Capital Master Plan

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 128 Proposed programme budget for the biennium 2008-2009, published in 2008.

What other versions does this mandate have?

11 versions · 2005–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/232

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	A/RES/80/232	Capital Master Plan	619	72%Compare
2024	A/RES/79/246	Capital Master Plan	690	33%Compare
2016	A/RES/70/239	Capital master plan	1,004	17%Compare
2011	A/RES/65/269	Capital master plan	3,210	31%Compare
2010	A/RES/64/228	Capital master plan	3,508	31%Compare

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

6 reports · 2006–2016

Year	Symbol	Title	Mandate resolution
2016	A/71/309	Fourteenth annual progress report on the implementation of the Capital Master Plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/70/239
2012	A/67/350	Tenth annual progress report on the implementation of the capital master plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/65/269
2011	A/66/527	Ninth annual progress report on the implementation of the capital master plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/65/269
2011	A/66/527/Add.1	Proposals for financing associated costs for 2012 from within the approved budget for the capital master plan report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/65/269
2006	A/61/300	Impact of the capital master plan on meetings to be held at Headquarters during its implementation report of the Secretary-General	A/RES/60/282

What’s in this document?

50 operative paragraphs

Reiterates its serious concern at the hazards, risks and deficiencies of the United Nations Headquarters Building in its current condition, which endanger the safety, health and well-being of staff, delegations, visitors and tourists;

Stresses the special role of the host country Government with regard to support for United Nations Headquarters, in New York;

Notes the benefits, including economic ones, accruing to host countries from the presence of the United Nations, and the costs incurred;

Recalls the current practices of host Governments with regard to support for United Nations Headquarters and United Nations bodies located in their territories;

Reaffirms its commitment to the safety, security, health and well-being of staff, delegations, visitors and tourists at the United Nations, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that concrete safeguards are in place to achieve these objectives and are part of the standard operating procedures throughout the implementation of the capital master plan;

Takes note of the fifth annual progress report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the capital master plan,1 the report of the Office of Internal Oversight Services on its activities for the period from 1 July 2006 to 30 June 20073 and the report of the Board of Auditors on the capital master plan for the year ended 31 December 2006;4

Endorses the conclusions and recommendations contained in the report of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions,2 subject to the provisions of the present resolution;

Regrets deeply the procedural difficulties in United Nations departments, delays in decision-making by Secretariat leadership and insufficient responsiveness to the needs of the project by United Nations management, resulting in projected cost escalation, as reported in paragraph 23 of the report of the Secretary-General;1

Stresses the centrality of the leadership and oversight of the Secretary-General and senior management, as well as a commitment to the project from all departments during the completion of the capital master plan to avoid a recurrence of the mistakes and delays in the implementation of the project to date and their negative implications for the Organization;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure full accountability for the delays, lack of responsiveness of management to the needs of the capital master plan and other factors that have contributed to delays in the implementation of the capital master plan and the projected budget overrun, and to include this information in his sixth annual progress report;

Accepts the report of the Board of Auditors on the capital master plan for the year ended 31 December 2006;4

Endorses the recommendations of the Board of Auditors contained in its report;

Notes with concern the findings of the Board of Auditors as contained in its report, and emphasizes the importance of the full implementation of its recommendations;

Reaffirms the importance of oversight with respect to the implementation of the capital master plan, and requests the Board of Auditors and all other relevant oversight bodies to continue to report to the General Assembly annually on the capital master plan;

Requests the Secretary-General to entrust the Office of Internal Oversight Services with a comprehensive review focusing, inter alia, on the structure of the Office of the Capital Master Plan, compliance with United Nations regulations and rules on procurement and contracting, adherence to the terms of contracts, internal controls and processes in place to properly manage the project and other high-risk areas, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its sixty-third session;

Requests the Office of Internal Oversight Services to ensure effective audit coverage of the capital master plan and to submit to the General Assembly all of its reports related to the implementation of the capital master plan;

