An Coiste Feabhais Acadúil
The Committee on Academic Quality Improvement
The Administration &Services Quality Assurance Programme 20032004
Report to Údarás na hOllscoile
Review of
Buidings Office
Self-Assessment
Review Group Visit
Follow Up Meeting
April to October 2004
3rd – 5th December 2003
28th April 2004
This Report was compiled for members of Údarás na hOllscoile, NUI Galway and its
committees as a readily accessible but comprehensive source of information on the above
review, its context and its outcomes.
Professor Jim Gosling, Director of Quality, October 2005
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Report to Údarás – Review of Buildings office 2003–2004
1. Overview of Buildings Office
1.1 Background
The Buildings Office is the unit within the University charged with the planning, development
and management of the University estate. The Director of Physical Resources, who heads the
Office, reports to the Vice-President for Physical Resources, who is a member of the University
Management Team. The Buildings Office also reports to the Physical Resources Committee, a
committee of Údaras na hOllscoile (Governing Authority of the University).
The Office provides professional estates and facilities management services and is a
service department within the university structures. A broad range of services are provided,
including:
• Master planning
• Major Capital Project Management
• Minor Capital Works/Upgrades Project Management & Design
• Maintenance of Buildings and Infrastructure
• Security and Access Services
• Cleaning and Attendant Services
• Transportation
• Gardening & Grounds Services
• Buildings Services (electrical and mechanical maintenance)
• Energy Management
• Fire Prevention
• Space Management
• Insurance Services
• Telecommunications Services
• Sport
• Porterage and Mail Services
• Event Management
• Property & Legal: Title, Leases, etc.
• Property Acquisition, Disposal & Rental
• Customer Service
• Procurement
• In-department services:
o Personnel Management and Supervision
o Budgeting and Financial Management
o Project and Operational Management
o Industrial Relations
o Departmental training and development.
1.2 The University Estate
The main campus is 105 hectares and there is also an adjacent site at the University Hospital on
which the University’s Clinical Sciences Institute is located. As of November 2003, there were
90 separate buildings, ranging in age from 158 years to 1 year old, giving a total of 121,553 s.m.
There were also properties at:
• Carron and Finnevara, Co. Clare, comprising 1.02 hectares and 429 s.m. of research
buildings
• Carna, Co. Galway:
o Marine Research Facility, comprising 16.67 hectares and 2569 s.m. of buildings
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o Atmospheric Research Station, comprising 3.31 hectares and 234 s.m. of
buildings
o Áras S. Nic Ghuaraim, comprising 0.72 hectares and 482 s.m. of building
o Former Convent, comprising 3.76 hectares and 440 s.m. of building
• Carraroe, Co. Galway comprising 1.41 hectares of land and 1063 s.m. of buildings
In addition there are rented properties at Nun’s Island, Dangan Business Park, Ballard House in
Galway City and at Ghaoth Dóbhair, Co. Dún na nGall comprising 3500 s.m. of buildings.
1.3 Mission Statement
“The core purpose of the Buildings Office is to plan, develop, maintain and manage the
University estate, in accordance with university strategies, so that students can learn, staff can
work, and the public can visit in a safe, comfortable and vibrant environment.”
1.4 Staff
In November 2003, the number of fulltime staff in the Buildings Office was 107. This included
73 operatives, 14 crafts, 8 supervisors, 4 administrative and 8 managers.
1.5 Accommodation and Facilities
Management and administration offices are mostly located in the Quadrangle Building.
Supervisory, maintenance, storage and other accommodation and facilities are scattered over the
campus due to demand/opportunity considerations rather than any specific plan for localization
or decentralization. The consolidation of the whole or appropriate groupings of service units is
planned.
2. Review Group Visit and Report
The Review Group consisted of: Mr. Jim Cahill, Director of Facilities Planning Division,
University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Mr. Aidan Grannell, Buildings Officer, University
College Dublin; Mr. Martin Heffernan, Manager, Professional & Technical Services,
Department of Education & Science (Chair); Professor Michael Guiry, Director of Martin Ryan
Institute, NUI Galway; Ms. Sinéad Ní Fhaoláin, Acting Director of Computer Services, NUI
Galway, acting as Rapporteur.
