Maintenance & Operations

The mission of Maintenance is to maintain a safe, efficient, and functional physical environment with a focus on providing quality professional services to the university community.

The four types of maintenance activities that exist within the Facilities Management department are:

1. Routine Maintenance: Unscheduled work and repairs required for steady state operations
2. Preventative Maintenance: Scheduled inspections, adjustments, calibration of equipment
3. Deferred Maintenance: Planned maintenance that is deferred pending funding or awaiting scheduling
4. Capital Renewal: Systematic replacement of building systems at the end of their useable life

People

1. The Maintenance Department consists of 18 trades staff.
2. Fifty percent of the maintenance staff have served over twenty years of service at Saint Mary’s University.

What we do

1. Over 10,000 work requests were issued in 2007.
2. Over 1000 Preventive maintenance work orders were processed in 2007.
3. There are approximately 3000 locking doors on campus and 1000 keys were issued last year.
4. The department maintains over 5000 fire protection devices and 50 sprinkler valves.
5. Inspect and service of 20 fume hoods and sixty fan units is done by the department.
6. The department administers contracts for elevator, life safety, building automation and window replacement services.
7. Last year, 3000 lamps and 141 lighting ballasts were replaced.

Shops

Electrical Shop
Saint Mary’s University has its own electrical distribution system. The University's main substations are located in the Burke Building and Vanier Residence. The electrical shop is responsible for distributing the electricity to the buildings and other places as needed.

In addition to the distribution system, the Electrical Department handles other electrical needs and lighting replacements on campus. Maintenance requests should be made through the Facilities Management Service Desk at 902-420-5572.

Plumbing Shop
The plumbing shop is responsible for the maintenance and servicing of piping infrastructure that provides potable water for domestic use. Wastewater and storm tunnel water are removed from campus with this pipe network. The installation and maintenance of these systems are the primary responsibility of the plumbing shop.

The plumbing shop coordinates and works with all departmental crafts. Tasks include locating and marking utilities for excavation work and repairing broken water mains. The shop also maintains a variety of equipment including: pumps for sewage, stormwater and boiler feed water.

Preventive maintenance and servicing routine work order requests keep the plumbing shop busy. If you have a problem, please call the Facilities Management front desk at 420-5572.

Paint Shop
The paint shop routinely provides maintenance and repairs consisting of painting, touch-ups and interior finish repairs.

Exterior and interior painting are scheduled on a cyclical basis and modified based on actual need. Exterior painting is carried out to adequately preserve facilities such as stairs, railings and fences. Interior painting schedules may be modified as funding is made available. Colors are selected from a standard colour scheme except for major public spaces which may utilize special colour treatment.

Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Shop
Preventive maintenance is the most important task of the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning shop. The trades staff are responsible for the maintenance and efficient operation of all heating and cooling systems on campus. The shop services most of the refrigeration equipment on campus and handles minor welding and fabrication work.

The HVAC shop is also responsible for the operation of the Siemens Building Automation System that controls and monitors all rotating mechanical equipment.

Carpentry Shop
The carpentry shop is responsible for all maintenance and repairs to building interior and exterior structures. The carpentry staff also responds to key and lock requests and maintain a computerized inventory. The staff are regularly involved in minor projects that are coordinated by the internal Facilities Management Projects Team. Preventive maintenance is key to the carpentry shop and involves routine inspections for roofing, railings, doors, exterior and interior structures.

Operations

The mission of Operations is to provide uninterrupted and efficient utility services, timely response to emergency maintenance requests, clean safe grounds and a clean, top-quality sports arena for the students, staff, faculty, user groups and guests of Saint Mary’s University.

Arena Information
The Arena operates from 8:00 am to 12:00 am, 7 days a week from the end of July through to the end of March. The ice season begins with Hockey camps, operated by the Men’s and Women’s Varsity Hockey teams, in August. September marks the beginning of the regular season which includes activities such as staff skating sessions, student pick-up hockey, intramural hockey, Women’s & Men’s Varsity hockey practice and Women’s Varsity Hockey games. For more information regarding activities and ice rental please contact Athletics & Recreation.

Grounds Keeping
The Grounds Keeper provides year-round general cleanup and maintenance services to the campus grounds, while Edmonds Construction Services provide lawn care services throughout the summer months and snow-clearing services during the winter months. Edmonds has been providing services to Saint Mary’s for over 20 years.

Heating & A/C Plants
The Power Engineers provide after-hours emergency maintenance service while operating and maintaining the 3 heating plants, 2 air conditioning plants and emergency power generators. The 12hr rotating shift schedule provides 24hr coverage year-round.

Maintenance Services
The Maintenance Assistants provide maintenance services to the campus from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm Monday through Friday and 8:00 am to 8:00 pm Saturday and Sunday. Some of the services provided are minor plumbing repairs, minor window and door repairs, residence domestic appliance repairs, emergency response to flooding, snow clearing during the winter months and more.

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