This chapter addresses the goals of plant operations and maintenance (OMP), components of operation, the definition of maintenance, repair and requirements for purchasing services.

The inclusion of the following goals should help a Facility formulate a successful OMP program:

1. Provide functional facilities that (a) meet the University's requirements; (b) have an environmentally acceptable atmosphere for students, faculty, and staff; and (c) ensure the health and safety of all personnel.
2. Perform maintenance on a periodic basis.
3. Identify potential problems early within the context of the planned maintenance system so that corrective action may be planned, included in the budget cycle, and completed in a timely manner.
4. Identify and implement possible improvements that will reduce costs, improve service, and result in more efficient operation.
5. Establish a capital asset restoration and renewal (also known as “deferred maintenance” or “DM”) list by collaborating with the UCOP ICAMP Program.
6. Follow an orderly program so that administrative costs are minimized and the workload for personnel is maintained at a relatively constant level.
7. Conserve energy and resources by ensuring maximum operating efficiency of energy-consuming equipment and systems.
8. Maintain credible relations with users by providing well-maintained facilities and information on planned maintenance activities.
9. Establish data collection systems that create supervisory and management control reports with uniform reporting formats and achieve continual feedback of information among departments through communications and manuals.
10. Institute systems for reporting historical data and operating statistics and maintain trend lines and indices of operating effectiveness.

Current UC policy as of 2005 can be found on: UC Policy on Management of Health, Safety and the Environment

The five UC teaching hospitals must comply with the standards of The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Joint Commission International (JCI). The standards of these commissions address all aspects of operation and maintenance.

Facilities operation is the provision of day-to-day services required to operate the University's buildings and grounds. Each campus will operate its Facilities in the most efficient manner to provide timely, effective, and economical plant operation in support of the UC's mission of teaching, research, and public service. 

Services should be considered procuring labor performed by another party that may or may not produce a tangible commodity. Service work includes custodial work, window washing, rubbish and waste removal, security guards, transportation, software development, clothing rental, laundry, tests and analysis, film processing, and equipment. See Materiel Management Policy: Business and Finance Bulletin; UC Presidential Policies: "University Guidelines on Contracting for Services;” UC Facilities Manual Volume 4 "Construction Contracting & Construction Documents."

Construction consists of moving, demolishing, altering, upgrading, renovating, installing, or building a structure, facility, or system according to a plan or by a definite process. Construction consists of the application of any of these techniques to physical plant facilities such as structures, utilities, excavations, landscaping, site improvements, drainage systems, roads, and any building additions, deletions, or any modifications of such facilities. 

Painting projects where the value of the project exceeds $25,000 is considered construction and must be competitively bid pursuant to PCC 10505(b). Upgrading or replacing a building system in its entirety when it has exceeded its useful life is generally considered construction, not maintenance and is subject to PCC 10500-10506.

As defined in the PCC 10500-10506, a project includes the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any UC structure, building, road, or other improvement that will exceed in cost, including labor and materials, a total of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) and for painting this number is twenty five thousand dollars ($25,000). If a project falls within the statutory definition, the project must be competitively bid.

Infrastructure and utility systems are defined as any system controlled and maintained by the UC that services or is available to service multiple UC structures, buildings, or improvements. An example of a utility system included in this definition would be the domestic water system; an example of a system not included could be a phone system maintained by an outside provider.

Maintenance is the upkeep of property, machinery, systems, and facilities, including buildings, utility infrastructure, roads, and grounds. Maintenance consists of those activities necessary to keep facilities and systems operational and in good working order. It consists of the preservation, but not the improvement, of buildings, grounds, other real property and their components. Maintenance may include replacement of components of equipment or building systems (roof, flooring, HVAC, etc.) if replacement is performed:

1. on a routine or recurring basis,
2. to bring the equipment or building system back to its fully functional state,
3. to ensure the equipment or building system retains its functionality for its anticipated useful life.

Subject to the above limitations, replacement of a component of a building system (for preservation, not improvement) is a form of maintenance when the replacement component is a duplicate, i.e., replacement-in-kind, or, if not, the replacement item is an upgrade because a duplicate component is obsolete or is no longer reasonably available. When the replacement is undertaken for the purpose of upgrading a system, it is not maintenance. Each type of maintenance is utilized by the different OMP functions to complete their tasks.  Deferred capital asset replacement work or maintenance work constitutes a restoration and renewal deferred backlog. Work that is solely maintenance, as defined above, may be performed by either UC employees or under contract. If performed under contract, maintenance work is subject to non-construction competitive bidding requirements for contracts costing $50,000 or more, regardless of the form of contract. 

Maintenance can be broken down into four types of categories: predictive/planned, preventive, unplanned/reactive, and emergency. 

Planned maintenance, characterized by its routine or recurring nature, is the upkeep of property, machinery, and facilities, including buildings, utility systems, roads, and grounds characterized by its routine or recurring nature. Each campus’ responsibility is to maintain its physical facilities to meet the University's mission. Predictive maintenance assesses asset conditions through the ICAMP Program to determine when asset maintenance should be performed.  The main promise of Predictive maintenance is to allow convenient scheduling of corrective maintenance and to prevent unexpected equipment failures.

