Home > Operations & Maintenance

Facilities Operations & Maintenance

by Don Sapp, Plexus Scientific
Updated by the Facilities O&M Committee

Last updated: 03-31-2009

Introduction

A Product of the FEMP O&M Center of Excellence

Facilities operations and maintenance encompasses all that broad spectrum of services required to assure the built environment will perform the functions for which a facility was designed and constructed. Operations and maintenance typically includes the day-to-day activities necessary for the building and its systems and equipment to perform their intended function. Operations and maintenance are combined into the common term O&M because a facility cannot operate at peak efficiency without being maintained; therefore the two are discussed as one.

The Facilities O&M section offers guidance in the following areas:

Future updates to the Facilities O&M section will provide additional guidance in the following areas:

The scope of O&M includes the activities required to keep the entire built environment as contained in the organization's Real Property Inventory of facilities and their supporting infrastructure, including utility systems, parking lots, roads, drainage structures and grounds in a condition to be used to meet their intended function during their life cycle. These activities include preventive and predictive (planned) maintenance and corrective (repair) maintenance. Preventive Maintenance (PM) consists of a series of time based maintenance requirements that provide a basis for planning, scheduling, and executing scheduled (planned versus corrective) maintenance. PM includes adjusting, lubricating, cleaning, and replacing components. Time intensive PM, such as bearing/seal replacement, would typically be scheduled for regular (plant or "line") shutdown periods. Corrective maintenance is a repair necessary to return the equipment to properly functioning condition or service and may be both planned or un-planned. Some equipment, at the end of its service life, may warrant overhaul. Per DOD, the definition of overhaul is the restoration of an item to a completely serviceable condition as prescribed by maintenance serviceability standards.

Requirements will vary from a single facility, to a campus, to groups of campuses. As the number variety and complexity of facilities increase, the organization performing the O&M should adapt in size and complexity to ensure that mission performance is sustained. In all cases O&M requires a knowledgeable, skilled, and well trained management and technical staff and a well planned maintenance program. The philosophy behind the development of a maintenance program is often predicated on the O&M organization's capabilities. The goals of a comprehensive maintenance program include the following:

Sustainability is an important aspect of the O&M process. A well run O&M program should conserve energy and water and be resource efficient, while meeting the comfort, health, and safety requirements of the building occupants. The impact of Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) (PDF 1.9 MB), the Executive Order 13423 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 2007) (PDF 738 KB) must all be considered in the facilities O&M process.

FEMP OMETA

A critical component of an overall facilities O&M program is its proper management. Per FEMP, the management function should bind the distinct parts of the program into a cohesive entity. The overall program should contain five distinct functions: Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Technology, and Administration (OMETA). Beyond establishing and facilitating the OMETA links, O&M managers have the responsibility of interfacing with other department managers and making their case for ever shrinking budgets.

Major Resources

A. Planning and Design Phase

O&M activities start with the planning and design of a facility and continue through its life cycle. During the planning and design phases, O&M personnel should be involved and should identify maintenance requirements for inclusion in the design, such as equipment access, built-in condition monitoring, sensor connections, and other O&M requirements that will aid them when the built facility is turned over to the owner/user organization. Consideration should be given for professionally developed system-level O&M Manual(s), rather than the typical vendor-supplied equipment manuals. The Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE) initiative should also be a consideration. For larger complexes, O&M staff should consider system-wide integration and compatibility of proposed products with existing systems, including tools, equipment and cleaning supplies. This is where the full system commissioning process starts. WBDG—Construction Operations Building Information Exchange (COBIE)

B. Construction Phase

Near the end of the construction phase and prior to turnover of the facility, vendor/manufacturer O&M manuals are organized and provided to the owner/operator. Typically, personnel are trained in specified areas to support operations. Assurance that the manuals and training are provided is a part of the Building Commissioning process. In addition, typically part of the construction contract, warranties/activation dates and spare parts information should be organized and tracked.

