ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL

BUILDING MAINTENANCE PROTOCOL

ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL

Comhairle Earra Ghàidheal agus Bhòid

Building Maintenance Protocol

Date of Last Amendment: 02/November/2016

1

ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL

BUILDING MAINTENANCE PROTOCOL

Contents

Summary

  1. INTRODUCTION
  1. SCOPE OF BUILDING MAINTENANCE
  1. OBJECTIVES
  1. MANAGEMENT PROCESS
  1. PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS
  2. Building Maintenance Procedure
  3. Maintenance Standards
  4. Financial Management
  5. Key Area Work Types
  6. Procurement Strategy
  7. Strategy Regarding Health and Safety
  8. Maintain and develop the Property Portfolio in a Sustainable Manner
  1. CONDITION ASSESSMENT/SURVEYS
  2. Condition Surveys
  3. Maintenance Planning
  4. Maintenance Budget
  5. Rolling Programme
  6. Supporting Processes
  1. BUILDING MAINTENANCE PERFORMANCE – KEY INDICATORS
  2. Customer Satisfaction/Performance Management
  3. Legislative
  4. Budget Monitoring

APPENDICES

Summary

The objectives of the protocol are to:

  • Clearly set out the key objectives to ensure a consistent approach to the maintenance of the Council’s assets for effective delivery of services
  • Encourage the adoption of asset management planning as a means of demonstrating value for money in the delivery of repairs and maintenance
  • Encourage development, adoption and regular reviews of procedures for repairs and maintenance
  • Encourage a focus on the needs of users and the community
  • Encourage harmonisation of repairs and maintenance practice and standards with users expectations
  • Encourage the adoption of an efficient and consistent approach in the collection and recording of the property condition surveys and status information
  • Encourage the adoption and regular review of a risk management regime to determine operational standards and rectification of defects arising from our own inspections and reports from the public
  • Encourage continuing innovation in the repair and maintenance of buildings and other assets, whilst complying with the high standards of corporate governance
  • Develop a rolling programme of Condition Surveys detailing the condition of the Council’s assets that will drive the Planned Maintenance Programme on a yearly basis
  • Monitor performance through the completion of customer satisfaction and local performance indicators

INTRODUCTION

Argyll and ButeCouncils’ Property Portfolio comprises of 645 buildings/sites. These buildings/sites are assets which need to be maintained in order that they may function effectively and efficiently in supporting the delivery of services. Any deterioration in a buildings physical condition, due to a lack of maintenance can adversely affect service delivery, and also create legal, health & safety and reputation issues for the Council. The Building Maintenance backlog is recorded on a risk based approach and currently there are 2 red risk assets.

The maintenance of buildings is critical to the proper management of assets and the overall management of capital receipts, in achieving the Councilobjectives.

The Building Maintenance Protocol clarifies the roles and responsibilities of all parties and maps out a process of prioritisation of limited resources to make premises safe and operational.

2SCOPE OF BUILDING MAINTENANCE

Maintenance can be defined as ‘the combination of all technical and administrative actions including supervision, intended to retain an item or restore it, to a state in which it can perform a required function’.

This generally applies to the maintenance of all Council owned building assets. A building asset is defined as – “Any roofed structure and its surrounding site intended for use as a shelter (for people, animals or property) or for recreation, educational, industrial, commercial or other functions and includes services and external infrastructure within the curtilage of the site”.

Building maintenance activities includes all work on existing building assets, including utility services and external infrastructure within the curtilage of the sitethat is undertaken to achieve the following objectives:

  • To retain the asset in a condition in which it can perform its intended function.
  • To prevent deterioration and failure or extend the life of the asset.
  • To restore to correct operation within agreed specification
  • To restore physical condition to an agreed specification
  • To recover from structural and service failure
  • To obtain accurate and objective knowledge of physical and operating condition including risk and financial impact for the purpose of maintenance;
  • Partial equivalent replacement of components of the asset; and
  • Reduce capital investment and revenue running costs.

