The State Department owns and maintains more than 8,500 properties all
across the globe, and that includes facilities ranging from office
buildings to recreation centers to staff housing.  We found that nearly
one quarter of all these facilities are in poor condition, and nearly
400 of them, State Department determined, are essential and critical to
achieving their mission.

In 2020, the State Department significantly increased its estimate of
its deferred maintenance backlog. In fact, it multiplied it thirtyfold,
from 100 million dollars to 3 billion dollars.  And at current funding
levels, it would take them 30 to 40 years to address the backlog.

In our report, we're making five recommendations to the State
Department, essentially that they develop a plan which needs to include
estimates of funding needed to address the backlog.

You can find our report, GAO-21-497, at GAO.gov.