2.1 Abstract of Report
NUI Galway has developed at an accelerated pace particularly in the last 10 years. These
changes have generated greater expectations of, and increased demands on, all units, including
the Buildings Office. It was noted that the structure and systems of the Buildings Office have
only been partly revised to take account of developments. However, the Office has been
forward looking to the extent that it has recently developed a strategy in line with the
University’s Strategy. One of the key recommendations therefore of the Review Group is that a
structure be put in place to support the aims of the strategy. The group wishes to fully endorse
the major recommendations of the Self-Assessment Report, while adding others which it feels
appropriate based on:
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•
•
•
A tour of the Campus
A visit to all the offices and facilities of the Buildings Office
Meetings with:
o all the managers of the Buildings Office and representative staff from all sections
o Heads and Deans (or their nominees)
o Students’ Union representatives
o Meetings with UMT members.
These recommendations constitute the majority of this report, under the headings of Restructuring (11 discreet recommendations), Organisation of Work (13), Communications Plan
(8) and Resources (8). The Review Group observed throughout the meetings with senior
University Staff that there was a strong consistency of concerns and suggestions. Through the
implementation of these recommendations it is envisaged that improved structures and systems
will develop in the Buildings Office, leading to an improvement in the delivery of a support
service in accordance with the strategic aims of the University.
[The detailed recommendations (40 in total) would be very difficult to summarise accurately.
For the most part they are mirrored closely by the action plans below. Copies of full Reports
may be obtained from the Quality Office (quality@nuigalway.ie).
3. Action Plans
Follow Up Meeting
Wednesday 28th April, 2004
Present: Prof J Gosling Director of Quality (Chair), Prof J Ward (Vice-President), Ms M O’Riordan (VicePresident), Mr S MacMathuna, Mr J Gibney, Mr G Power, Mr B Noone, Mr G Hartigan, Mr K O’Sullivan, Mr M
Barrett, Mr P Faherty, Ms S Ni Fhaolain (Review Group), Mr A Grannell (Review Group), Mr M Heffernan
(Review Group), Ms Maureen Linnane (of Quality Office in attendance).
3.1 Action Plan for The Buildings Office and its Director:
1. The Director and staff of the Buildings Office agree that the Office will benefit from restructuring, and have identified two prerequisites to this reform:
(a) A suitable short-term consultant to assist in a systematic review of what is required
and feasible, and to prepare an implementation plan. The Director will prepare a
brief, including the recommendations of the Review Group, for the consultant before
the end of July 2004, to be advertised and filled in September 2004.
(b) An additional immediate human resource within the Office with responsibility for
driving the implementation of the above plan, and many of the actions below, by
ensuring deadlines are met and that all staff remain focused on the plan.
2. Provided these actions are in accord with re-structuring plan (see above) and in order to
improve the delivery of general services, the Buildings Office will:
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3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
(a) Designate a number of staff at supervisory level who will have responsibility for
dedicated zones across the Campus by May 2005.
(b) Develop a comprehensive ‘procedures manual’ by December 2004.
(c) Develop balanced scorecards for each division / section including agreed performance
indicators and pilot balanced scorecard metrics by March, 2005.
(d) To increase personal interface with users, all members of the QR Main Group will act as
ambassadors to departments in a pilot scheme from September 2004. A template for
visits to departments will be drawn up.
(e) Formalise a system for dealing centrally with complaints by December 2004.
(f) Form an internal working group by September 2004 to bring forward ideas on how best
to convey relevant, accurate and timely information to customers, to be piloted by
March, 2005. The following to be carried out in the first instance:
• Develop a comprehensive website and launch it by December 2004 to ensure
procedures and policies are available immediately to all customers.
• Discuss the potential value of a new Buildings Office newsletter with the
Librarian and the Director of Computer Services, and, in the interim, arrange that
an article on the work of the office will be included in Ollscéala in December
2004.
(g) Provide physical resource planning templates by March 2005 to be completed by
individuals proposing new initiatives, to facilitate budgeting and decision-making by
UMT.
(h) Improve intra-departmental communications by regular meetings of appropriate
groupings from September 2004.
(i) Independent University-wide Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups in all
service delivery areas will be carried out in February/March 2005. The Office will liaise
with the Library and the Quality Office to identify the cost/benefits of such surveys
before proceeding.
(j) The planning of Physical Plant Maintenance will be enhanced.
The senior managers of the Office will undertake the task of visiting all appropriate
groupings of staff customers. For example faculty visits should take place on a bi-monthly
basis and SU President/Officers on a monthly basis, with a view to completing a first cycle
of visits by the end of June 2005.