Work excluded from ‘building maintenance’ includes the following, as these categories are generally funded from other than the Council’s Central Repairs Account (CRA):

  • Improvements and upgrading to meet new service capacity or function;
  • Refurbishment to new condition to extend the capacity of the asset;
  • Capital replacement of major components to extend the capacity or useful life of the asset (i.e. Asset Sustainability projects included in the Capital Planning process)*;
  • Upgrading to meet new Statutory requirements;
  • Operational tasks to enable occupancy and use (e.g. cleaning, security, waste removal);
  • Supply of ICT infrastructure/equipment;
  • Construction of new assets (i.e. Service Development/Strategic Change projects included in the Capital Planning process);
  • Optimising capital receipts on disposal of building assets where additional income exceeds expenditure.

* The value of these works is however included when estimating the total annual maintenance expenditure

In addition, some specific exclusions, which are not administered by Property Services are detailed in Section 5.4

The key outcomes to be achieved from undertaking maintenance are:

  • Functional and operational requirements of the working environment;
  • The physical condition and efficient operation of assets is kept to a standard appropriate to their service function and value to the community;
  • All statutory inspection and testing and technical requirements e.g. health, safety, security and reliability.

There may also be the opportunity to use some of the repairs and maintenance budget to ‘unlock’ additional external grants and monies to undertake improvement works where the maintenance element would otherwise have to be funded from the revenue budget. In addition, offers of community assistance to undertake minor improvements, such as that indicated in Education Management Circular 1-30, will be considered where appropriate.

For leased, rented and joint use buildings, responsibility for maintenance is subject to the terms and conditions of each agreement.

3OBJECTIVES

The key objectives of the Building Maintenance Protocol are to –

  • Specify minimum requirements for the management of maintenance;
  • Ensure that building assets are adequately maintained as resources permit;
  • Ensure that the buildings are managed in line with regulatory, statutory, and legislative compliance;
  • Ensure that the risks to the Council are effectively managed;
  • Ensure that health, safety and security objectives are met;
  • Ensure effective maintenance at operational level;
  • Ensure that the Council has necessary information for the monitoring, maintenance, condition and performance of buildings assets at an organisational level; and
  • Ensure that there is adequate information at operational level, to undertake maintenance including the ability to review new procedures and strategies, plan for replacements and upgrades and improve the efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance.

By adopting this approach the Council will agree‘guiding principles’ for the management of maintenance and repair of Council owned assets, in order to ensure compliance with regulation and legislation.

4MANAGEMENT PROCESS

The Strategic Asset Management Board,was established to overseeasset management activity within the Council and prioritise expenditure on the Councils’ assets. Representatives from all client departments attend this group.

The maintenance of Buildings is generally administered by Property Services (notable exceptions include the NPDO Schools) and in particular the following managers:

  • Property Manager;
  • Energy & Building Services Performance Manager; and
  • Property Maintenance Manager.

Their remit is to plan and direct the requisite funding from the allocated annual repair and maintenance budget to ensure that the buildings meet the statutory, regulatory and legislative requirements and maintain the buildings‘fit for purpose’.

These managers are supported by Property Officer/Clerk of Works who collectively monitor the priority works arising from routine survey investigations and failures e.g. wear and tear.

Property Services is responsible for the provision of contracts, service provision and remedial action in maintaining the buildings and are responsible for:

  • Delivery and implementation of maintenance services
  • Inspection of Public Areas and Buildings
  • Developing programmes within budgets available
  • Updating condition surveys
  • Development of planned maintenance programmes
  • Procurement of works using external contractors and consultants
  • Certification of invoices
  • Liaison with building users to ensure works are satisfactorily completed
  • Disaster and emergency responses

Facility Responsible Persons will be identified for each building and a combination of Maintenance Log Books and appropriate building manuals will be used to assist with the maintenance of properties.Heads of Service are tasked to monitor the appointment and maintenance of Facility Responsible Person arrangements as part of their routine performance monitoring via Service Health and Safety Plans.

5PROCEDURES AND STANDARDS

The following summarises the structure proposed for the effective and efficient management of building maintenance within the Authority.

5.1 Building Maintenance Procedure- this sets out the Council’s approach to the maintenanceso thatmaintenance objectives can be achieved.

This is based upon the following criteria in order of priority;

1Health & Safety issues.

2Statutory requirements e.g. security, fire gas, electrical, access etc.

