PROJECT TURNOVERAND COMMISSIONING
Responsiveness IsKey to QualityPreventiveMaintenance
By Nicole Achs Freeling
Whether a building is a bank branch,industrial facility, or multitenant highrise,few problems present greaterheadaches than power outages. Choosing a preventivemaintenance and service provider,someone who can safeguard the structureagainst such outages and respond quickly if anunpreventable power failure does occur, is acritical task for owners.
Parsons Electric LLC asked five major clients to discuss their approaches to preventive maintenance and service. Specifically, The Electrical Connection approached Bob Seeger, Chief Architect, Wells Fargo Corporate Properties; Denise McCormick, Senior Property Manager, United Properties; Tom Erdman, Senior Construction Manager, Zeller Reality Group; Troy Sturm, Engineering Manager, Hines; and Dan Wagner, Senior Buyer, Flame Metals Processing.
Through these interviews, these companies divulged how they handle preventive maintenance and service in a number of different ways, from bidding projects separately to having the same contractor on site seven days a week. But participants agreed on one thing: Hiring a cheaper, less reliable contractor costs more in the long run than engaging someone they know and trust.
1. Do you use your construction contractor for service and preventive maintenance? Why or why not?
Seeger: Wells Fargo does use the same contractor for construction and preventive maintenance and service, although we do much of the preventive maintenance internally. Using the same contractor just makes sense. We have long-time relations with Parsons and have their people at our buildings seven days a week. They know us, and we know them very well.
McCormick: We definitely use the same contractor for both. The people we work with understand our building and know the history of the previous occupancy and how it was wired. This is invaluable. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
Erdman: We don’t use the same contractor. The main reason for this is I oversee four properties and I bid things out for competitive pricing. To get the best deal for our tenants and landlords, I need competing bids, so I can’t go with a single vendor.
Sturm: My answer is yes and no. We use different contractors for construction, maintenance, and service. The ones that do construction might not be able to do maintenance and service. I don’t want to put all my eggs in the same basket. Who I use has more to do with the electrician than the company. If I had an electrician and he went to three different companies, I would probably follow him.
Wagner: We use Parsons for both and are very happy with the results. The company knows our industrial equipment inside and out and does a fine job.
2. What are your expectations for project completion and turnover?
Seeger: I expect things to be on time and on budget. We’ve had success with this, meeting expectations about 99 percent of the time. Since we control the process extremely well internally, there’s not much room for things to go awry.
McCormick: Immediately, if not sooner. Seriously though, it depends on the circumstances. On a big tenant build-out, completion and turnover would take about a month. The preventive maintenance and service providers usually have to wait on other contractors to finish their jobs before they can come in and do their work. We’re very happy with our contractors. They coordinate the work schedule very well.
Erdman: Like Bob Seeger, I expect completion and turnover to be on time and within budget.
Sturm: Preventive maintenance and services must be reasonably priced, and the contractors definitely have to clean up after themselves. They also need to let us know about any problems they found and how they were resolved.
Wagner: We have someone from Parsons on staff with us 90 percent of the time. Much of our equipment is unique in the industry, and we need someone on board who’s familiar with it. If our guy is not with us for some reason, we just call. Parsons always responds quickly.
3. Are you pleased with your current maintenance provider? Why or why not?
Seeger: We are very pleased. I’ve been with Wells Fargo for 25 years, and Parsons was working with the company before I arrived. They do most of our projects and all of the mission-critical ones. We get the added perk of them banking with us, so it’s a back and forth win-win with them as a vendor.
McCormick: We couldn’t be happier. I never see this kind of passion for a job well done in any contractor I have worked with in the past.
Erdman: For ongoing maintenance, we use Parsons most of the time. Their thorough knowledge of our infrastructure and systems pays off time and time again in terms of timeliness and overall project cost. There’s always going to be value added when a contractor knows the property instead of going in blind, and we certainly have that advantage.
Sturm: We’re very satisfied with Parsons. The company is professional, and their work is reasonably priced. The quality and scope of work is good. What we like in particular is they take the time to give us a detailed summary of the work they do and the problems they find and fix.
Wagner: We are extremely pleased. We have had different techs serving our account over time; the work is never done “half way” or “good enough.” It is always by the book and to the letter. That kind of pride and professionalism is priceless.
4. Are you responsible for multiple facilities? If so, how do you keep the preventive maintenance and service consistent across those facilities?
Seeger: We do have multiple properties. We maintain consistency by managing the process internally and using the same vendors on most facilities. There’s a huge advantage to dealing with the same people on each project.
McCormick: We have four properties and use the same contractor for all of them. The buildings are all downtown, and I was able to retain the same technician for all four. That’s where the consistency comes from. We know what to expect from each other.
Erdman: We have multiple holdings as well. We do things a little differently, however. We rely on in-house staff and a variety of contractors and vendors. We can call on a vast pool of preferred contractors we know and trust. They always provide consistent maintenance that meets our standards.
Sturm: I have one high-rise with 55 occupied floors.
Wagner: We do have multiple facilities; they both perform the same type of operations. I work closely with Larry Bury, our Maintenance Manager. He is the primary monitor of the second facility. We not only use the same vendor but also the same technician that floats between each facility. This gives us extremely tight quality and consistency.
5. What is most important to your business: reliability, cost, and/or responsiveness? Please rank these items in the order of importance and tell us your reasons for the rankings.
Seeger: “I’ve got a lot of things going on, so when I call you, I want you there in five minutes.” That’s what I tell most of our vendors. So responsiveness is most important for us. Needless to say, reliability is also part of the equation. Our contractor may not be the cheapest provider, but when we’re doing a mission-critical facility, that’s not the primary concern. What’s more important is bringing in people we have a relationship with, someone we trust, someone we can work together with as a team.
McCormick: Responsiveness is the most important attribute for us because this affects the tenants and clients the most. This is what they see. Reliability comes next. In particular, you want jobs done with foresight, so you attack problems ahead of any potential issues. Price is third. This doesn’t mean price is not important. Our contractors have to be competitive with the market. I need to know that I’m being charged appropriately.
Erdman: I put responsiveness first, reliability second, and cost last. When an issue comes up, it needs to be resolved. When you have a multitenant building, problems usually affect more than one tenant, so a timely resolution is better for everyone.
Sturm: Reliability and responsiveness are both huge with me. I’m in a high-rise office building. Some of our tenants can lose millions if their equipment isn’t up and operating. Cost is important, too, of course. You have to think about all three.
Wagner: I put reliability first and responsiveness second. Keeping our equipment up and running is critical to our business, so cost becomes the last line item. We are extremely fortunate to have what we believe is the best of all three worlds with Parsons.