Together with MIS, the Buildings Office will:
(a) Commission an independent audit of the existing Building Management System (BMS)
by March 2005 with a view to expanding this system to cover all physical resources of
the University and widening access to frontline staff. A Proactive Energy Management
plan will then be pursued with a view to achieving substantial reductions.
(b) Identify a software-based booking system for lecture theatres and classrooms to be
implemented by December 2004
(c) Implement a work request management system by December 2004
(d) Draw up a job description for an in-house IT systems support specialist to manage the
overall array of new systems in the Buildings Office by December 2004.
The Office will work with the Human Resources Department to implement the Cleaning
Review Reports/Recommendations by September 2005, taking account of the cost and
management issues contained in the Internal Auditors Report.
The Director will prioritise annually projects related to the existing backlog of maintenance
and will continue to make submissions seeking support for such projects to UMT.
The Buildings Office will carry out an audit of temporary building occupation, draw up
plans for the phasing out of temporary buildings and draw up procedures for the provision of
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rented space and/or temporary buildings (rented or purchased) by August 2005 for UMT
approval.
8. In relation to security and nightly lock-up, the Director will review resource requirements
and submit a proposal for new staff to UMT. by September 2004.
9. For all new building projects from December 2004, safety inputs will be written into
Planning and Development Unit (PDU) Procedures Manual for each project.
10. The Director will arrange the preparation and submission of a brief to the UMT by
December 2004 for a central ‘estates office’ bringing together in a purpose-designed facility
all strands of activity. As a matter of priority interim action, a new Maintenance Centre
will be included in one of the upcoming large building projects, thus allowing for the
demolition of the current unsightly store.
3.2 Action Plan for University Management:
1. The Vice President for Physical Resources will act to ensure that the resources required
for Item 1 above are provided by the University.
2. The Registrar and Deputy President, the Vice President for Human Resources and
Student Services, the Vice President for Physical Resources and the Secretary will
ensure that the UMT will consider how the University can proceed to the establishment
of a Group of Senior Administrators to work with UMT and the faculty deans to support
the roles of the UMT.
3. The Registrar and Deputy President, the Vice President for Human Resources and
Student Services, the Vice President for Physical Resources and the Secretary will
ensure that University officers take every opportunity, both individually and in
conjunction with CHIU, to persuade the HEA and Government of the vital importance of
the recently discontinued Maintenance Backlog Fund. In the absence of this exchequer
funding, internal budgeting processes will continue to be used facilitate an annual
programme of essential backlog maintenance.
4. The Vice-President for Physical Resources will draft a proposal, for consideration and
implementation by the appropriate committee(s), as to how senior University officers
should act to reinforce the systems that are in place to deliver routine services when staff
and students contact them to resolve problems related to routine operational issues.
5. The Vice President for Physical Resources will support the provision of resources to
enable the Buildings Office to carry out an audit of existing buildings, to build a
database of plant information, to carry out condition survey of the physical plant in order
to agree and implement preventative maintenance schedules by March 2006. Service
level agreements for urgent/emergency works will then be developed.
6. The Vice President for Student Services & Human Resources will ensure that the
forthcoming review of University management structures will include a review of the
role of the directors of large administrative and service departments with, amongst other
objectives, a view to identifying anomalies. A costing and timeline for this review has
already been sought from external consultants.
7. The Vice President for Physical Resources will work to ensure continuation of the
practice of setting aside ‘Infrastructural Deficits Funding’ to cover essential work such
as renovations to the Quadrangle.
8. The Vice President for Physical Resources and the Vice-President for Human Resources
and Student Services will ensure that an overall strategic review of ‘sports and
recreation’ is carried out.
9. The Vice President for Physical Resources and the Dean of Research will ensure that the
Buildings Office is involved in new research units at the inception stage and has a
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guidance role in service level agreements and resource issues with respect to new
research units
10. The Vice President for Physical Resources will ensure that the Buildings Office are
involved in Event Planning from inception.
11. The Vice President for Physical Resources will ensure that a strategic review of the
overall function of Health & Safety is carried out to address the deficient resources and
budget of a unit that is essential with the compliance of the University with national
legislation.
Approved by: Vice President, Prof. J. Ward, 9 September 2004
Approved by: Vice President, Ms M. O’Riordan, 1 October 2004
Approved by: Registrar, Prof. J. Browne, 13 September 2004
Approved by: Runaí, Dr. S. MacMathuna, 24 September 2004
Approved by: Director for Physical Resources, Mr J. Gibney, 23 July & 7 October 2004
Finalised: 7th October, 2004, Professor Jim Gosling, Director of Quality
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