Roof Management Plans – an Interview with Two Districts
Etica Group sat down with two school districts in Central Indiana to learn about why they have Roof Management Plans. Read what they had to say below.
How many buildings does your district own? How many square feet of roofs do you have?
District One
25 different properties, but there are probably 30-35 buildings in the district with a total of 2,700,000 square feet of roofing.
District Two
13 buildings and 1,310,000 square feet of roofs.
Why do you maintain a Roof Management Plan for your school district?
District One
It helps the District to stay on top of maintenance projects. Ultimately, everything we do is about serving the students. If there is a leak in a classroom or a library, it is a distraction to the teachers and students taking away from the educational processes. It is our job to take those distractions away and let the teachers and students focus on why they are there.
District Two
We believe in Preventative Maintenance and that includes our roofs.
Has maintaining a Roof Management Plan helped in establishing a more proactive approach to roofs, rather than reactive?
District One
Definitely. As a district, we have our 25-year plan. It’s been in place for approximately 10 years now and we are constantly updating it. It helps to have a more planned long-term outlook to be ahead of the problems rather than reacting. This allows us to plan construction when it won’t be a distraction to the educational environments.
District Two
Absolutely. By having this quantitative and qualitative data, we make better decisions on priority of roof replacement and it allows us to budget as well.
How frequently do you reference your Roof Management Plan?
District One
Several times a year. It probably comes up more often in Q3 as we plan for the following year. We pull it up and revisit what buildings we are planning to look at. It’s a good reference point to provide information as staff ask questions about a building and we can set expectations. It also can be pulled out if there are leaks being reported in a building to re-prioritize projects.
District Two
Yearly
How does this enhance capital expenditures/planning?
District One
I’m not sure how much it saves, but it very helpful on planning and budgeting. We know how much we have to spend each year. Having a plan which goes 7 years out in the future, we can see if there is a year with more projects than we have funding available for and we can try to pull a few projects forward or back to spread the money out in a more manageable way with consistency across the years.
District Two
It provides factual data to plan and set budgets along with our other areas such as paving and interior finishes.
What would you feel is the most beneficial aspect of maintaining a Roof Management Plan?
District One
The planning and budgeting so we can stay ahead of issues before the arise.
District Two
Decisions based on data and observation.
Describe the process of working with Etica Group.
District One
They have been a good partner. Aaron has been very helpful as we identify issues and fix the problems. It’s been an overall positive experience.
District Two
Sean provided us a Maintenance Plan for our roofs in 2015, and we have worked from that plan along with updates from Sean and our Maintenance Dept. to replace needed roofs. We discuss the roof/roofs that need replacement yearly, and he performs and updated inspection in order to provide us an updated budget and eventually the plans and specifications to bid the project and then makes the recommendation on who is the most Responsive and Responsible Bidder. Once under contract, he works with me during the project to inspect the work, answer questions, checks pay apps prior to approval, and assures closeout documents are received.