3Structural integrity of all Council owned non-Housing building stock.

4Ensuring Civic/main operational public buildings and ‘front facing’ public paying facilities, e.g.Leisure facilities, are maintained at a suitable standard to reflect their purpose.

5Building fabric, except for unoccupied assets and those identified for disposal;

6Maintenance of unoccupied assets and those identified for disposal.

5.2Maintenance Standards - maintenance standards are established to ensure that assets are maintained to an appropriate condition and in an efficient operation to support Service Delivery. The standards will be implemented by Property Services, in accordance with strategy and legislative requirements, best practice and British Standards, Codes of Practice, etc.

5.3Financial Management - the annual budgetary allocation will be managed by the appropriate managers within Property Services (see Section 4).

A maintenance budgets is allocated for each of the following Client Departments:

  • Airfields (4)
  • Ferry Terminals (11)
  • Piers and Harbours (38)
  • Cemeteries (126 including crematorium)
  • Parks (129)
  • Public Conveniences (72)
  • Education (123)
  • Community Centres (9)
  • Leisure (10)
  • Libraries (12)
  • Depots (36)
  • Social Work (42)
  • Shared Accommodation (33)

The 645operational buildings/sites covered in each client group are indicated in brackets and to assist Services are shown by Client Department by Local Area Committee in Appendix 1.Given that these operational buildings/sites create an ongoing demand on the Council’s financial resources, Client departments are required to continually review the ongoing need for them, with appropriate input from Property Services/Special Projects. Any changes should be reported on a by exception basis and recorded in Service Asset Management Plans on an annual basis.

The budget is allocated via cost centres which can vary from one cost centre covering all buildings in a Client Department’sportfolio to each building in a Client Department portfolio having its own cost centre. This is as indicated in Appendix 2.In arranging maintenance, Property Services amalgamate all building maintenance cost centres for each client and manage theirmaintenance budget on a global basis. This ensures that buildings with most maintenance need receive the necessary budget allocation.

Based on historical needs, the global budget will be apportioned for each Local Area against the following key areas:

  • Emergency Maintenance:
  • Planned Maintenance: and
  • Statutory Maintenance (including an element for remedial works).

The commitment/expenditure for each Client Department is recorded in the Council’s Asset Management system, Concerto, based on works orders raised by the system. The commitment/expenditure is monitored at monthly Property Managers meetings and where necessary expenditure is balanced between the Emergency, Planned and Statutory allocations to ensure full budget expenditure at the end of the Financial Year.

5.4Key Area Work Types – As indicated in section 5.3, the budgets are allocated against Emergency, Planned and Statutory maintenance. The work type in each category includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Emergency

Emergency repairs are those which pose an immediate Health & Safety or Security risk. Types of emergencies are as follows:

  • Burst water pipes;
  • Broken glass;
  • Blocked drains/WC’s;
  • Security;
  • Emergency Lighting; and
  • Fire Alarm Systems.

These items are as indicated on the front page of the Maintenance Log (ML Book)) that is issued by Property Services to each occupied facility.

Planned

Planned maintenance activities are undertaken on a risk based manner resulting from building inspections including cyclical condition surveys. Work types include:

  • Maintenance painting/decoration;
  • Fire risk assessment remedial works;
  • Lighting/Lamp replacement:
  • Floor covering replacement; and
  • Works following on from an emergency.

Statutory(Inspection and testing)

There is a need to comply with the legislative requirements associated with many building elements and services installations. This requires the inspection and testing of areas including:

  • Fire Alarms;
  • Electrical installations;
  • Boiler installations;
  • Water services installations; and
  • Lift installations etc.

Helpdesk and Response Times

Client departments report emergencies or other property related enquiries via the Property Helpdesk, the contact details for which are as follows:

Normal Hours (Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00)

Tel: 01546 604005

Lync: Property Helpdesk

Out-of-Hours (Outwith Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00)

Tel: 0845 6014073

In reporting an emergency to the Helpdesk, the priority of the response is established and allocated a response time as follows:

Code 01(Emergency): Term Contractor to respond within 2 hours from receipt of verbal or written order and complete within 24 hours of notification.