C. O&M Approach

The O&M organization is typically responsible for operating utility systems and for maintaining the built environment. To accomplish this, the O&M organization must operate the systems and equipment responsibly and maintain them properly. The utility systems may be simple supply lines/systems or may be complete production and supply systems. The maintenance work may include preventive/predictive/ (planned) and maintenance, corrective (repair) maintenance, trouble calls, (e.g., a room is too cold), replacement of obsolete items, predictive testing & inspection, overhaul, and grounds care. O&M organizations may utilize a Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) program that includes "the optimum mix of reactive, time- or interval-based, condition-based, and proactive maintenance (predictive/planned) practices… These primary maintenance strategies, rather than being applied independently, are integrated to take advantage of their respective strengths in order to maximize facility/equipment reliability, while minimizing life-cycle costs." Particularly for Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, retro-commissioning is an option to improve operating efficiencies. The O&M organization is also normally responsible for maintaining records on deferred maintenance (DM), i.e. maintenance work that has not been accomplished because of some reason—typically lack of funds.

D. Life Cycle O&M

According to the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA), the operating life cycle costs of a facility typically are comprised of 2% for design and construction, 6% for O&M and 92% for occupants' salaries. O&M of the elements included in buildings, structures and supporting facilities is complex and requires a knowledgeable, well-organized management team and a skilled, well-trained work force whether the functions are performed in-house or contracted. The objective of the O&M organization should be to operate, maintain, and improve the facilities to provide reliable, safe, healthful, energy efficient, and effective performance of the facilities to meet their designated purpose throughout their life cycle. To accomplish these objectives, the O&M management must manage, direct, and evaluate the day-to-day O&M activities and budget for the funds to support the organization's requirements. For federal agencies Full Life Cycle Costing is a requirement of the 2004 Executive Order 13327—Federal Real Property Asset Management.

E. Computerized Maintenance Management Systems

O&M organizations may utilize Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) to manage their day-to-day operations and to track the status of maintenance work and monitor the associated costs of that work. These systems are vital tools to not only manage the day-to-day activities, but also to provide valuable information for preparing facilities key performance indicators (KPIs)/metrics to use in evaluating the effectiveness of the current operations and to support organizational and personnel decisions. These systems are starting to be integrated more and more with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) technologies to increase/improve a facility's longevity.

F. Non O&M Work

Most O&M organizations typically also perform work that is beyond the definition of O&M, but is so often required and performed by them, that the work often becomes a part of their baseline. This work is facilities-related work that is new in nature, and as such, should not be funded with O&M funds but funded by the requesting organization. E.g., from installing an outlet to support a new copier machine, providing a compressed air outlet to a new test bench, day porter services for special event set-ups and moves, or other minor facilities work of like nature to a complete room rehab and/or new, small construction projects. Methods available to document the built environment's condition and its maintenance/repair needs include the periodic Facility Condition Assessment (FCA)."

Emerging Issues

Teardowns. Demolishing old, historic buildings and replacing them with new structures that may not be as durable, sustainable or secure is a problem found in many communities in both the government and private sector.. Currently there is no single tool available to solve the Teardown problem but rather a combination of strategies works best. Recognizing that most architects, engineers, and facility maintenance personnel don't know where to start or go for best practices. One tool available online is "Teardown Tools on the Web," created as part of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Teardowns Initiative. This tool is intended as an easy-to-share, user-friendly, one-stop-shop highlighting approximately 30 tools and more than 300 examples of best practices being used around the country: http://www.preservationnation.org/issues/teardowns/

System-level O&M Manuals. Organizations that require a higher level of O&M information beyond the typical vendor equipment documents should ensure sufficient funds are set aside and appropriate scope/content requirements are written and specified during the planning stage. It is important to analyze and evaluate a facility from the system level, then develop procedures to attain the most efficient systems integration. System-level manuals include as-built information, based on the maintenance program philosophy. O&M procedures at the system level do not replace manufacturers' documentation for specific pieces of equipment, but rather supplement those publications and guide in their use. For example, system-level troubleshooting will fault-analyze to the component level, such as a pump, valve or motor, then reference specific manufacturer requirements to remove, repair, or replace the component. Documentation should typically meet or exceed client or commercial standards, such as ASHRAE Guidelines (e.g., 4-1993, Preparation of O&M Documentation for Building Systems) for format and content, and be tailored specifically to support the Owner's Maintenance Program (MP).

COBIE. Consideration to implement COBIE should be implemented during the planning stage, especially when BIM is required.

WBDG Services Construction Criteria Base