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Planning Guide for Maintaining School Facilities
Home/Introduction
Chapter 1
  Introduction to School Facilities Maintenance Planning
Chapter 2
    Planning for School Facilities Maintenance
Chapter 3
    Facility Audits: Knowing What You Have
Chapter 4
    Providing a Safe Environment for Learning
Chapter 5
    Maintaining School Facilities and Grounds
Chapter 6
    Effectively Managing Staff and Contractors
Chapter 7
    Evaluating Facilities Maintenance Efforts
Appendices
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Chapter 5
Maintaining School Facilities and Grounds

GOALS:
  Image of Checkmark To remind readers that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
  Image of Checkmark To convey strategies for planning and implementing “best practices” for maintaining facilities and grounds



Area cleaning is the traditional approach in which a single custodian is responsible for all aspects of cleaning (vacuuming, dusting, trash removal, etc.) in a specific area. Team cleaning is performed by a team of specialists where one uses the vacuum, another a dust mop, and yet another empties wastebaskets or cleans the chalkboards.

Custodial Activities

The first step toward establishing an effective custodial program is to determine the district's expectations of its custodial services. This requires input from both the school board (who ultimately will fund the program) and the building administration (who will live with the results of the program). Facilities managers must then determine how to staff and support custodial efforts to meet these expectations. Managers must also determine the chain of command for custodial staff. In smaller districts, the head custodian often reports to the school principal. In larger districts, the custodial staff generally work directly for a central administrator who is trained in custodial operations and has ultimate responsibility for the cleanliness of the district's buildings.

Another management decision concerns the type of custodial cleaning to be used: area cleaning or team cleaning. Area cleaning is a traditional approach to custodial work, still commonly used in small districts, in which a custodian is responsible for all aspects of cleaning (e.g., vacuuming, dusting, trash removal) in a specific area. By contrast, team cleaning relies on specialists, with one person handling all the vacuuming, one person washing all the chalkboards, one person cleaning all the bathrooms, etc.

In theory, team cleaning is more efficient than area cleaning: thus, a four-person team can be expected to clean more than four times the square footage of a "generalist" custodian in the same time period. This approach is also equipment-efficient-each team of four needs only one vacuum cleaner; whereas each "generalist" custodian needs his or her own vacuum, mop, broom, and floor waxer. On the down side, a specialist who vacuums for eight hours at a time may burn out more quickly than a custodian who has more varied duties (although this can be minimized by "rotating" team members' cleaning duties). Team cleaning also tends to inhibit the personal interaction between custodians and faculty that is characteristic of area cleaning.

Should custodians perform light maintenance activities?

In many large school districts, job overlap is frowned upon-both from the perspective of "time off-task" and union agreements. In smaller districts, it wouldn't be realistic to expect a maintenance person to drive out from central office just to change a light bulb or replace a fuse, especially when there is an on-site custodian who is perfectly capable of doing the job. Small organizations will argue that this is plain common sense. Big districts may claim that it upsets the organizational chart. There's no right answer: local decision-making depends on local circumstances.

Many districts have used both approaches to cleaning successfully. The key variable is the degree of cleanliness the district desires relative to its willingness to incur increased personnel and equipment costs. In general, area cleaning results in cleaner facilities because a single custodian is responsible for an entire area, allowing him or her to become intimately familiar with the specific needs of the area. Team cleaning, however, tends to be somewhat less expensive.

Image of School BusFor more information about custodial activities, visit the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities' Cleaning Page at http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/cleaning.cfm, which provides list of links, books, and journal articles on custodial standards and procedures, equipment, safety, and product directories for the cleaning and maintenance of schools and colleges.


