Reforming Building Maintenance
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FY09 House 2 Budget Recommendation:
Issues in Brief
Deval L. Patrick, Governor
Timothy P. Murray, Lt. Governor
Overview
Planning, management, and funding for state facility maintenance has varied across agencies and has not adequately addressed facility maintenance needs. The Governor's budget includes funding for a study and establishes a new legislative commission to design a reformed maintenance model for state facilities.
Current System
The existing decentralized approach to facility management is inefficient. Within agencies, resources are not being shared across campus boundaries. For example, the lack of coordination may lead to an electrician in one building being unable to work at a facility across the street. At the state wide level, DCAM has identified six different approaches used by agencies to maintain state buildings. Some agencies like the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) employ on site maintenance staff for minor repairs and contact a central office for specialty work. In contrast, the State Police have no maintenance staff for their barracks and rely on contractors as needed. The result of the disparate models is less efficiency, and inadequate maintenance of state facilities. This deferred maintenance in turn results in increased capital funding needed to make major repairs to facilities.
Solution
Centralization and standardization of the management and funding of facility maintenance will likely allow the state to better coordinate staff, share resources, and take advantage of economies of scale. Developing the best approach to implementing such a reform will require thorough analysis and involvement by a variety of stakeholders. The solutions can vary, thus making it necessary to analyze and discuss the issue. The Governor's budget establishes a commission to study the issue and provide recommendations to improve the current maintenance model:
SECTION 30.
(a) There shall be a special commission to investigate and study the maintenance of state facilities.
(b) The commission shall consist of the secretary of administration and finance, or her designee, who shall chair the commission; the commissioner of capital asset management and maintenance, or his designee; the chairs of the house and senate committees on ways and means, or their designees; the house and senate chairs of the joint committee on bonding, capital expenditures and state assets, or their designees; the minority leaders of the senate and house of representatives, or their designees; a representative of the International Facility Management Association; and 3 other persons appointed by the governor. The division of capital asset management and maintenance shall provide staff assistance to the commission and shall conduct a facilities maintenance review to assist in the commission's study.
(c) The commission shall study opportunities to improve maintenance of state facilities, including, but not limited to, more efficiently allocating resources and responsibility for facility maintenance, implementing best practices in assessing and addressing facility maintenance needs, and more effectively funding facility maintenance needs.
(d) The commission shall report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the clerks of the senate and House of Representatives on or before March 31, 2009.
To aid the commission in its examination, the Governor has established a reserve account to be used by the Division of Capital Asset Management to conduct the initial phase of the analysis. The study will lay the foundation for the commission and create comprehensive base of information for commission members.
Facility Maintenance Study 1599-0026
For the study and implementation of building maintenance reform in accordance with section 30
Prepared by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance • Rooms 373 & 272 • State House
For more information contact:
Ketav.Patel@massmail.state.ma.us
www.mass.gov/budget/governor
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