WASHINGTON — Rain has been seeping into an IRS building in Atlanta through leaks in the roof that have gone on for years. The mold in Veterans Affairs workspaces in Hilo got so bad that visitors complained. And on any given day, people in an Oakland, California, federal building are at risk of getting stuck in one of its outdated elevators.

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Across the federal government, employees are working in buildings that have persistent health and safety problems, in part the result of decades of backlogged maintenance that totals as much as $50 billion, according to one recent estimate by an oversight board. In several years, the cost is set to exceed the entire value of the federal government’s real estate portfolio, the Public Buildings Reform Board said this year.

The health and safety risks were exacerbated last year by the Trump administration’s push for federal workers to return to the office, forcing more employees into buildings whose long-standing needs had gone unaddressed for years.

Unlocking money for repairs is a lengthy and bureaucratic process. Under federal law, Congress must approve major improvements to buildings run by the General Services Administration that total more than $3.96 million — an amount that would cover the cost of replacing just three elevators at a time when the government needs to replace dozens.

The approval process takes an average of 435 days, the GSA said, and in many cases even longer, meaning costs balloon as problems fester.

A project to replace the roof and HVAC systems and update the electrical system of the John F. Kennedy Federal Building in Boston has increased by more than 400% since it was first presented to Congress in 2016, according to the GSA. Since the 24-story building was first flagged for improvements, it has developed additional problems with its elevators, which are more than 30 years old and have entrapped people at least 49 times in the past two years.

Meanwhile, less costly maintenance needs across the government have piled up amid a focus on issues that could be life-threatening, according to federal employees and government officials.

“This isn’t just an accounting exercise,” Edward C. Forst, head of the GSA, told Congress in March. “This represents real buildings deteriorating and real safety hazards developing when we do not address problems when they arise.”

The conditions affect not just federal workers, but also members of the public who routinely visit the buildings for services such as veterans and Social Security benefits.

In May, Forst and leaders of 21 federal agencies asked top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate to change the appropriations process and give the GSA full access to the federal buildings fund, and to raise the threshold for how much the agency can spend.

So far, the lobbying effort has not had an impact, and Congress has kept in place the oversight requirement for the GSA to submit detailed requests for projects exceeding $3.96 million. Forst asked Congress to raise it to $75 million.

In its budget request for 2027, the GSA identified a dozen buildings with the most urgent need of repairs, including seven federal courthouses. Some have been on the list for multiple years.

The decline and decay has been decades in the making, but the coronavirus pandemic created new problems. Many federal offices sat empty for years as employees moved to remote work. Water lay stagnant in pipes. Flora and fauna moved in. HVAC filters went uncleaned and unrepaired. Mold grew.

Employees began to return in 2022, but many agencies allowed some remote work flexibility. Last year, President Donald Trump ordered all federal workers to return to the office as soon as possible and directed managers to terminate remote work arrangements.

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Many employees returning to the office encountered problematic conditions. Water at the Food and Drug Administration headquarters contained Legionella, the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ disease, a dangerous type of pneumonia, according to the GSA’s website. The website also says buildings with the bacteria can be safely occupied, with “appropriate control measures.” Legionella can develop in water when plumbing fixtures go unused for a period of time. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there is no safe level.

“Coming out of COVID, you had so many water systems that were just sitting with stagnant water in them that you’ve started to get a buildup of all kinds of unfortunate things, like Legionella,” Brian Gibson, the GSA’s deputy assistant inspector general for real property audits, said in an interview. “It’s a risk. It’s a problem.”

An FDA spokesperson said the most recent test for Legionella, which was in May, came back negative.

Some buildings were in even worse condition. The GSA had to lease new space for some of its employees because 40% of its headquarters was deemed unsafe, largely because old radiators and window air-conditioning units did not meet air quality standards for ventilation, the agency said.

Despite months of internal complaints, mold festered inside the Veterans Affairs offices in Hilo for so long that when it was finally evaluated at the beginning of this year, an employee was told to not work in proximity to it, according to a person familiar with the situation. The GSA said that the problem had been resolved, and that the space was safe.

Jordan Barab, a deputy assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration from 2009 to 2017, said that mold, bad water and animals in federal buildings were the kinds of problems that could fall through the cracks.

“They don’t hit the headlines like somebody falling off a building or a huge explosion,” he said. “But workers have a right to have a safe workplace.”

The employees who work at two IRS buildings on the Chamblee campus in Atlanta had a rough spring.

In one of the buildings, workers have been greeted by rats struggling to escape glue traps that have been placed in the middle of their workspace.

“It’s multiple being caught a day,” said Sydney Monger, who worked in accounts management in the building until May 29, when she quit, in part because of the rats.

Rat infestations can cause serious health problems, including the transmission of diseases through their urine, droppings and saliva.

Some problems have festered for so long that earlier this year, the federal judiciary asked Congress to take over the management of its buildings that were deeply in need of repair, because the GSA had not been able to do it fast enough.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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