Project Information and Updates

November 27, 2023: For those who wish to review the slides from the November 16 town hall, an accessible PDF is available for view by clicking the following link: 911 Federal Building Tenant Town Hall November 16, 2023 [PDF - 243 KB].​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

November 8, 2023: GSA will hold its next virtual tenant meeting for all employees of the 911 Federal Building on November 16, 2023. Information on how to join the meeting has been provided to tenant representatives for distribution to staff.

October 25, 2023: Questions posed by tenants during the September 20 virtual town hall have been added to the FAQs tab. For those who wish to review the slides from the town hall, an accessible PDF is available for view by clicking the following link: 911 Federal Building Tenant Town Hall September 20, 2023 [PDF - 2 MB].

September 20, 2023: GSA’s 911 Federal Building virtual town hall tenant meeting was held. Slides from the briefing and FAQs will be provided early-October.

September 5, 2023: Construction at the 911 Federal Building remains paused while GSA finalizes project close out details with our contractor. Tenants are invited to join GSA for another tenant town hall on September 20, 2023. Information on how to join the meeting will be provided to tenant representatives for distribution to staff.

August 18, 2023: Questions posed by tenants during the July 26 virtual town hall have been added to the FAQs tab. For those who wish to review the slides from the July town hall, an accessible PDF is available for view by clicking the following link: 911 Federal Building Tenant Town Hall July 26, 2023 [PDF - 3 MB].

July 26, 2023: GSA’s 911 Federal Building virtual town hall tenant meeting was held. Slides from the briefing and FAQs will be provided mid-August.

July 11, 2023: GSA will hold a virtual tenant meeting for all employees of the 911 Federal Building on July 26, 2023. Information on how to join the meeting will be provided to tenant representatives for distribution to staff. 

June 16, 2023: Welcome to the new website for tenants of the 911 Federal Building. Please bookmark this page; GSA will update this site with additional information as it becomes available.

NOTE: FAQs added or updated on October 25, 2023 are italicized.

• CONSTRUCTION PROJECT
• HEALTH AND SAFETY
• CERTIFICATION OF WORK
• NEXT STEPS

CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

• Why were tenants moved out of the auditorium wing?
  In 2016, GSA determined the auditorium wing of the 911 Federal Building was in need of critical seismic upgrades. Based on the Seismic Risk Rating ranking of High Priority for the auditorium, GSA determined the auditorium wing was not fit for occupancy and moved tenants into alternate locations.
   
• What is GSA’s primary goal for the project?
  Tenant safety is always our first and foremost goal. GSA constantly seeks to meet the needs of its tenants with the recognition that the primary need is the safety of the people working in federal space. 
   
• Why has the project taken longer than initially envisioned?
  A seismic upgrade project executed in an occupied & operational building is technically and logistically challenging, even in normal times. The COVID-19 pandemic caused delays and led to increased construction costs, mainly due to widespread labor and supply shortages. 
  
  In addition, the project was extended when lead based paint (LBP) was discovered contained within areas inaccessible to building occupants (e.g., existing surfaces with which the new structural elements had to adjoin or connect). Once discovered, the LBP had to be removed, adding time and costs to the overall project scope. 
   
• Have other seismic upgrade projects also been executed in phases?
  Yes, this is a common commercial practice. Seismic upgrade projects are often executed in phases for various reasons, including cost escalations and scope changes.
   
• Given that the 911 building was constructed in the ’50s and has been maintained since then, and given that leaded paint was used until the late ’70s, why was project funding for likely lead abatement needs NOT budgeted as part of this project?
  GSA’s documentation on the building indicated that there was no record of lead based paint. As a precaution, the project included a very limited contingency in the event that the contractor encountered lead based paint (LBP). During the installation of additional steel structural elements, the contractor removed the concrete that encapsulated the structural steel and discovered the LBP. Though the LBP was well within the wall structure and unlikely to be a health risk, it needed to be removed at a cost that far exceeded the project’s contingency.

