GUIDE TO Physical Plant

Click here :  Work Order System 

This Guide will provide information regarding requests for services, work orders, etc.

1.   Communications with Physical Plant

2.   Emergencies

3.   Basic Maintenance Services

4.   Standards of Services

5.   Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning Information

6.   Charge Back Policy (Billable Services)

7.   Services not provide by Physical Plant

8.   Custodial Services

9.   Access

10.   Key Policy

11.   Classrooms

12.   General Policy

13.   Moving Policy

14.   Zone Maintenance
     

 

I. COMMUNICATION WITH Physical Plant (Top)
During normal hours, (7:30AM - 4:00PM) inquiries, reports of facilities problems, (emergency or otherwise) and requests for services may be phoned in to ext. 7456. Complaints may be reported on ext. 7456 or to the Acting Director of Physical Plant by email lemons@apsu.edu. Custodial service requests may be made for any building by placing a work order.

II. EMERGENCIES (Top)
When emergency situations occur they must be reported immediately to Physical Plant:

II. BASIC MAINTENANCE SERVICES (See sections VII and VIII for services
not provided a basic maintenance) (Top)

Basic maintenance services may be requested by placing a work order using the TMA Work Order system.  All requests requiring action by Physical Plant will be assigned work order numbers to allow future reference and follow-up. All requests will be acknowledged with an email upon completion.  All basic maintenance request will be completed within 3 days.

The basic services provided by Physical Plant without charge or preconditions are to:

• Maintain, repair and operate all standard building heating and air conditioning facilities.
• Maintain, repair and operate special service facilities that are integral components of the buildings such as swimming pool maintenance, lab hood ventilation, lighting equipment, compressed air and processed water systems.
• Paint all public space including classrooms, corridors, stairwells, toilet facilities, lecture halls.
• Provide custodial services for interior of buildings. This includes custodial contract services.
• Paint offices - requests to paint offices are evaluated on a case by case basis.
• Removal of snow from the sidewalks and litter from the grounds and maintain landscaping.
• Pickup and discard unwanted furniture, equipment and debris.
• Schedule furniture and equipment relocation on campus during normal working hours.
• Provide table and chair setups and custodial services for academic or student events between 6:00AM Monday and 2:00PM Friday (charges apply for outside groups, student organizations or if after hours).
• Provide and maintain public signs (e.g. building exit, lavatories, etc.).
• Maintain and change the time twice yearly of classroom, hallway and public space clocks.
• Install new window shades purchased by departments (on request Physical Plant will measure windows before you place the order.)
• Provide extermination services campus wide under contract. Special requests will be honored and a service person will be available twice weekly to address specific problems.
   

  IV. STANDARDS OF SERVICE: (Top)

  Stop and cleanup flooding, clear toilet blockages, make safe or replace broken/cracked windows, fix doors that cannot be secured, address power failures, lighting fixtures - immediately or same day at the latest.

  This is a listing of the times during which some work can be expected to be completed.

• Key production -within 3 days
• Light replacement - within one week (unless dangerous conditions exist, then same day)
• Vacuum rugs- weekly
• Empty baskets -daily (during evening shift)
• Clean toilets - daily or more frequently
• Hall floors - dry mop, sweep nightly, buff weekly
• Shampoo carpet -within two weeks of request (two cleanings yearly
  maximum)
   

  V. HEATING, VENTILATION, AND AIR CONDITIONING    (Top)  

  Heating and air conditioning complaints should be reported by placing a work order.
   

  Most buildings on campus  are now served by a central heating plant which provides HPS (High Pressure Steam) heated well above the boiling point and confined in liquid form at high pressure steam, and a central cooling plant which provides chilled water at a temperature of 42, to all buildings, depending on outside relative humidity.

  The plant is located behind the Morgan University Center. The system relies on the boilers as a source of energy for operation.

  The HPS and chilled water that is generated in the central heating and cooling plants are piped into each building. Within each building there is an array of heat exchange, heat distribution, air distribution and control systems and other equipment that uses either of these streams of water to heat or cool the building. The design, sophistication and condition of this equipment varies from building to building.

