How we define our work on campus

Facilities Management defines a project as construction, renovation or maintenance work which has sufficient financial, technical or University impact to warrant the overhead costs associated with all Facilities Management work.

Criteria for a project:

• Costs more than $10,000 (if paid for by an Facilities Management account)
• Costs more than $5,000 (if paid by a department or faculty other than Facilities Management)
• Professional design services required
• Project has potential to impact:
  • Multi-year master-plans
  • Change in use or occupancy of a space
  • Technical standard(s)

There are two different types of projects, as defined by Facilities Management:

1.      Minor projects

2.      Capital projects

Minor projects

• Examples include interior renovations, small additions, exterior improvements, renewal of mechanical or electrical systems, etc.)
  
• Facilities Management manages both the planning and renovation/construction phases
• Minor project criteria:           
  • Adds less than 5,000 square feet of new space
  • Requires a budget of less than $5 million
  • Requires oversight by a dedicated Project Manager

Capital projects

• Require a budget in excess of $5 million
• Facilities Management manages the planning phase  while Dalhousie’s Capital Construction department manages the construction phase
• Examples of capital projects include the LeMarchant Mixed Use Building and the Dalhousie Ocean Sciences Building

Alteration or renovation requests are used for work where there is a change in programming or function of a space.

Special emphasis will be placed on projects that will assist the university in meeting its planning priorities and fall within the following categories:

• Accessibility
• Functional changes or efficiency improvement to space
• Environmental health and safety
• Information technology
• Teaching
• Student experience

A&R submissions are usually made in late summer of each year and can be completed through the Facilities Management website.

Requests need to re-submitted each year. With the volume of requests and limited funds, Facilities Management focuses on assessing the most current requests.

Each building can be broken down into a group of systems including roof, HVAC, exterior windows, flooring, paint, elevator, electrical distribution, etc.  Each of these systems have a defined lifespan, at the end of which some amount of investment will be required to enable the system to continue functioning properly. The primary focus of Facilities Renewal (FR) spending is on lifecycle renewal to ensure that these specific systems continue to function properly.