Requests the Secretary-General to develop and implement a comprehensive internal control framework for the capital master plan to mitigate and effectively address all possible risks, to ensure full compliance and responsiveness on the part of management to the specific requirements of the project, to avoid any delays in the implementation of any aspect of the project and to ensure full compliance with United Nations rules and procedures and General Assembly resolutions governing procurement;

Reaffirms paragraphs 36 to 38 of its resolution 61/251 on the importance of transparency in the procurement process, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the construction manager takes them fully into account when subcontracting and to report, in the context of his sixth annual progress report, on the specific steps taken and progress achieved in the context of increasing procurement opportunities for vendors from developing countries and countries with economies in transition in the implementation of the capital master plan;

Reaffirms once again paragraph 38 of its resolution 61/251, and requests the Secretary-General to ensure that procurement activities conducted by the construction manager in the implementation of the capital master plan are in compliance with United Nations rules, regulations and procedures and General Assembly resolutions governing United Nations procurement activities as well as ethics policies, including post-employment restrictions,⁶ and that the relevant provisions are taken fully into account by the construction manager when subcontracting;

⁶See ST/SGB/2006/15.

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that all expression of interest notices issued by the construction manager and all related contract awards are posted on the capital master plan website;

Recalls that, in accordance with article 5 of the United Nations general conditions of contract, the terms of any subcontract shall be subject to and conform to the provisions of the general conditions of contract;

Requests the Secretary-General to exercise his authority to undertake, in respect of the subcontractors directly involved in the provision of goods and services to the Organization on behalf of the capital master plan construction manager, a thorough review of their qualifications and the identities of the principals involved, and also requests the Secretary-General to provide prior written approval and clearance for the use of such subcontractors, as required in article 5 of the general conditions of contract, so as to ensure the integrity, fairness and transparency of the procurement process;

Also requests the Secretary-General to post and regularly update the list of subcontractors approved by the United Nations on the capital master plan website and to include information on the implementation of article 5 of the general conditions of contract, including the procedure for review and approval of subcontractors by the United Nations, in future progress reports on the implementation of the capital master plan;

Reaffirms section XV of its resolution 61/244 of 22 December 2006;

Regrets the delay in the appointment of the advisory board requested in its resolutions 57/292 and 61/251, and urges the Secretary-General to expedite the setting up of the advisory board, reflecting wide geographical representation, so that it can begin its work as a matter of priority;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the advisory board provides, inter alia, the necessary level of technical supervision;

Also requests the Secretary-General to explore the experience of various international organizations that have established ad hoc expert committees to provide advice on technical aspects of their construction and/or building maintenance projects and to report to the General Assembly thereon in the context of the forthcoming sixth annual progress report;

Affirms that the General Assembly has the sole prerogative of deciding on any changes to the capital master plan project, budget and implementation strategy as approved in its resolutions;

Takes note of the proposal of the Secretary-General on the accelerated strategy IV;

Authorizes the Secretary-General to enter into an additional swing space arrangement needed for a single-phase renovation of the Secretariat Building as a matter of urgency;

Approves the changes in the schedule of the renovation of the Secretariat Building proposed by the Secretary-General in paragraph 27 of his report,1 subject to the availability of the additional swing space arrangement referred to in paragraph 30 above, and, if such arrangement is not entered into within one hundred and twenty days of the adoption of the present resolution, requests the Secretary-General to proceed without further delay with the phased approach to the renovation of the Secretariat Building as approved by the General Assembly in its resolution 61/251;

Also approves the changes in the schedule of the renovation of the Conference Building and the General Assembly Building as proposed by the Secretary-General in paragraph 28 of his report;1

Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly comprehensive information on the availability and cost of and the movement of staff to the hired swing space and to ensure that such space will be available to the United Nations as long as it is required and will entail no additional cost or further staff dislocation, bearing in mind the unique nature of the capital master plan;