Grounds Management

The entire school grounds must be properly maintained on a routine and preventive basis. School grounds can be defined as the full extent (i.e., corner pin to corner pin) of all school property, including school sites, the central office, and other administrative or support facilities. This includes, but is not limited, to:
 


Properly maintained athletic turf, physical education fields, and playgrounds can help to improve student health and safety. Specifically, well-rooted, flat, and divot-free surfaces reduce the occurrence of leg and foot injuries.
  Graphic of Checkmark courtyards
  Graphic of Checkmark exterior lighting and signage
  Graphic of Checkmark outdoor learning equipment
  Graphic of Checkmark pools
  Graphic of Checkmark museums
  Graphic of Checkmark bike trails
  Graphic of Checkmark modular facilities
  Graphic of Checkmark paved surfaces (e.g., sidewalks, parking lots, and roads)
  Graphic of Checkmark athletic fields (including synthetic surfaces such as Astroturf)
  Graphic of Checkmark vacant property owned by the district

Keeping a school clean isn't only the custodian's responsibility

Some schools have adopted the "30-second rule" in which everyone in the building stops what they are doing and cleans the room they are in during the last 30 seconds of the day. (Most parents seem to approve of their kids getting used to cleaning up their space at the end of each day!)

In other schools, the student council is hired (via a donation from the maintenance department) to make sure that trash stays off of the floor.

Another approach is to give a "Golden Trash-Can Award" to the homeroom that is kept the cleanest during the week-with the winners earning a pizza party from the maintenance department at the end of the month.

Some school districts have responsibility for managing areas of special concern, including (believe it or not):

  Graphic of Checkmark wetlands
  Graphic of Checkmark caves
  Graphic of Checkmark mine shafts
  Graphic of Checkmark sinkholes
  Graphic of Checkmark sewage treatment plants
  Graphic of Checkmark historically significant sites
  Graphic of Checkmark other environmentally sensitive areas


Larger education organizations may want to have someone on the grounds crew who is certified in the application of pesticides and herbicides. For more information about this issue, see the discussion about Integrated Pest Management (IPM) in Chapter 4.

Other grounds-related factors that demand consideration include:

  Graphic of Checkmark use of fertilizers/herbicides
  Graphic of Checkmark watering and sprinkler systems
  Graphic of Checkmark use of recycled water (gray water) for plumbing, watering fields, etc.
  Graphic of Checkmark drainage
  Graphic of Checkmark scheduling "rest" time (e.g., time for new grass to grow after the football season)
  Graphic of Checkmark weighing the aesthetic benefits of flower beds versus the health costs of increased allergy events and bee stings
  Graphic of Checkmark use of the grounds as a classroom (e.g., "science" courtyards and field labs)

Planners must determine the frequency and level of maintenance service desired for grounds and outdoor equipment. For example, should the grass be cut once or twice a week? Is this schedule modified during peak and low growing seasons? Is a grassy area's use taken into consideration when determining its maintenance needs? Clearly, fields used for gym classes require less attention than the varsity baseball infield.

Image of School BusFor more information about managing grounds, visit the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities' Grounds Maintenance Page at http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/grounds_maintenance.cfm, which provides list of links, books, and journal articles on managing and maintaining K-12 school and college campus grounds and athletic fields.

Recommended levels of service for basic grounds care:

Acceptable = staff 1:20 acres

Standard = staff 1:18 acres

High = staff 1:15 acres

Recommended levels of service for athletic field aeration:

Acceptable = once (1)/year

High = five (5) times/year

These recommendations must be modified to accommodate local circumstances. For example, a school district that is responsible for managing five acres of wetlands would need to adjust staffing levels to ensure the preservation of this property.


