Ten Things Every School Facility Manager Should Know about Equipment

There’s still plenty of time for the facility maintenance crew who may have missed the opportunity to update aging school operating systems during summer vacation. Retrofitting or replacing an impaired system can be particularly challenging while school is in session, with limited access to classrooms, offices and general purpose areas. Winter break grants a second chance to check items off of the to-do list without disrupting classes, administration or activities.

Now is a good time to properly plan and prepare for winter break projects, including the collection of system data. Facility equipment audits help planners, managers and staff know what systems they have, equipment condition, service history, maintenance needs and location. At a minimum, an audit should record the following data:

1. What (brand name, model numbers, serial numbers, etc.)

2. Quantity and product size (i.e. size 4 or “medium)

3. Where

4. Age

5. Condition

6. Working as purchased/designed?

7. Repair history

8. Specialized upkeep requirements (i.e. oil and filter types)

9. Estimated remaining useful life

10. Recommended service or replacement

Videotaping sites is also an efficient and powerful data collection and documentation tool. Videos provide a record of facility conditions, impaired equipment, or structures in need of repair. Regardless of what is recorded, the collective data should be converted into an electronic format for ease in management, analysis and storage.

Upon completing your facility and equipment assessment, take on the projects with the greatest potential for a timely completion. Choose those projects with simple installation and deployment requirements.

Here’s a list of considerations to properly plan a replacement clock system:

1. How many buildings?

2. What is square footage of each building?

3. How many floors does each building have?

4. How many classrooms, offices and general purpose areas?

5. What type of clock system do you currently have?

See more information on Synchronized Clock Systems for educational facilities here.