Reaffirms paragraph 39 of its resolution 61/251 and emphasizes to the Secretary-General the importance of effectively managing the multiple staff relocations and ensuring that the swing space meets the highest standards for the safety, security, health and well-being of the staff of the United Nations and that any disruption in the work of the United Nations as a result of such temporary relocation is minimized at every stage;

Recalls paragraphs 51 to 56 of the report of the Board of Auditors,4 and requests the Secretary-General to expeditiously complete the geotechnical and other surveys and to provide updated information on the outstanding technical elements of the project that may have a considerable impact on the overall project, including design work for upgraded blast protection and geotechnical and other surveys, and to include this information in future progress reports;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that the changes approved in paragraphs 30 and 32 of the present resolution are implemented without prejudice to the objectives and quality of the project and to submit to the General Assembly a comprehensive report on the efficiency gains and cost absorption possible through the implementation of these changes;

Recalls paragraph 10 of its resolution 61/251, and decides that any scope options in addition to those already approved by the General Assembly shall be submitted by the Secretary-General to the General Assembly for its consideration and approval;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure by all means that the project costs are brought back within the approved budget;

Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to make every effort to avoid budget increases through sound project management practices and to ensure that the capital master plan is completed within the budget as approved in its resolution 61/251;

Notes that forward pricing escalation is already included in the approved budget contained in the fourth annual progress report of the Secretary-General,⁷ and requests the Secretary-General to avoid budget increases through sound project management practices and to keep the capital master plan within the approved budget, schedule of assessments and time schedule;

⁷A/61/549.

Takes note of the proposal of the Secretary-General to utilize value engineering as a tool to recover the projected cost overruns in the capital master plan budget approved by the General Assembly in its resolution 61/251, directed at improving performance, reliability, quality, safety and life-cycle costs, and requests the Secretary-General to expeditiously and clearly identify the areas of work where efficiency gains and cost reductions are possible and to report thereon in the context of his sixth annual progress report;

Requests the Secretary-General to include in his sixth annual progress report specific information on the guaranteed maximum price contracts and the activities of the external consultant that the United Nations has hired;

Expresses its concern that no specific information has been shared with Member States concerning associated costs, and requests the Secretary-General to include such information in his sixth annual progress report and to make every effort to absorb such costs within the approved budget of the capital master plan;

Reaffirms its request to the Secretary-General to ensure that works of art, masterpieces and other gifts are appropriately handled during all the stages of the renovation work and that all associated costs are foreseen;

Requests the Secretary-General to ensure that measures and procedures are put in place by the Office of the Capital Master Plan to appropriately handle the works of art, masterpieces and other gifts during all the stages of the renovation unless otherwise indicated by the Member States concerned and to report thereon in the context of the forthcoming sixth annual progress report;

Decides to appropriate 992,771,819 United States dollars for the biennium 2008–2009;

Reaffirms the mixed one-time and multi-year assessment option based on the scale of assessments applicable to the regular budget for 2007, as stipulated in paragraphs 14 to 20 of its resolution 61/251, and decides that there will be no change in the payment schedule for contributions of Member States to the capital master plan;

Requests the Secretary-General to improve coordination of the capital master plan with the Department of Public Information of the Secretariat in the context of reporting on matters and progress relating to the capital master plan and to clarify the existing arrangements that are in place to avoid damage to the image of the United Nations with regard to all aspects of the capital master plan;

Also requests the Secretary-General to update the Member States through regular informal briefings, besides submitting annual progress reports, on all aspects of the implementation of the capital master plan, including the current status, significant activities carried out since the previous report and risk analysis information outlining any risks identified, action to be taken, status and trends, and to update the relevant information on its website on a regular basis;

Further requests the Secretary-General to include in his sixth annual progress report information on lessons learned in the implementation of the capital master plan and how they are being utilized to improve the current and future planning and implementation of the capital master plan.

Capital Master Plan

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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