to accommodate them. The initial move of 50 employees and taxpayer records has been completed. In the longer term we are looking at options for ultimately moving out of this building to a future campus in the greater Sacramento area that can accommodate all headquarters employees. We will keep you informed of developments as they occur.

Over the last year, we have all endured the many inconveniences of closed break rooms, conference rooms and other areas in and around our work stations as the building owner, Department of General Services (DGS), and their consultants, investigate and remediate these areas. Some employees have expressed frustration with these matters, and quite frankly, we share that frustration. We have all grown tired of the many incidents of water intrusion and related damage. But we must all remain active and report any known or suspect events through the building webpage. As we move toward the rainy season it is very important for employees to continue to report any water intrusion events through the "Report a leak/event" form on this website.

Thank you again for your patience and your assistance while construction projects continue here at headquarters.