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Information for building/facility managers
Every building on campus has a designated individual(s) responsible for coordinating certain work with Facilities Planning & Management (FP&M) and addressing certain facility issues. FP&M is a campus-wide area that handles everything from custodial services, physical plant repair & maintenance, parking, and major renovation and building projects. The designated Facility Managers (or Building Managers) will be listed in FP&M building records as the primary point of contact for all facilities issues. Administrators tasked with serving as Facility Managers can refer to information below to fulfill these responsibilities. Because there are many different buildings, building conditions, and building users, the FM role is highly variable and may be very different between different units and buildings.
Key functions and responsibilities for Facility Managers:
Serve as point of contact with building occupants for facilities related concerns. Triage and determine next step needed to address the situation.
Interface with Facilities Planning and Management (Maintenance and Custodial) to make sure they have access and are accomplishing tasks with minimal disruption to occupants. Develop relationships and provide occupants and lab/area managers with excellent customer service to assist with managing their needs and/or concerns.
Assist with coordinating (email/postings) utility shutdowns for the building(s). Utilities include: power, water, lab utility, HVAC related, and network shutdowns that may impact research or general building occupants.
Perform informal building inspections of interior public spaces. Create work orders and track to make sure work is being completed in a timely manner. Assist building occupants on submitting work orders as needed. Quarterly inspections of exterior of building(s), adjacent grounds areas, and exterior doors to make sure they are closing/locking. Assist with coordination of space cleanups.
FP&M has a web page with resources for Facility/Building Managers: https://facilities.fpm.wisc.edu/facility-manager-tools/
Occupant Emergency Plans
Each building at UW–Madison is required to have a completed Occupant Emergency Plan (OEP). The OEP is an all-hazards plan designed around a building’s unique layout and function. The primary purpose of the OEP is to provide guidance to building occupants in the event of an emergency, such as a tornado, active shooter, gas leak, or bomb threat. FMs should have a copy of the recent OEP and be familiar with the content. OEPs must be checked every year to confirm they are up to date. UWPD keeps the template for OEPs, and follows up with Facility Managers to confirm complete and up-to-date OEPs are on file. More information about OEPs here: https://uwpd.wisc.edu/staying-safe/emergency-preparedness/occupant-emergency-plans-oep/
There is also an emergency procedures guide that FMs should be familiar with. https://uwpd.wisc.edu/content/uploads/2016/09/EPFG-Final.pdf In addition to that online document, it’s available from UWPD as a brochure for posting and sharing within departments.
Security concerns
UWPD has campus presence 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Campus Security, which is under UWPD, has a different role but both are dispatched through the Campus Security general phone number. 608-264-2677 is a dispatch office that is staffed 24/7. 911 calls for emergencies will be routed to the quickest available responder, which often will be UWPD, and 911 calls from campus may be transferred to the UWPD dispatch office.
Problem situations – by university policy, the campus facilities are open for the conduct of university business. Different buildings will have different hours and different access. When outside doors are open, general public may enter a building and access public areas. If a non-UW person (no valid status as student, faculty, staff, or on official business with one of those) enters a classroom, office, lab, or other space, they may be asked to leave. If someone with no business purpose to be present is being disruptive, any UW person may call UWPD to respond to the situation. If a non-UW person is sleeping in a building where they shouldn’t be, UWPD may be called. UWPD knows most of the homeless people in the campus area and can work with them effectively.
Keys and access
Building access – Facility Managers are typically responsible for overseeing building access for their department/unit. Some buildings have card reader access to varying degrees, and some are equipped only with keyed locks. Campus security is moving more toward card readers as much as possible. Retrofitting existing facilities with card readers is typically a department expense; new buildings and renovations can include card readers in coordination with UWPD. Card reader access is managed by the Access Control unit within UWPD. FMs will need to monitor and update who has card reader access and electronic lock schedules if applicable by working with Access Control. Doors with card readers may not have keys issued to individuals or departments by UWPD policy. Electronic locks may be scheduled open or closed for access; this may be managed by departments or through Access Control. Contact Access Control for details.