  Problems normally occur during change over from heating to cooling and back. Extreme manual work and supervisory attention are required to accomplish this task.

  The heating and cooling plants in some buildings are not fully efficient pending major renovation work authorized by Tennessee Board of Regents.

  Many heating and air conditioning problems are a result of thermostats in an area that are not set properly. Although guards are placed over many wall thermostats, in many other cases, the wall thermostats are available for the occupants to adjust.

  In most cases a single wall thermostat controls temperature conditions in 2 to 3 rooms. A compromise by the occupants in adjacent rooms on thermostat setting are often necessary. The cost of providing an independent thermostat for every room is cost prohibitive.  Several buildings (Sundquist Science Center, Memorial Health, Foy Recreation Center, Clement, University Center, Music Mass Communication, and Hand Village 200) thermostat is controlled by sensors.  Which is controlled by the energy management system.  Any request of temperature change in these buildings must be submitted by  work order.

  VI. CHARGE BACK POLICY (Billable Services) (Top)

  The Physical Plant department's goal is to maximize productivity under the basic maintenance services category. It is however, important to note that the Physical Plant budget is developed in order to cover basic maintenance alone. 

  Office or building modifications, upgrades and renovations must be funded through alternate funding sources.  Work orders for alteration of an office or building are considered special request or additional projects and will be referred back to the Director or Department Head of the area requesting the work with an estimate of the funds necessary to complete the work.  Note: These types of request must be submitted by purchase requisition and have the Director or Department Chair and Vice President Signature for work to be considered.

  Consideration will be given to minor special requests without charge back. Work required in conjunction with relocation's mandated by the Administration will be exempted from the charge back policy. 

          Policies concerning projects:

• Campus emergencies will take priority over any projects being conducted regardless of their status or at the time being performed.
  
  FEE BASED SERVICES
  Physical Plant will:

• Make keys at no charge for classrooms, offices, bathrooms, labs, etc. All University keys can only be provided from Physical Plant, with a key request form.
• Change door locks  - $ 35.00 (see key policy for details)
  
  TIME AND MATERIAL CHARGE BASED SERVICES
   
• Upgrade or modify building facilities, such as electric or water services for support of lab or other specialized equipment, including kilns, special A/C or lighting.
• Acquire, install or make major repairs to specialized facilities to augment electric power, air conditioning, heating, lighting or other systems.
• Move furniture, material or equipment after hours.
• Provide tables and chairs for any event involving an outside organization or for University organizations not during regular business hours.
• Produce, repair or modify furniture ( other than classroom) or shelving or lockers.
• Install locks on file cabinets
• Produce signs for departments. (e.g. desk signs, department name or department staff signs, etc.). 

VII. SERVICES NOT PROVIDED BY Physical Plant (outside vendors may be contacted for some of these services) (Top)
 

• Acquire of department furniture and equipment (this is the responsibility of each department). 
• Provide storage facilities for idle furniture and equipment (Furniture and equipment sent to surplus will be reissued on a first-come-first-serve basis, due to limited storage space).
• Install or replace carpeting.
• On campus messenger service.
• Purchase or repair window shades (measurement, purchase and installation will be done without charge; however, if funds are provided).
   

  VIII. CUSTODIAL SERVICES (Top)
  
  Routine cleaning, vacuuming and trash disposal services are provided for offices and labs during the evening hours when the department head authorizes the custodial staff to have keys to the space. Cleaning services are more efficiently provided after hours.

  If, for security reasons, the department head does not wish the custodian to have key access to space during evening hours, special arrangements may be made such as limiting key access to supervisors, limited day cleaning or cleaning during arranged times.

  IX. ACCESS (Top)

  Classrooms are locked at night after cleaning by the custodial staff. At the request of the faculty, the locks on the doors are designed to be locked from the inside by the instructor during classes if desired, to insure that classes are not interrupted. Because of this arrangement, classrooms may accidentally become locked between classes by someone pulling the door shut while no one is in the classroom to open it.
  