Code 02(Urgent): Term Contractor to respond by the end of the following working day from the receipt of verbal or written order and compete within 48 hours of notification.

Code 03(Essential): Term Contractor to complete within one working week from receipt of verbal or written order.

Code 04 (Routine): Term Contractor to complete within time period stipulated on the order.

Code 10(Emergency out-of-hours): Term Contractor to respond within 2 hours from receipt of verbal order and complete within 24 hours of notification.

The term respond shall mean commencement of work on site.

Exclusions

There are a number of cost centres that are not administered by Property Services. As a result, the following work activities are generally not arranged by Property Services:

  • Grounds Maintenance including grass cutting, tree surgery etc.
  • Pest Control
  • Raising/Lowering Flags
  • Refuse collection
  • De-icing/gritting
  • Furniture, Fittings and Equipment
  • NPDO Schools

Client Departments can commission Property Services, for a fee, to assist with or arrange the exclusions listed above.

5.5Procurement Strategy- the requisite works will be provided in line with Council Standing Orders/Financial Regulations and based upon contracts, quotations, schedule of rates or framework agreements.

5.6Strategy regarding Health & Safety- relationships with the Council’s Corporate Health and Safety team are in place and health checks,including Fire Risk Assessments,on key buildings assist in establishing maintenance priorities. Construction/maintenance will be undertaken in line with current legislation including Construction (Design and Management) Regulations; British Standards; Codes of Practice,and legislative requirements. Certain tasks may, after risk assessment, require to be undertaken using a Permit to Work process. Guidance on the procedure for Permits to Work is indicated in Appendix 5.

5.7Maintain and develop the Property Portfolio in a sustainable manner- in order to support and promote sustainability we will endeavour to:-

  • Ensure building design takes into account the impact of climate change ontemperature and rainfall.
  • Ensure the buildings achieve their energy and water efficiency ratings throughmanagement and maintenance plans and seek to incorporate renewable energy initiatives where appropriate.
  • Continue to adopt best practice for maintaining buildings in a sustainablemanner.

6CONDITION ASSESSMENT/SURVEYS

6.1Condition surveys -buildings are an integral tool in establishing the programme for future use and programmed works.In line with good practice condition surveys should be undertaken typical on a 5 yearly cycle. The frequency of surveys has been accepted by the Strategic Asset Management Board and is indicated in Appendix 3.

6.2Maintenance Planning –Planning for maintenance shall be undertaken on an annual basis based on information from the following:

  • Condition surveys
  • Interim inspections
  • Existing programmes and historical data
  • Faults identified by building users
  • Feedback from Property Services staff and other services
  • Feedback from consultants and contractors
  • Legal requirements
  • Reviews of Strategic Plans

It will be undertaken in conjunction withthe Council’s capital planning process. Works that are deemed to be of an Asset Sustainability nature will be included within the Council’s capital programme as resources permit and the programme will be based upon information obtained from the condition survey programme. Where appropriate projects on the capital programme will be combined with Planned Maintenance works to minimise contract costs and maximise the impact on the condition of the property.

6.3Maintenance Budget – the allocated budget for repairs and maintenance equates on average to £29.27/m2 (see Appendix 4).The variation ranges from £6.00/m2 to £99.70/m2. Guidance from the Building Cost Information Service/Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors suggests that for Local Authority premisesthe rate should be around £40/m2.

The maintenance of the Council’s buildings is funded from two mains sources as follows:

  • The Central Repairs Account (as indicated by the cost centres in Appendix 2); and
  • The Council’s Asset Sustainability Capital Programme

As indicated in Section 5.4 the Central Repairs Account is sub-divided into the key work types of Emergency, Reactive and Statutory. The Statutory allocation is classified as Planned Maintenance as is the Council’s Asset Sustainability Capital Programme. In line with good practice, the Council strives to undertake its global maintenance requirement on a planned basis with the planned percentage being in excess of 60% of the overall funding. The break-down of funding is indicated in Appendix 4 which shows that for 2016-17 the anticipated overall maintenance budget amounts to £5.936M of which the Statutory element is £0.953M and the Asset Sustainability Programme is £3.685M with maintenance painting of schools amounting to £0.15M. The overall Planned maintenance element amounts to 80.6%.