Listed below are frequently asked questions regarding Maintenance Services.

Q: Can more than one request for different types of work be included on the same Request for Maintenance Services?
A: No, please send in separate work requests for each job. For example, do not include plumbing and carpentry jobs on the same request.

Q: Can routine maintenance requests be telephoned to the Maintenance office?
A: Yes

Q: Does Maintenance handle requests for moving or delivery of furniture and/or equipment?
A: Yes, our Surplus Operations division handles this type of request.  It should be submitted just like all other maintenance requests.

Q: Does Maintenance still handle requests for building cabinets?
A: No, cabinet work requests should be sent to Facilities Planning. However, requests for repair of existing cabinets should be sent to the Maintenance Department.

Q: When a safety inspection has been performed at a school and deficiencies are found, should the school go ahead and report these deficiencies to Maintenance?
A: No, all safety inspection reports, including HRS Sanitation, HRS Child Care, OSHA, and SREF, are sent directly to the Maintenance Department and work requests are generated and assigned at that time.

Q: Who handles requests for remodeling or renovation of facilities?
A: Facilities Planning.

Q: Does Maintenance repair Fax machines?
A: No, fax machine repair is performed by outside vendors. The individual school or department is responsible for procuring these services.

Q: Does Maintenance repair computers and/or printers?
A: No, computer and/or printer repair is the responsibility of the district's IT Department. They can be contacted at 429-2900 or ithelp@esdfl.us

Q: Is the school administrator or principal responsible for hiring, dismissing, and evaluating custodial employees?
A: Yes. The Custodial Department does assist principals on interview committees and during the disciplinary process, but principals have final decision dealing with custodial employees.

Q: Is there a routine schedule for maintenance services?
A: Yes, Maintenance does scheduled work such as painting, preventative maintenance, and work that can only be done during Christmas, spring and summer breaks. Most routine work is prioritized by the shop supervisor, with safety concerns receiving the highest priority.  All other routine maintenance requests are accomplished in the order in which they were received.

Q: What, is the turn around time on work orders?
A: There is a broad range in the length of time that the work order can be completed. Emergencies generally can be completed within minutes to a number of hours. Most shops and their crews are assigned to areas and most shops can respond to an emergency in minutes. Routine work orders are prioritized and generally can be completed in one to two weeks. Some work must be scheduled and may take several months to be completed. Other work orders require parts to be ordered and may take weeks to months to receive the parts and complete. School Administrators can request the status of their work orders by calling the Maintenance office.

Q: How is painting of facilities handled?
A: Facilities (interior and exterior) are painted on a cycle. Painting is accomplished during the day with a great deal of communication and coordination with school staffs. We use low odor and low VOC (harmful chemicals) paint. We do occasionally paint at night due to special needs if requested. In order to maintain our cycle, very little painting is offered once we finish a facility. However, we do take care of safety issues, vandalism, and supply paint for touch-up work to be done by school staffs or volunteers.

Q: Does maintenance use contract services?
A: Maintenance uses contract services for work that is beyond the scope, expertise or equipment limitations of our shops. 

Q: How are maintenance requests prioritized?
A: Emergency requests are considered to be safety issues, protection of district assets or major disruptions of the educational process. Requests in the emergency category receive the highest priority. Other requests are generally prioritized by the individual shop supervisors depending on the impact on our facilities and the nature of the request. Requests that are "maintenance" usually have priority over improvement or convenience type requests.

Q: How do I get my gym floor maintained or refinished?
A: Currently there is no plan or funding in place for complete restoration of gym floors. However, it is possible that gym floors could be included in our flooring replacement plan if it is considered to be an appropriate and allowable expenditure of those funds. We do offer help with minor sanding and re-application of paint and finish coat. Our custodial manager and staff provide guidance, and if available, manpower resources to assist school custodial or maintenance staffs if a school provides the materials.

Q: What is considered by Maintenance to be an emergency?
A: Emergencies generally fall under a few categories:

** Calls regarding safety that put employees, students or any individual on school site in danger of injury.

** Major interruptions of the educational process for extended periods of time. For example: power outage of the entire facility.

** Protection of district assets from major damage.

Q: What training do we provide for custodial staffs?
A: The district provides yearly training for custodial employees. Use of equipment, use of supplies, and leadership skills for supervisors are a few of the topics covered. Additional training is provided at each school site at the Principal’s request.

Q: What two areas of your operation cause the most problems for new principals?
A: The two of most concern are as follows:

** Sending in multiple duplicate work requests in attempt to "speed up" our response. One request is all you need. 

** Calling the Superintendent’s Office with concerns before verifying that a request has been submitted and prior to contacting Maintenance Department management. 
 

Q: What is the response time for maintenance requests?
A: Our response time varies depending on the nature of the request and the scope of work. We respond to emergency requests within hours of receipt. Emergencies that involve personal safety are responded to immediately. Routine maintenance takes approximately 5-10 days depending on the shop and the workload at that time. Improvement-type work that is not considered to be true maintenance is usually done as time permits.

Q: How can we track maintenance requests?
A: We currently have a computerized work request system with scheduling and tracking features. 

Q: Where do funds for building maintenance come from?
A: Funding for building maintenance is provided via the budget process in the Maintenance Department. Any work done at your school or facility is charged against the funding that is provided each fiscal year. 

Q: What is the price limit for maintenance work?
A: There is no price limit for maintenance work. We do have certain levels of administrative approval and Board approval depending on the amount of expenditure. If the scope of a maintenance project becomes more costly than our budget will allow us to perform, we will submit this work to be funded from capital outlay dollars or incorporated into the facility's five-year work plan.

Q: Does the Principal have a maintenance budget?
A: Each school has an annual  budget for minor supplies such as toilet paper, light bulbs, etc. This budget is administered by the Principal or the administrator in charge of the facility.

Q: Do Principals have a choice as to paint colors used in their school?
A: No, the district has a standard color scheme that is used to repaint all schools. 

Q: Does Maintenance like the online work request system?
A: Yes, we prefer it to the old hard copy system. It has tremendously improved the overall work request process particularly in response time.

Q: If there was one thing you could share with us that would be helpful, what would it be?
A: If the request you are making pertains to maintaining equipment, etc., that is already in place, it is the Maintenance Department’s responsibility. If your request pertains to improvement of the facility, it will be the responsibility of the Facilities Planning Department.

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