• Please describe the status of any planned or ongoing seismic work affecting the building’s daycare center. Will the proposed seismic structural engineering study include the daycare? Similarly, will the proposed air safety monitoring and testing include the daycare? If not, why not? 
  As of July 2023, the majority of seismic upgrade work occurring within the child care spaces is complete. There are limited areas of work left in staff areas inaccessible to children. This work primarily focuses on the movement or adjustment of the building’s various utility systems necessary to accomplish seismic upgrades in other parts of the building. A third party engineering firm can and will provide a peer review of the engineer of record’s work. This independent review will cover the entire building including the child care spaces.
  
  As with all federal construction contracts, the contractor is required to comply with all applicable environmental codes and standards, including OSHA, that govern the construction industry. The contractor must restore all areas to a clean (“cleared”) status prior to returning the space(s) back to GSA and the occupants. GSA, along with our onsite construction manager, review the contractor’s operations, and review their clearance sampling and reports to ensure compliance.
   
• Will the remodeling of the basement cause disruption to upper floors? 
  No, we don’t expect you will feel disruption from the work that’s currently happening down in the basement; a great deal of the demo has already been completed. We will make sure it’s not too disruptive to the 4th and 5th floor tenants, or a 2nd floor tenant for that matter. We don’t believe the childcare will feel it. 
   
• Will the mailroom be available during the remodel of the basement?
  Yes, the mailroom is accessible. 
   
• For those of us who have storage in the basement, will that storage be available during basement construction?
  Yes, basement storage areas will remain accessible for those who need access. 
   
• When will construction on each floor be completed? Is there a schedule that shows when each floor will be ready for employees to return to work?
  As of August 18th, 2023, the 5th-8th floors are available to tenant agencies, with a few minor punch list items outstanding. Hard hats are no longer required on these floors. Both the 3rd & 4th floors should be completed in December. 
   
• What is the the anticipated completion date for the basement areas? 
  The basement areas will be completed in December.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

• Is it safe to occupy the building once partial upgrades are complete?
  Yes, the building has been occupied for the duration of the seismic project and GSA, as the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), certifies that the building continues to be safe to occupy.

• Who has determined that the building is safe for occupancy?  What credentials do they have?
  GSA’s state licensed Structural Engineers (SE) have the authority to make this determination. In addition, GSA and the contractor have hired a third party firm to review, comment and provide additional oversight on the design and completed work. Holmes Structures (the project’s SE designer of record) is incorporating these comments into their partial seismic upgrade design.
   
• When did you identify asbestos in the 911 building? 
  The contractor discovered non-friable asbestos-containing material (ACM) in March 2022. Though the type of asbestos that was found did not pose an immediate health risk, GSA directed the contractor to immediately seal off the affected areas to be extra cautious. GSA added ACM remediation to the contract in accordance with OSHA and other federal laws and regulations. At no point in time were tenants or construction workers exposed to asbestos.
   
• What are the requirements regarding air quality monitoring related to hazardous materials such as lead paint and asbestos?
  The contractor must ensure all work is performed in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. GSA has already begun to collect and analyze air and dust samples to ensure the area does not pose an unacceptable risk to human health. GSA will retest periodically throughout the project close out to ensure full and ongoing compliance. All test results will be posted to the public as they become available.
   
• How will GSA monitor air quality on each floor? What will you do if there are excess levels of asbestos or lead in the air? 
  GSA has hired an independent contractor to periodically collect and analyze air and dust samples to ensure the area does not pose an unacceptable risk to human health. If test results indicate any potential hazard to human health, GSA will immediately take action to ensure the safety of all building occupants.

