church network san diego - 11-2014 lunch meeting - what to look for during a facility walk
TRANSCRIPT
Walking Your Facility
Who I Am
• Architect• Extensive construction & facilities
management experience• Father was a Lutheran Minister for 40
years and is happily retired in Ohio• Active member of First Lutheran Church,
Downtown, San Diego • Bachelor of Architecture - University of
Tennessee, Knoxville• JD, California Western School of Law
Southern Cross Property Consultants
• Facilities Management & Construction Management Consulting firm who specializes in working with Churches and Non-Profit Organizations.
• Founded in 2002.• Currently working with a number of
congregations on projects ranging from construction/renovation to applied facilities management.
Objective• Learn how to walk your facility effectively
and with a purpose.• Learn how to actively look at your facilities.• Learn what to look for to help maintain and
to prevent surprises.
Disclaimers• No Magic Wands! But not rocket science.• Give you an additional tool to help manage
your facilities.• Only works if you actively participate.
Questions for the Audience
How many of you have staff members dedicated exclusively to facilities maintenance and/or operations?
How many of you feel comfortable with your knowledge about the operation and maintenance requirements of your facilities?
A starting point…My facilities manifesto.
• Spending @ churches falls in 3 categories– Programs & Ministries– Staff (Ministry, Program, & Support)– Facilities
• Failure to keep up with your congregation’s facilities will ultimately impact the time and money available for the other two.
• Congregations are obligated to be good stewards of the gifts that they have been given!
• Stewardship requires planning.• Maintenance = Stewardship.
Who Does Your Maintenance?
• You need to understand who does your maintenance in order to know what to look for and how to capture that information.
• Volunteers need different information than staff.
• Outside vendors need different information than volunteers or staff.
Your congregation believes:• If I can’t see it, it must be OK.• I am only at Church 2 hours a week, so the
building is only aging that much.• If it breaks, (fill in the blank) will take care
of it.• The church staff is entirely composed of
facilities experts.• The church staff has a lot of free time to
devote to maintenance in order to make sure that it is being done & being done correctly.
You know:• Maintenance is much harder to sell than
programs/staff.
I know:• Maintenance doesn’t happen on it’s own.
Why is this Important?
Frequently we see churches doing reactive maintenance as their only maintenance.• Tends to cost more!• Harder (or impossible) to budget for!• Can be more dangerous for building
users!
Elements of a Successful & Effective Walk
Frequency
• At LEAST once a month.• It is better if it can be done weekly.
Responsibility
• This can be delegated.• There has to be accountability.
– For doing the walks.– For following up.
• There has to be a way to capture and track the information generated on the walk.
Documentation & Tracking
• You are busy.
• You are busy.• You have too much to do.
• You are busy.• You have too much to do.• You are frequently interrupted.
If you do not DOCUMENT and TRACK,
it might as well not happen.
Effective Documentation & Tracking
• One size does not fit all. Customize!• Carry a note pad and a camera/cell
phone• Carry a map/floor plan• Create a master tracking list
– Categorize and prioritize– Assign a follow-up date– Assign the repair or follow-up
• Make notes like you have to testify– Big Red Truck Theory
Walking Your Facility & Grounds – What to Look For
Some of it is obvious.
Some things just have to become routine.
Some areas only need checked once or twice a year or after
certain events.
Use common sense. If it looks wrong, it probably is.
Look closely, after a while the issue becomes part of the
scenery.
Look up. Go in hidden places & closets. Look for camels.
Early detection reduces cost.
And keeps you out of my PowerPoints.
What to Look For Handout
Do as Much as You are Comfortable Doing
• You can (and in some cases should) use outside resources to assist in this:– Outside contractors (roofing, plumbing)– Outside consultants– Internal volunteers (when qualified)
Questions???
