Scope

Planned Preventative Maintenance and a 24-hour / 365 reactive response to 12no sites in the Southeast, the majority of which are in London.

• Redecoration
• Refurbishment
• Fixed Wire Testing
• TMV Servicing
• Painting Rooms and Common Areas
• Replacement of Flooring

Solution

Each property varies in size and scope, ranging from 30 beds to over 700 beds. Our ability to mobilise resources in the event of an emergency is of paramount importance to ensure minimal disruption to the students. The contract stipulates a 3-hour emergency response; to meet this requirement, we have multiple engineers available to respond at any time, and no on-duty engineer is ever further than 3 hours away from the sites. Our average emergency response time is under 2 hours. These properties are not only the students’ homes, but also places of study and recreation, accessible and operational 24/7/365. We minimise disruption by scheduling works outside of term time wherever possible, and ensuring no works occur before 9am. PPM schedules are set annually and the client is alerted 1 week and then 1 day before visits.

Challenges

One of the primary challenges faced was working in occupied premises with students present, including vulnerable individuals. Additionally, securing access to properties was difficult, as students would not always respond to access requests. To address these challenges, we took several steps to prioritise the safety and well-being of all site occupants. All our staff are enhanced DBS checked and trained in safeguarding to ensure the safety of site occupants. We arranged for CRM to escort engineers and also worked closely with CRM to develop an access procedure, whereby CRM would attempt contact with the students three times before granting us direct access to the properties. Engineers were instructed to knock three times before accessing the property, at which point they would loudly announce their presence to any occupants.

Risk Management

Site-specific risk assessments were undertaken for each site before PPM works and prior to small works or reactive maintenance. A H&S issue was identified at one site, where the access hatches to assets were in non-compliant locations and were an emergency exit risk, preventing the delivery of safe PPM. Our team rapidly produced a programme to relocate the hatches and delivered the works before the assets exceeded SFG20 PPM frequencies, maintaining full compliance.

Added Value

Wherever possible, our engineers will resolve any reported issues via phone call, for example, providing guidance on resetting a system. This minimises the number of callouts and any associated cost to the client. We also provide guidance on any replacement parts, advising on which parts offer the longest lifespan and require the least maintenance, creating long-term savings.