Departmental Organization and Management

The ideal organization of the maintenance and operations department depends on the size of the school district-in square miles and the number and distribution of campuses. Large districts often use the "area support management concept," in which the district is divided into two or more areas, each with its own direct-support team that provides comprehensive maintenance. Each team would include skilled craftsmen such as painters, plumbers, electricians, HVAC repairmen, general maintenance personnel, and grounds personnel. Other tasks for which there is less demand - such as kitchen equipment specialists, small-engine specialists, cabinetmakers, roofers, and locksmiths - are supported from a central location. An alternative approach is to group staff according to their skill or craft - for example, all electricians work for the lead electrician, all plumbers work for the lead plumber, and so on. Both approaches to maintenance and operations organization are valid provided the chosen system supports current district needs and can adapt to future growth. Because local circumstances vary so greatly, there is no national staffing standard for determining the number of plumbers, roofers, or electricians needed by a district. However, several professional organizations offer guidelines based on the amount of building square footage that needs to be maintained. Other factors that must be considered include the size of the district in miles, the age of the buildings, the maintenance history of the buildings, funds available for maintenance activities, and the expectations of the community and school administration.

Marketing Maintenance

Few people notice when facilities are clean and working properly (although the opposite is far from true!). Facilities staff are often uncomfortable calling attention to their own good work, but they shouldn't be. After all, top-level administrators should occasionally be reminded of the important role that well-maintained facilities play in the effective operation of an education institution.



Maintaining schools also entails maintaining corollary and special-needs facilities such as trailers and modular buildings. These facilities demand all the support required by "regular" buildings, and usually merit additional attention because of their construction limitations. Modified management standards may be required (e.g., they may fill up with carbon monoxide or lose heat more quickly). Even the field house at the football stadium where the PTA sets up its hotdog stand is a special-needs facility because it is used for food preparation and, therefore, must meet high standards of cleanliness.

Maintenance and Operations Manuals

Every maintenance and operations department should have a policies and procedures manual that governs its day-to-day operations. The manual should be readily accessible (perhaps via an Intranet or the Internet), and written at a level consistent with the reading ability of department members. At a minimum, the manual should contain:

  Graphic of Checkmark mission statement
  Graphic of Checkmark personnel policies
  Graphic of Checkmark purchasing regulations
  Graphic of Checkmark accountability measures
  Graphic of Checkmark asbestos procedures
  Graphic of Checkmark repair standards
  Graphic of Checkmark vehicle use guidelines
  Graphic of Checkmark security standards
  Graphic of Checkmark work order procedures

Managing Facilities "Partners"

Schools belong to their communities. Individuals and groups in a community often take "ownership" in their schools' facilities in the sense that they initiate efforts to improve building condition, technological capabilities, and recreational equipment. This is a good thing-certainly parent-teacher associations, booster clubs, and business circles are all friends of our school systems. Having said this, facilities managers must supervise any activities undertaken by these organizations to upgrade or otherwise modify school facilities. For example, internet cabling installed by parents and community members must be coordinated with the rest of the building's electrical system and recorded on wiring diagrams. Similarly, all upgrades to playground structures, whether installed by maintenance staff or "amateurs," must meet safety requirements. Thus, facilities managers must be proactive in their communications with community groups so that all well-intentioned aid to our schools proves to be a benefit to student learning, recreation, health, and safety.
 


"Jury-rig" is not a synonym for "repair." To repair equipment means to return it to its original operating state.

Work Order Systems

Work order systems help school districts register and acknowledge work requests, assign tasks to staff, confirm that work was done, and track the cost of parts and labor. At the simple end of the spectrum, a work order system can be a manual, paper-based, tracking tool. On the more complex, but perhaps more efficient (depending on the size of the organization) side, work order systems come in the form of computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS as discussed in Chapter 3). Such systems have become increasingly affordable and easy to use. Their purpose is to manage work requests as efficiently as possible and meet the basic information needs of the district. CMMS software must also be user friendly so that it can be implemented with minimal training (although training needs are inevitable and should not be overlooked). Many CMMS systems offer "bells and whistles" that are not needed for accomplishing primary maintenance management tasks and, in fact, often unnecessarily complicate the user interface.