Facility Managers are typically responsible for managing departmental keys. Different departments may have different details and processes for managing key records. Getting copies of keys or rekeying locks is a departmental expense and handled via the work order system. There is a separate link for ordering copies of keys on the PP customer service page: https://wiscready.assetworks.cloud/ready.
Getting a copy of a key that is a master key requires a special form for permission, and must go through the Assistant Dean's office.
Working with other building occupants
Communications with other Building Occupants – Facility Managers frequently serve as the notification/contact point for building wide issues ranging from scheduled power interruptions, to street closings, parking lot closings, building access disruptions or other construction issues, and anything else impacting the entire building.
In such cases the FM must determine whether other building users should be notified, and how. Some FMs keep a contact list of all building users. This is advisable for smaller facilities. Others have established contacts by floor or for specific other departments assigned to a building, or they work with a "building committee" which is regularly updated on a variety of building issues. Such a method works better for extremely large, or for multi-user buildings. Communications by e-mail, or by posting notices at all exits are also effective.
General Assignment Classrooms
General Assignment classrooms are campus resources and are not under control of any department. GA rooms are controlled by the Registrar’s Office for class scheduling. When class scheduling is complete, a GA room may be requested by any other campus user for any event. Those requests are submitted to the Campus Events Management Office under the Union. If someone contacts a Facility Manager to use a GA classroom, they should be directed to contact CESO. FMs are contacts for special service requests for GA classrooms. When users arrange for special events through CESO, if they ask to serve food, they will typically be referred to FMs for permission.
CESO information. They can be reached by phone also: 608-262-2511.
Registrar's classroom information page. There is also a calendar page to view scheduled events in GA classroom. In order to access that calendar, you will need permission from the Registrar's office. See information at the Registrar's link. Once the Registrar's office has granted access, their calendar is available at https://25live.collegenet.com/pro/wisc/.
AV systems in GA classrooms are maintained by the Space Management Office. See av.fpm.wisc.edu for details on how to use general assignment classrooms with technology. This resource is also vital for departmental faculty who teach in GA classrooms.
IT/Data
DoIT supports campus data network infrastructure, sometimes with support from localized IT support like TechZone. Facility Managers should receive notices of network outages, and will be the point of contact for service work. Network support may require assistance gaining entry to departmental spaces for service work. DoIT technicians carry their IDs for verification if necessary.
Accessibility
Facility Managers may be contacted on issues of ADA accessibility in their building. McBurney Center provides accessibility services and consulting for students on campus. Employees work through divisional disability representatives. When physical accommodations are required for an accessibility need, FMs may be contacted to coordinate, especially for delivery of special furnishings or equipment. FMs may also have to answer questions from those offices about conditions in their building.
Lost and Found
Each facility should have a lost and found, and FMs are the default contact for this. FMs (or designee) should make efforts to identify owners for valuable items, and valuable items should be kept in a secure place. If owners are not identified or items returned reasonably promptly (a few days, less than two weeks), valuable items should be transferred to the UWPD central campus L&F. Keys should be sent to the Lockshop via campus mail. Lost WisCards should be sent to the WisCard office via campus mail.
Working with Physical Plant
Work orders – Physical Plant takes care of repair and maintenance issues for campus buildings. PP customer service manages intake and approval of work orders. Physical Plant Customer Service handles service requests for routine and special services. There are three ways to request service:
Web. Request Service via Assetworks ReADY (NetID authentication required).
Email. Send email to ppcustomerservice@fpm.wisc.edu.
Telephone. Call 608-263-3333 for immediate assistance. After hours, dial 0 at the recording to reach an answering service.
Work orders can be tracked through FP&M’s Ready system. https://wiscready.assetworks.cloud/ready/ It is necessary to be authorized to access this system, which can be arranged through FP&M. The Ready system allows looking up a list of PP work orders by building, or details for specific work orders, and some other details.
