A message from Executive Director for Facilities Operations Brian Gorham.
Facilities Operations is a multidisciplinary group comprised of mechanical, electrical, carpentry and plumbing teams, a grounds and landscape division, housekeeping and warehouse operations. The team also provides project management services and contractor management for myriad infrastructure and facility maintenance projects across campus. Here I’ll outline some tips about how to successfully request service from Facilities Operations and how you, as the customer, play a pivotal role in the process!
Plan Early
Expecting a retirement and want to take the opportunity to refresh an office? Expanding into new space due to programmatic changes? Anticipating interior construction work?
- These are only some of the scenarios that we help facilitate. Projects requested by departments generally include possible painting, flooring, space modifications and changes to lighting.
- These types of projects generally require planning well in advance of the desired completion date.
- The first step is always a work order submitted via the UMW work order system. This will place your request in a queue. You can expect a response to a project request within a few weeks. This initial response is intended to establish a good time for your team and Facilities Operations to meet and discuss the project scope, determine the necessary resources and confirm that adequate funding has been established by the requestor. (A FOAP will be requested at this stage. Projects without a FOAP will be placed in a deferred status until the requesting organization is able to provide the budgetary information.)
- Please note that Facilities Operations begins planning summer projects in January. The department has a finite capacity for projects during the summer months. Project requests for summer work must be received by March 15 in order to be considered for review and resourcing. Summer project requests are unlikely to be fulfilled if they are not requested early enough.
Expect to be Involved
Successful projects happen when Facilities Operations has a primary point of contact for the project.
- This person should be well-versed in the project scope and capable of approving invoices and potential changes.
- Facilities will need rooms cleared of belongings and furnishings. Depending on your situation, this may necessitate moving heavy furnishings or critical files. It is the department’s responsibility to manage this.
- If furnishings or belongings need to be moved, the department may engage contract moving services at their expense or consult with our warehouse staff (via work order) to better understand if there are internal resources capable of meeting your expectations.
- At various stages of the work, Facilities Operations will need to consult with the department during the project. An individual who will be off campus for the majority of the summer is not a good candidate for this role.
Finish Strong
A lot of work will go into restoring your space during a project. Please consider your role in reinstalling furnishings that were moved to facilitate the project, scheduling cleaning support (beyond the project final clean), replacing furnishings, upgrading IT infrastructure and generally keeping your internal stakeholders abreast of the work being performed.
- Facilities Operations is unable to expand upon an approved project while the project is underway. Our team is juggling the completion of many projects, and it is critical that we stay on schedule to the best of our ability.
- We ask that the department establish a process for responding to the inevitable internal requests from stakeholders in your department. Early communication of this expectation is critical and helps avoid difficult discussions.
Facilities Operations works to meet the evolving needs of the entire UMW community. We look forward to hearing from you about your next project!
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