UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK
Standing Group Responsible for the Maintenance and Refurbishment of
Centrally Timetabled Rooms
Notes from the meeting of the Group held on Monday 12 November 2012
Present:
Dr E Melia (Chair), Mr J Buckingham, Mrs V Hill, Mr P Jones, Mr D Kerr, Mr J Owen.
Apologies:
Ms L Holland, Mrs K Jenkins, Mr D Mace, Mr C Singleton.
17/12-13Minutes
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting held on 15 October 2012 be approved.
18/12-13Matters Arising
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a)
That the Refurb Group budget for the 2012/2013 academic year had been confirmed at £92k.
(b)
That the low budget for maintenance of CTTRs was a cause for concern, particularly in light of National
Student Survey (NSS) scores, and that this view was supported by the Director of Estates.
(c)
That a feasibility study into a new building for the Humanities was to be conducted.
(by the Conferences Senior Duty Manager)
(d)
That confirmation of the CTTRs that would be unavailable next summer is required soon.
(e)
That a wide-ranging refurbishment of the Humanities Building had been recently carried out, but that
the quality of the spaces in the building were still perceived as low.
19/12-13Installation of Lecterns (minute 10 (b)/12-13 refers)
CONSIDERED:
An oral update from the Lead Technical Specialist about progress regarding the installation of lecterns within
several rooms, including GLT2, with a view to work being undertaken over Christmas.
REPORTED: (by the Lead Technical Specialist)
(a)
That accurate figures for the costs of installing new lecterns in GLTs 1, 2 and 3 would now be
determined, and were likely to be less than £20k per room.
(b)
That non-factored costs would still need to be assessed, particularly the generally poor state of GLT2,
and the necessity of re-positioning of the lectern in this room from its current position to a more
central place.
(c)
That the AV refurbishment works for MS.01 and MS.02 were scheduled for w/c 10 December and 17
December 2012 respectively, and that these rooms need to be block-booked for this purpose.
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RESOLVED
That the Lead Technical Specialist, Graduate Surveyor and Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer report to
the Chair the proposed costs of a more thorough GLT2 refurbishment by the end of the 2012 calendar year.
20/12-13CTTR Furniture: S0.52, H3.22, H5.22 & H3.56
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken Chair’s Action on behalf of the Refurb Group to approve spend of £7183.20 including
VAT from the Refurb Group budget on new tables in CTTRs H3.22, H5.22, H3.56 & S0.52, with chairs as well
for the latter room.
21/12-13Projector Lamps
REPORTED:
That the Chair had taken Chair’s Action on behalf of the Refurb Group to approve spend of £4384.20 including
VAT from the Refurb Group budget on projector lamp replacement stock.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair would periodically ensure that sufficient surplus remained in the Group’s budget to cover
further projector lamp replacements in the future for 2012/13.
22/12-13Blinds In The Science Concourse B-Rooms
CONSIDERED:
An oral update from the Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer about repairing/replacing the blinds in
B2.03, B2.04 and B2.05 off the Science Concourse, noting that an initial quote stood at £5643.22 including
VAT.
REPORTED: (by the Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer)
(a)
That the currently-installed blackout blinds in these rooms were prone to damage when windows were
opened, and had not been replaced for approximately 20 years, with complaints received from
departments about their condition.
(b)
That a like-for-like replacement was the most straight forward option for this work, but that other
options included replacement with venetian blinds (which were more likely to be damaged), curtains
(which required cleaning and aged quickly), and internal blinds in double-glazed windows, as seen in
the Business School/Ramphal etc.
(c)
That funds for energy-efficiency improvements in CTTRs may be available for installation of internal
blinds.
RESOLVED:
(a)
That the Small Works Officer investigate the costs for installation of internal blinds.
(b)
That the Chair contact the Environment Manager to inquire as to the potential availability of energy
efficiency related funds for this refurbishment.
23/12-13Blinds and Tables in CTTR H302
CONSIDERED:
An oral update from the Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer about repairing/replacing the tables and
blinds in H302.
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REPORTED: (by the Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer)
(a)
That the cost of replacing the current blinds in H3.02 was £487.24, to replace three current blackout
blinds with white venetians.
(b)
That the tables were to be fixed free of charge as part of the maintenance of similar models in
LIB1/LIB2.
RESOLVED:
That the current blackout blinds in H302 be replaced with white venetians.
24/12-13LIB1 and LIB2
CONSIDERED:
An oral update from the Chair about improving the furniture and appearance of LIB1 and LIB2.
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a)
That complaints had been received from departments regarding the condition of LIB1 and LIB2,
particularly LIB2.
(b)
That the locked cupboards in the rooms, understood to belong to IT Services, needed to be removed.
(by the Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer)
(c)
That she had met with the supplier of the tilt-top tables in LIB1 to assess the condition of the tables.