  Classroom building keys are available free of charge from Physical Plant offices by submitting a key request form with appropriate signatures. Every faculty member should have a key for classrooms in the building in which he or she teaches to prevent lock out. (Call ext.7456 or Custodial Supervisor 7425).

  If you are locked out of your office a you will have to department head or secretary to let you in your office.  Building supervisors have master keys to their respective building.

  University policy states that all space on campus must be accessible through the use of a University master key. Non-college locks are NOT allowed.

  X. KEY POLICY (Top)

  Please view the key policy in the security of facilities policy.

  XI. CLASSROOMS (Top)

  The administration is responsible for acquisition, replacement and logistic placement of tables and chairs.

  When instructors require additional chairs for their scheduled classes, they should call the Registrar's Office at ext. 7871 to request a larger room. As a temporary expedient, call Physical Plant custodial department at ext. 7456 to request temporary chairs prior to commencement of class. 

           XII. GENERAL POLICIES (Top)

• All plans for new work (not being performed by Physical Plant) that involve connections to building facilities, and utilities must be reviewed for approval by Physical Plant to ensure full code compliance.
• Work that requires modification of the building structure, such as installation of walls and doors, requires the approval of Campus Planning as well as Physical Plant.
• All requests for department support should be submitted in writing to the Director of Physical Plant.
• Any accessories such as bulletin boards, wall shelving and coat racks must be ordered by the requester and can be installed by Physical Plant.
• Departments are responsible for procurement of furniture, rugs, bulletin boards, wall shelving and coat racks for their own infrastructure support.

  The cost of relocation of furniture in and out of the space to accommodate the rug installation should be part of the contract with the engaged contractor. If contractor does not include installation within the specification, funds should be set aside to reimburse Physical Plant for the cost of labor.

  Furniture Storage

  Their is no available space for storing furniture, but special arrangements might be considered through the Office of the Vice President of Finance and Administration.

  XIII. MOVING (Top)

  The following is general information that could be helpful when planning a move.

• All moves should be planned and approved by the Department Head or Director.
• Moving boxes may be provided (if available) through Physical Plant with the approval of the Inventory Clerk or Director of Physical Plant.
• Contact Physical Plant by placing a work order well in advance of your target moving date to place the move on the moving crews schedule.

          XVI. ZONE MAINTENANCE

Physical Plant Zone Maintenance consists of a team of professionals dedicated to maintaining and improving campus-building conditions for the students, faculty and staff. The primary goal of zone maintenance is to provide dedicated response for maintenance and repair with “ownership” of the zone residing with the team. If the team confronts an issue that is beyond their abilities, it will be directed to the Director of Physical Plant for further review and action.

The campus will be divided into zones manned with maintenance personnel from Physical Plant. Each zone group consists of (there are four groups) five (5) trades made up of electricians, carpenters, HVAC mechanics, plumbers and painters. Two zones groups are dedicated in maintaining the academic buildings, the third zone group will support student housing and the fourth group (Central Plant Support Team) will support all three-zone groups in the event they required additional support or replacing absent personnel.

All members of the team are responsible for the respective zone they are assigned in and thus are expected to assist each other in carrying out all the maintenance requirements of the zone. Each zone will be assigned a leader; the leader will identify work and create a list on what is to be accomplished for each building. Zone leaders also service as a liaison between Physical Plant and the building coordinator in getting the miscellaneous work accomplished, and are responsible for resolving roadblocks to success of the team.

This concept will allow Physical Plant to service the buildings twice a year.

Listed below are maintenance tasks typically performed by the Zone Maintenance groups.

• Changing burned out lights or ballast replacement
• Replace switches or receptacles
• Replace damage or missing light covers
• Repair or replace exit signs
• Repair emergency lights
• Reset electric circuits
• Repair campus clocks
• Repair bathroom fixtures and sinks
• Repair/Unstop toilets urinals
• Maintain water coolers
• Patch and paint damage walls
• Maintain all door hardware
• Maintain stairwell railings and steps
• Repair or replace baseboard
• Repair windows and trim
• Replace missing floor tile(s)
• Maintain HVAC units ( if applicable)
• Perform all preventive maintenance on mechanical equipment for the building
• Repair or replace blinds and shades