Buildings Office
08/02/2012
Reviewers
Mr. Michael Wigg, Estates Directorate, University of Oxford (Chair); Mr Mark Poland, Buildings and Estates
Office, University College Cork; Mr. Niall O’Toole, Corporate Services, Intel Ireland; Dr. Conleth Cunnane,
College of Engineering and Informatics, National University of Ireland (Cognate); Mr, John Cox, James
Hardiman Library, National University of Ireland (Coordinator).
Key Strengths
• The Buildings Office is a highly efficient and effective unit. Despite tightening resources it delivers a large, wide-ranging portfolio of services and projects very effectively.
• The Buildings Office displays a strong culture of teamwork and commitment to service delivery.
• The campus looks very well and this is evidence of the achievements of the Buildings Office.
• The Buildings Office’s greatest resource is its highly dedicated staff who appreciate and embrace their challenges.
• Buildings Office staff interact well with all of their clients in a very cooperative manner.
• Buildings Office staff had clearly engaged strongly and constructively with the self-assessment process.
• The Review Group endorses the thrust of the planning outlined in the Self-Assessment Report which it considered to be an excellent summary of the current status of development of the Buildings Office and the challenges it faces.
Key Recommendations
1.
Departmental structure : The departmental structure should be reorganized to align with its main areas of activity, focusing on: projects, split between major and minor; facilities management, split between hard and soft; space management; and business support activities.
2.
Risk : A detailed risk assessment should be undertaken for each of the Office’s main business activities, against which management activity can be focused to ensure the necessary support to the University’s key objectives.
3.
Professional staffing resources : The department manages major risk on behalf of the University. The existing capacity and resilience of the current professional staffing resources should be reviewed and supplementary strategic appointments made where necessary.
4.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs) : SLAs should be developed and agreed with University management for each business activity of the Buildings Office. Relevant KPIs should also be agreed and reviewed at regular intervals to reflect SLA performance. This process should also involve establishing a clear definition of responsibilities between the Buildings Office and occupants of University space.
5.
Contracting/Outsourcing strategy : Current multiple outsource contracts should be reviewed to reflect recent market trends, with particular emphasis on moving to single source contracting solutions.

6.
Condition assessment : The Buildings Office should procure a detailed assessment of the condition of the buildings and infrastructure, updated every five years, and develop a lifecycle asset management strategy.
7.
Multi-annual funding : The University has a significant backlog maintenance deficit (see 6 above) and should consider a multi-annual programme of investment in planned maintenance and should also consider providing a ring-fenced contribution from its Strategic Development Fund on a rolling basis.
8.
Space management : The University should enhance and publish its policies and standards for space allocation and ensure that transparent processes which support strategic needs are fully communicated to all University staff, in particular senior academic leaders. The Strategic Space Planning Group should include a greater level of senior academic representation. Consideration should be given to space charging as a means of realising fuller utilisation of allocated space.
9.
Sustainability : The University’s senior management should promote an enhanced green campus programme, building upon the considerable existing achievements of the Buildings Office and focusing on international best practice, the attainment of relevant accreditation and student engagement.
10.
IT systems : The required functionality of business support systems needs to be reviewed from an operational and customer perspective, particularly in regard to estate management and room booking software, and shortfalls in any existing systems addressed or new systems procured.
11.
Stakeholder communications : A greater degree of regular contact with senior academic stakeholders, eg Council of Deans, is recommended in order to ensure effective communication and support of academic strategy.
12.
Customer relations : While face-to-face and direct contact with Buildings Office staff is generally very positive, some decisions need to be made within an agreed framework and communicated in a more customer-friendly and consultative manner. Formalised and agreed decision-making processes, with defined roles and responsibilities, could lead to greater collaboration and customer satisfaction.
13.
Post-project evaluations: It is recommended that consistent post-project evaluations and post-occupancy evaluations are undertaken for all projects with a view to continuous improvement in project management processes and building works design and specification.
Comments on Review Process
The process worked very well and supported the work of the Review Group very effectively.

National University of Ireland, Galway
Review Programme 2011/2012
Action Plan
Buildings and Services
Follow-up meeting held on Monday, 12 th
March 2012 at 9.30 a.m. in QA113
Present
Representing Buildings and Services: Martin Barrett, Leona Connolly, Karen Dooley, Anne-Marie Forde,
John Gibney, Noel O’Connor, Dean Pearce, Greg Power, Gillian Strange.
From Review Group: Professor Conleth Cunnane, John Cox(Coordinator)
From NUI Galway: Dr Kieran Loftus (Executive Director of Operations & Chair), Maureen Linnane (Quality
Office). Apologies: Dr David O’Sullivan (Director of Quality)
Actions for Buildings and Services
1.
Reorganise departmental structure to align with its main areas of activity, focusing on: projects, split between major and minor; facilities management, split between hard and soft; space management; and business support activities.
2.
Review the existing capacity and resilience of the current professional staffing resources with supplementary strategic appointments made where necessary.
3.
Develop, agree and publish Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with University management for each business activity of the Buildings Office. Agree relevant KPIs to be reviewed at regular intervals to reflect SLA performance where clear definitions of responsibilities between the Buildings Office and occupants of University space will be established.
4.
Review the required functionality of business support systems from an operational and customer perspective, particularly in regard to estate management and room booking software, and shortfalls in any existing systems addressed or new systems procured.
5.
Improve stakeholder communications with a greater degree of regular contact with senior academic stakeholders, eg Council of Deans, in order to ensure effective communication and support of academic strategy.
6.
Make decisions within an agreed framework, and communicated in a more customer-friendly and consultative manner. Formalised and agreed decision-making processes, with defined roles and responsibilities, to lead to greater collaboration and customer satisfaction.
7.
Undertake consistent post-project evaluations and post-occupancy evaluations for all projects with a view to continuous improvement in project management processes and building works design and specification.
8.
Complete an initial detailed risk assessment for each of the Office’s main business activities, against which management activity can be focused to ensure the necessary support to the
University’s key objectives.
9.
Review current multiple outsource contracts to reflect recent market trends, with particular emphasis on moving to single source contracting solutions.
10.
Procure a detailed assessment of the condition of the buildings and infrastructure, updated every five years, and develop a lifecycle asset management strategy.

The Unit agrees to all recommendations and will take a planned and prioritized approach, to implement actions over the next 3-5 years. Due dates for each action will be considered in combination with other actions to be included in the overall Operational Plan.
Actions for University
1.
Consider a multi-annual programme of investment in planned maintenance and consider the provision of a ring-fenced contribution from its Strategic Development Fund on a rolling basis.
2.
Enhance and publish its policies and standards for space allocation to ensure that transparent processes which support strategic needs are fully communicated to all University staff, in particular senior academic leaders. The Strategic Space Planning Group will include a greater level of senior academic representation. Consideration will be given to space charging as a means of realising fuller utilisation of allocated space.
3.
University senior management will promote an enhanced green campus programme, building upon the considerable existing achievements of the Buildings Office and focusing on international best practice, the attainment of relevant accreditation and student engagement.
Approved by:
Executive Director of Operations, Dr Kieran Loftus
Director of Physical Resources, Mr John Gibney
Director of Quality, Dr David O’Sullivan
Finalised: June 2012