• Earlier last year lead was found in the water. Has that been mitigated and what are the continued monitoring processes for lead in the water? 
  Earlier this year, GSA partnered with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to test for lead in the building’s water system. The OSHA results helped GSA locate the source of the problem: underutilized drinking fountains. During the pandemic, most tenants were not working in the building. GSA flushed the system and retested to confirm the lead levels were within state, local and EPA limits.  
  The building receives drinking water from the City of Portland’s public water system, which is regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act. GSA’s 1000.7 PBS Drinking Water Quality Management Policy establishes requirements for the management and oversight of drinking water systems and to ensure continued access to safe drinking water for building occupants, contractors, and visitors. This GSA policy states that:
  • drinking water outlets in child care centers must be tested and evaluated for lead and copper every 3 years, at minimum;
  • all new drinking water fixtures and plumbing systems must undergo water quality commissioning prior to use for consumption; and
  • GSA must promptly investigate all drinking water quality complaints in GSA controlled facilities. 
     
• If the building still needs retrofitting, is it safe now?
  Yes, the building remains safe to occupy. 
   
• You mentioned the lead was below approved levels for adults, what about the levels of safety for children in the daycare?
  We collected several dust samples within the daycare center. Our standards involve cleaning down to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) childcare lead levels, regardless of whether we have adults or children in the area. The EPA has set lead dust levels for a variety of different surfaces, including floors, where small children spend much of their time. Their regulatory limit for lead concentrations on floors is set at 10 micrograms per square foot. After sampling the floors, window sills, and other surfaces throughout the daycare center, we only found lead dust on a shelf in an area inaccessible to children. It was properly cleaned and treated. 
   
• Does GSA provide N95 masks?
  No, GSA does not provide N95 respiratory protection to agency personnel.
   
•  Are the drinking water filters new?
  No, they aren’t new. Water filtration has been in place for some time.
   
• Are the cleaning staff and other personnel allowed to access and work in areas with high lead levels prior to cleanup? Will GSA be providing a workplan and further communication after cleanup with retesting to show the areas have been remediated?
  Yes, we will provide all testing data to tenants. For the question about cleaning staff access, the answer is yes. The levels there, even though they’re above the childhood levels, are actually very low compared to adult exposure. We have tasked our construction contractor to clean those areas. 
   
• What was the cause of the temporary rise in lead levels in the water, resulting in the temporary flush of the system?
  During the pandemic, the building had very low occupancy, and so there wasn’t a lot of water running. Movement of water through the domestic water supply is extremely important for flow and reducing bacteria load. Lead in the drinking water system can occasionally be coming off of the fixtures of some systems, so it’s important for flow to occur. When we don’t have continuous water flow, lead concentrations tend to increase. As a result, those lead levels detected were due to a lack of water flowing through them. What we are doing, both in this building and nationally, is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a protocol where we will be flushing on a weekly basis and monitoring both temperature conditions and chlorine concentration in all of our buildings. 
   
• If there are no federal standards for airborne asbestos, what constitutes GSA’s acceptable level of airborne asbestos in the building? 
  The OSHA and EPA have standards for airborne asbestos. They do not have standards for asbestos dust. GSA looks for the contractor or or third party’s air samples to be below both EPA and OSHA regulatory limits, and so far, all of their air samples have shown to be below those levels.
   
• What will be the future strategy for monitoring any long-term asbestos or lead exposure as we progress through renovation projects? 
  In terms of asbestos, we have a very good handle of where asbestos materials are located in the building. We began looking at asbestos containing materials back in 1987, when EPA first published their asbestos regulations. Ever since then, for any construction work, and especially those activities that would encounter any asbestos containing materials, we have required that contractors follow the regulations and prepare and collect air samples and conduct visual exams following the abatement projects The remaining asbestos within the building is very limited. The vast majority has been eliminated over the past 30 years. Moving forward, for any construction or renovation project where we believe asbestos is going to be encountered, we will be looking at the contractor to hire a specialty abatement contractor. We will review their work plans in compliance with the specifications we hand to them, and they are required to submit all sampling results to GSA for review. That also holds true for lead exposure monitoring that contractors need to perform in compliance with Oregon OSHA and OSHA regulations.
   