Preventive maintenance is that portion of the overall maintenance program that provides the periodic inspection, adjustment, minor repair, lubrication, reporting, and data recording necessary to minimize building equipment and utility system breakdown and maximize system and equipment efficiency. Preventive Maintenance Program procedures are designed to fulfill the needs of the Facility. The purpose of the program is to produce cost savings by:

• Reducing the downtime of critical systems and equipment.
• Extending the life of facilities and equipment.
• Improving equipment reliability.
• Ensuring proper equipment operation.
• Maintaining a pleasant overall appearance of the facilities.

Unplanned/reactive maintenance is the unplanned response to urgent but not emergency maintenance requests.

Emergency maintenance is the repair or replacement of Facility components and equipment requiring immediate attention because the functioning of a critical system is impaired or because health, safety, or security of life is endangered. Emergency maintenance supersedes all other categories of maintenance. To determine whether emergency maintenance falls within the exception to competitive bidding requirements, refer to Emergency Repair.

If the work associated with replacement of a system’s component(s) is greater than 50% of the replacement value of its system, such work should be considered a system replacement and shall be considered repair, subject to PCC 10500-10506.  This may require the submission of plans; the submission of calculations; construction inspection requirements; and other data to ensure compliance with the California Building Code. In addition, if the value of the work associated with replacement of component(s) exceeds current U C Minor Capital Project limits, the Facility shall obtain Office of the President concurrence prior to proceeding with the work on the basis of maintenance work as defined in this Chapter.

Example of the difference between maintenance and repair:

1. A driver of a car loses control and hits an exterior air conditioning unit located on a slab adjacent to a University of California building. The unit is totally destroyed and the replacement cost inclusive of materials is $75,000. Under the definitions above, the replacement of the unit would be maintenance, not repair.
2. The driver of a car loses control and hits an exterior support column of a University building. Inspection reveals that there is damage to the structure of the building. The work, which would need plans and specifications, required to ensure the structural integrity of the building would be considered a repair. 

University facilities departments shall establish written policies and procedures to ensure the implementation of the correct distinction between maintenance and repair. As a minimum, these procedures must include approvals necessary when determining that a specific requirement in excess of $50,000 for work on property, machinery, systems, and facilities, including buildings, utility infrastructure, roads, and grounds is maintenance especially if there is any indication that the work could be categorized as repair.

If a project is the result of an emergency due to an act of God, earthquake, flood, storm, fire, landslide, public disturbance, vandalism, or failure that causes damage and repairs that are required immediately to protect the public health, safety, and welfare, the work may be done on a time and materials basis, by contract based upon informal bids, by University of California employees, by day labor, or by a combination thereof. For this exception to apply, it is necessary for the facts to support the immediate need for repairs to protect public health, safety and welfare. Supporting documentation must be provided during the contracting phase of this event. An example of an emergency not covered by this exception would be vandalism causing extensive damage to the landscape where the damage does not present an immediate safety hazard to anyone. The work does not meet the test of “necessary to protect public health, safety, and welfare.”

Unless a project meets the requirements of the exceptions below, all projects must be competitively bid. PCC Chapter 2.1 specifically outlines contracting policy for the University. UC contracting policies and procedures are found in all sections of that chapter and must be clearly understood and followed, including remedies and penalties for noncompliance. “Any officer or employee of the University of California who corruptly performs any official act under this chapter to the injury of the University of California is guilty of a felony.” See UC Contracting Policies and Procedures. 

If a project is for “the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of experimental, diagnostic, or specialized research equipment” (PCC10505(a)(2)), the UC may elect to perform the project with UC employees. Such work must require specialized knowledge and skills not readily available by contract. The use of this exception requires that the equipment installed must become a permanent part of the structure, that any ancillary construction work to be performed by UC employees must be performed at the same time as the equipment installation and must be required in order to make the equipment functional or maintain its functionality, and be consistent with the requirements of the Stull Act.

UC employees may perform a construction project when the value of all labor and materials does not exceed $50,000.[This limitation does not apply to maintenance work as defined in Specialized Equipment . A construction project may not be split in order to utilize this exception, e.g., performing $40,000 of work with UC employees and issuing a contract or purchase order to a contractor for the remaining $40,000 of an $80,000 construction project. However, individual projects need not be combined into a single project. As an example, the planned repaving of a street is a single construction project even though it may consist of repaving several separate sections of that street. In contrast, the repaving of separate sections of that same street accomplished at different times in response to program planning, funding requirements, or unexpected events, could each be a separate construction project.

UC employees, subject to the $50,000 limitation, may perform work on Infrastructure and Utility Systems necessary to support other construction projects or construction work; for example work required prior to and during the performance of a competitively bid project, e.g., rerouting and shutdowns of utilities and final connection of the project to the existing Infrastructure and Utility Systems. The coordinated work of multiple construction projects is not considered a single project; similarly, multiple discrete Infrastructure and Utility Systems requirements performed to support the same competitively bid project are each subject to the $50,000 limitation. 

Projects for the painting or repainting of a structure, building, road, or improvement of any kind may not be performed with University of California employees if the value of the painting or repainting project exceeds twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). See PCC 10505b.

Design services are services that require design professionals, such as architects and engineers, who evaluate conditions and, in the case of repair, provide design services. The selection of design professionals is subject to University policy and guidelines. State law requires design professionals and other consultants to be selected based on the procedures in the PCC 10510.4-10510.9 as implemented by University policy. Guidance in contracting for Design Services is found in Volume 3 of the FM.