(d)
That approximately 40% of the tilt-top tables in LIB1 had loosened screws, but were unbroken, and
that a survey of rooms using tilt-top style tables from the manufacturer would be undertaken to assess
if the problem was occurring elsewhere, noting that the tables in LIB1 and H3.02 of the same design
had, in majority, now been fixed.
(e)
That the manufacturer was to investigate a method of resolving this issue, and that alternative tilt-top
tables were to be investigated for future installations.
(f)
That the chairs in LIB1 were not refurbished last year, and as such had deteriorated, and the state of
the furniture and appearance of LIB2 was also poor.
(g)
That no refurbishment had been undertaken to the equipment in LIB2 last year, noting that the leastdamaged tables from LIB1 were moved into LIB2, and mismatched furniture was contributing
negatively to the room’s appearance, as well as general deterioration of paint/carpet etc.
RESOLVED:
(a)
That the Lead Technical Specialist investigate the owners of the locked cupboards in LIB2 and arrange
for their removal.
(b)
That the Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer calculate costs for total works to LIB2 and chair
replacements for LIB1 to bring to the next meeting of the Refurb Group, scheduled for 10 December
2012.
(c)
That the Small Works Officer assess the condition of LIB1 and LIB2.
25/12-13PC’s in CTTRs
CONSIDERED:
An oral update from the Lead Technical Specialist about the automatic update of PCs within CTTRs.
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REPORTED: (by the Lead Technical Specialist)
(a)
That PCs in some CTTRs were not being left on for long enough to complete automatic Windows
updates, and that this was negatively affecting the performance of these PCs, particularly in terms of
time to log in to the PC.
(b)
That this issue would be resolved following the move to Windows 7, as this would allow for remote
control and update of PCs, noting that AV staff had been sent to CTTRs affected in order to manually
update the PCs.
(c)
That PCs in CTTRs could not be migrated to Windows 7 until departments had migrated to ensure full
compatibility, and that June 2013 was the current target for this to be completed.
(d)
That some PCs in CTTRs may not be able to be migrated due to incompatibility with Windows 7, and
that some lectern designs may not have appropriate space to accommodate computers with sufficient
specifications to allow for Windows 7 use.
(e)
That current lecterns with computers on top of them may not have sufficient space to accommodate a
new PC inside the lectern, and modification/replacement costs would be significant to allow for
standardised placement of PCs inside lecterns.
RESOLVED
That the Lead Technical Specialist keep the Group informed as to potential development needs for lecterns
regarding the Windows 7 migration.
26/12-13CTTR Room Layouts
CONSIDERED:
An oral update from the Chair about the provision of standard furniture layouts within teaching rooms.
REPORTED: (by the Chair)
(a)
That complaints were being received on a near-daily basis from the Estates Porters about the need to
reset CTTRs on campus in the morning following ad hoc evening bookings, particularly the Science
Concourse B rooms and the Engineering F rooms, but also to a lesser extent rooms in the Ramphal
building.
(b)
That Space Management and Timetabling had limited recourse in addressing these complaints, and
that Security Services did not have sufficient staff to consistently lock rooms that were not in use
throughout the day, only being able to do so at 10 PM when all bookings had finished.
(c)
That options to prevent recurrence of complaints included installation of card-access locks to be
linked to the timetabling database with 3rd party software, but that this would cost approximately £750
per lock.
(d)
That providing a standard furniture layout, as per the system used in boardroom-style rooms at
present, was a more cost-effective option.
(by the Lead Technical Specialist)
(e)
That displaying the standard room layout on log in to the room’s PC would also aid in awarenessraising of the need to reset rooms after use.
RESOLVED:
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(a)
That an update from the flexible layout trial of the Ramphal rooms was to be acquired before decisions
were made regarding those rooms, and priority would be given to resolving this issue in the Science
Concourse B rooms and the Engineering F rooms.
(b)
That the option of creating a standard layout plan for all CTTRs was to be investigated by the Chair and
Assistant Furniture and Equipment Officer.
27/12-13Any Other Business
REPORTED: (by the Conferences Senior Duty Manager)
(a)
That the high tables used in some Ramphal rooms were uneven due to the feet coming off, and that
trolleys to store furniture on were difficult to use, and hindered movement of furniture.
(b)
That the requests from students for use of equipment in ad hoc bookings outside of normal booking
hours (9 AM – 10 PM) was becoming increasingly difficult, due to staffing and equipment levels, and
that an official line on out-of-hours student room use was desirable.
RESOLVED:
That the Chair investigates an official line on equipment available for student room use outside of normal
booking hours.
28/12-13Date of the Future Meetings
CONSIDERED:
The dates for future meetings of the Group.
RESOLVED:
That the Group meet from 10:00-12:00 on the following dates;
2012-13
Monday 10th December 2012
Monday 14th January 2013
Monday 11th February 2013
Monday 11th March 2013
Monday 15th April 2013
Monday 13th May 2013
Monday 17th June 2013
Monday 15th July 2013
Monday 16th September 2013
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