Physical Plant Customer service is on duty until 4:30pm Mon-Fri. For after-hours service, call the phone number and dial 0 to get an answering service. With limited Physical Plant workers available after hours, dispatch for weekend/evening emergency calls can take 30-60 minutes. Customer service will respond to requests from anyone, but some departments require all work orders to be submitted by a Facility Manager. When an item is deemed by Physical Plant to be a departmental issue, they will ask for a department Billing number. Typically, service for specialty equipment or fixtures will be a departmental expense, even if it is incorporated into a room or building.
Physical Plant also provides custodial services in most campus buildings. A FM should have contact info for a custodial supervisor for their building to coordinate cleaning issues. When unexpected cleanup is needed, PP customer service should be contacted for immediate attention. Some routine cleaning issues can be addressed directly with a custodial supervisor, and larger cleaning issues may need work orders submitted through customer service. Custodians are diverted to snow removal tasks when winter weather happens, and this can disrupt regular cleaning. Extra cleaning service, such as weekend or evening requests, is usually a departmental expense and a B number bust be provided with a work order. Please plan ahead and allow time for these requests.
Annual inspections and testing
Fire alarms, sprinklers, elevators, and generators are all subject to annual inspections and testing. Relevant Physical Plant or contractor personnel will contact Facility Managers to arrange this. There is usually a certain amount of flexibility in scheduling to minimize disruptions to department operations. FMs are provided with inspection reports for some things, like fire safety inspections. In some cases, the inspection will result in actions that are needed to establish compliance with safety regulations. Departments may need to take some actions, and work orders will be needed for items affecting building equipment/systems.
The designated Facility Manager will be notified of upcoming fire drills. Fire drills require full building evacuation, so the FM may request some minor adjustments in timing. The FM also should exercise discretion in sharing the information. Depending on activities and staffing, a FM should let their unit director and/or administrator know about the fire drill. FM should know where the fire panel is for their building. A FM is not expected to control or operate a fire panel, but when an alarm goes off that is where responders will report to. By reading a fire panel display, a FM can identify the location/source of a fire alarm, which can be useful.
Environmental Health & Safety
Environmental Health and Safety is the campus unit that conducts safety inspections, maintains facility egress plans, supports AEDs and other health and safety services on campus. EHS can provide consultations and advice when there are questions or concerns about environmental, health, and safety. For departments with sensitive laboratory requirements, EHS should be involved in reviewing lab safety requirements and procedures.
Refuse, surplus, recycling
Physical Plant also does all trash & recycling for campus. For major cleanups, a dumpster may be requested from Physical Plant, for trash or for metal recycling. Surplus items are collected for SWAP, who maintain drop-offs in some buildings, and can be contacted to arrange other pickups.
Parking, loading, deliveries, shipping/receiving
All parking on campus is controlled and managed by the Transportation Services unit. All questions about parking can be directed to Transportation Services, including the use of loading docks and parking for loading. FMs should be familiar with TS parking rules local to their unit, and also with loading areas at their building.
A department may be responsible for shipping and receiving for their building. Campus mail is delivered to a designated receiving area by Campus Mail. Regular delivery services (FedEx, UPS, USPS) are usually good about using a designated receiving area. For large shipments that come by freight service, their drivers or dispatchers will often call a facility manager to confirm and arrange delivery. Amazon deliveries are notorious for leaving packages anywhere if they don’t have a clearly understood delivery point. USPS will pick up outgoing mail at the designated receiving area, if the postage is paid. All departments and units are responsible for their own postage arrangements.
Campus Services
The Physical Plant unit called Campus Services can be a valuable resource for Facility Managers tasked with physical tasks in a department. Campus Services can provide moving services – moving large furniture between offices or especially buildings. When acquiring material on SWAP, Campus Services can deliver it. When facing a task like these, contact Campus Services to inquire about possible support.
Renovation requests
See other KB articles for details on submitting requests for remodeling of General Assignment classrooms or departmental instructional spaces. There are grant programs to support Instructional Laboratory Modifications to provide support for remodeling and new equipment in departmental instructional facilities.