Inspection

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is ADB's Inspection Policy?
• Who can complain or request an inspection of a project?
• How can you complain or request an inspection of a project?
• Which projects can be inspected?
• What matters cannot be inspected?
• What should you do next?
• Who are the members of the Inspection Committee?
• Who are the independent experts included in the Inspection Roster?

What is ADB's Inspection Policy?

ADB's inspection policy is a way for you to complain to ADB about an ADB project that you think is harming or may harm you in future because ADB did not follow its own policies.

As part of the policy, ADB has an Inspection Committee made up of six ADB Board members, who review the requests for inspection and recommend to ADB's Board whether a project should be inspected. If a project is inspected, three independent experts will do the inspection.

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Who can complain or request an inspection of a project?

You can complain or request an inspection if you are a community, group or organization living in an area that is or will be affected by an ADB project.

If you need help preparing a complaint or a request for an inspection, you can ask another group outside the project area to help you. If you do this, you must send ADB a letter saying that the group represents you.

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How can you complain or request an inspection of a project?

There are two main steps

1. Write to the President of ADB to complain about the project (see Form 1). Your letter must include:

• the name of the project

• ADB policies or procedures that ADB did not follow when it prepared the project or when the project was carried out

• how the project will harm you as a result of ADB's failure to follow its own policies and procedures

2. ADB will send you a response. If you are not satisfied with the reply and you still want to have an inspection of the project, send a request for inspection to ADB's Inspection Committee (see Form 2). Your letter must state the details of your complaint to ADB's Management and why you are not satisfied with ADB's response.

View Summary of ADB Inspection Process

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Which projects can be inspected?

• Projects that are funded by ADB's public sector loans, guarantees and technical assistance grants
• These projects must be under preparation or still being carried out (less than 95% complete).

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What matters cannot be inspected?

• Actions by somebody other than ADB (e.g. the Government)
• Decisions about procurement and selection of consultants
• Projects that are completed or mostly (95%) completed
• Projects that have already been considered under the Inspection Policy
• ADB's policies and procedures
• ADB's private sector operations
• Matters that relate to ADB's personnel or administrative decisions

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What should you do next?

To find out more about ADB's inspection policy, ask your nearest ADB Resident Mission for a copy of ADB's Inspection Policy: A Guidebook. You can also download a copy of the Guidebook.

You can write to Ms. Jill Drilon, the Secretary of the Inspection Committee at ADB, for more information. Her postal and email addresses are:

Office of the Secretary
Asian Development Bank
P.O. Box 789
0980 Manila, Philippines

Telephone: + 632 632 4444
Facsimile: + 632 636 2481
Email: inspection@adb.org