• Has the lead sampling helped to pinpoint the source of these lead detections? Does the sampling indicate that the sources of lead in the building continue to contaminate, or has the source been cut off as the remodeling has progressed, assuming we’ve uncovered the original source? 
  Lead was discovered when the contractor removed the concrete that encapsulated the structural steel. So how does the lead come off of it? It can be disturbed during construction activities. OSHA, Oregon OSHA, and GSA require contractors to comply with all regulatory requirements, including controlling all dust generated at that source.
   
• If the use of lead paint on structural steel is common knowledge, why weren’t there more steps taken to avoid generating lead dust from the structural steel paint, and why wasn’t it controlled better?
  At the start of the construction project, the structural steel at the 911 Federal Building was encased in a fire-proofing coating. Once the coating was removed, the lead coating was discovered beneath. The contractor constructed containments and removed the lead coating in an appropriate method in line with Oregon OSHA regulations. All of the lead air exposures were far below the OSHA airborne levels for both occupants and workers. 

CERTIFICATION OF WORK

• What code will the building upgrades meet?
  GSA utilizes the Interagency Committee on Seismic Safety in Construction (ICSSC) Recommended Practice 8 (RP8) as the governing standard that is required for federally owned and leased properties. 
  
  RP8 Section 4.3 states: Risk reduction by incremental or partial retrofitting of a building is acceptable as an interim step in a complete seismic mitigation process. It shall be permitted only if the partial retrofitting is designed and constructed in accordance with ASCE/SEI 41 and accounts for the future completion of the mitigation plans. In addition, such partial retrofitting shall comply with the following conditions:

1. The retrofitting measures shall not result in a reduction in the performance level of the existing building,
2. The retrofitting measures shall not create a new structural irregularity or make an existing structural irregularity more severe, and
3. All new or retrofitted structural components and elements shall be detailed and connected to the existing structure in compliance with the requirements of ASCE/SEI 41.
   
   All seismic retrofitting of the 911 FB project completed under the current contract will comply with RP8, and further the work will exceed RP8 standards by conforming to the 2021 International Existing Building Code (IEBC) standard.

• Will there be an independent structural engineering study done on the project once the repair is stopped? 
  GSA will procure an independent structural engineering firm to reassess the seismic risks after the current work is completed. The contracted firm will provide an updated seismic risk rating that GSA will use to compare to the previous rating.
   
• Who will certify (in writing) that the building is safe to reoccupy, both from a seismic and environmental hazard perspective?
  GSA, as the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), certifies that the building continues to be safe to occupy. 
   
• How will the seismic “safety” of the building as partially completed in November 2023, and as fully completed when funded, compare to the seismic safety of a building constructed in 2020? 

  Every building is unique. New buildings are built to a new building standard; existing buildings are upgraded in accordance with an existing building standard. This project was designed and constructed in accordance with an existing building standard, specifically the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) 2018 edition. GSA will reassess the seismic rating of the building after the project is complete. 

NEXT STEPS

• When will the remainder of the original project scope be completed?
  GSA has asked the current contractor to provide a design for the remainder of the seismic upgrades. GSA will evaluate an additional project as part of our annual portfolio review.
   
• When will GSA know if additional funds are available to complete the seismic upgrade work?
  The GSA regional office will know if additional funds are available when the subsequent funding request has been approved as part of GSA’s appropriations. 
   
• What is the new seismic rating for the building on floors that have been completed? What is the rating for those floors that have not been completed?
  GSA plans to have the risk rating reassessed in FY 2024, after this phase of construction is completed. This will allow the assessor to evaluate the actual state of the property, as opposed to the planned state of the facility.

Tenant Reading Room

GSA is committed to healthy, sustainable environments in all federal buildings. As GSA continues to move forward the Portland 911 Federal Building, the agency will continue to provide tenants with the latest information on projects occurring in the building on this page.

Building Sampling Sampling Reports*

• Air and Surface Sampling Report - July 2023 [PDF - 380 KB]
• Follow-Up Surface Sampling Report - August 2023 [PDF - 277 KB]

*The reports have been redacted, removing signatures, floor drawings, and detailed analysis reports. Those who want to see the full report may go to the property manager’s office and request to review the hard copies.