Good Intentions and a Prime Example of How Not to Save Money

Each year the parents at Central Elementary School raised funds for much-needed playground equipment, which they installed themselves. Jim was proud of their efforts, but he knew it was his responsibility to supervise their work. So Jim met with the PTA president and school principal on a Friday afternoon in May to discuss the installation of a new swing set. He had reviewed the city's map of the building site for gas lines, water pipes, and telephone connectors and had carefully selected the spot for the equipment. "I am sorry I can't be here with you tomorrow," he apologized, "but if you just set the swing at the bottom of the hill, it will be fine. I'll be by first thing on Monday morning to perform a safety inspection and lay rubber chips around it so the kids can be playing on it by lunch time." Everyone smiled and nodded, and Jim left for the weekend, not imagining that anything could go wrong.

The call came from Jim's assistant at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday morning. Jim left his son's soccer game and went straight to Central Elementary. He was shocked by what he saw: fire trucks were everywhere, and an entire city block had been Image of Eagle with Hammerevacuated. The police chief explained that a natural-gas line had been cut. "But how?" Jim thought, "The swing set wasn't to be anywhere near that line." Then Jim saw a hole in the ground more than 20 yards from where he had instructed the parents to place the swing. "Well," the PTA president explained sheepishly, "The early morning sun was right in our eyes when we were at the spot you selected, and we didn't want the kids to have to squint when they were swinging, so we thought we'd move to a shadier spot. Bad idea, I guess, huh?"

Jim realized the situation was the result of more than one bad idea. Not only had the parents acted on their bad idea, but trusting the parents to install the swing unsupervised had been an even worse idea on his part. They could have been killed if the gas line had exploded. As it was, the city had to spend thousands of dollars on emergency service and repairing the break-all for a $900 swing set. Jim frowned. Things would have to be different next time.

The CMMS should be network- or Web-based, be compatible with standard operating systems, have add-on modules (such as incorporating the use of hand-held computers), and be able to track assets and key systems. Source codes must be accessible so that authorized district staff are able to customize the system to fit their needs as is necessary. In terms of utility, a good CMMS program will:

  Graphic of Checkmark acknowledge the receipt of a work order
  Graphic of Checkmark allow the maintenance department to establish work priorities
  Graphic of Checkmark allow the requesting party to track work order progress through completion
  Graphic of Checkmark allow the requesting party to provide feedback on the quality and timeliness of the work
  Graphic of Checkmark allow preventive maintenance work orders to be included
  Graphic of Checkmark allow labor and parts costs to be captured on a per-building basis (or, even better, on a per-task basis)


Work order system documentation should be
used to augment and help interpret facility audit findings.

At a minimum, work order systems should account for:

  Graphic of Checkmark the date the request was received
  Graphic of Checkmark the date the request was approved
  Graphic of Checkmark a job tracking number
  Graphic of Checkmark job status (received, assigned, ongoing, or completed)

Are You Being Well Served?

Maintenance & Operations

XYZ School District

The maintenance staff has completed the
following work order in this area. Please feel free to write down any questions or comments in the space below, or call [insert number here]. Thank you for the feedback, because your opinion matters to us.

Work Order # ____________

Job Description ___________


COMMENTS: ____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
____________________
________________

Job Priorities

Some tasks are urgent (e.g., there is a giant leak in the girls' bathroom).
Others are less pressing (e.g., there is a dent in the paper towel dispenser in
the boys' bathroom). Thus, assigning "job priority" is a necessary step in any good work order system. Some facility managers use the following system:

Emergency overtime is authorized

Routine overtime is not authorized; complete in order of receipt

Preventive overtime is not authorized; complete according to the
maintenance schedule


Graphic of Checkmark job priority (emergency, routine, or preventive)
  Graphic of Checkmark job location (where, specifically, is the work to be performed)
  Graphic of Checkmark entry user (the person requesting the work)
  Graphic of Checkmark supervisor and craftsperson assigned to the job
  Graphic of Checkmark supply and labor costs for the job
  Graphic of Checkmark job completion date/time

Staff from every building and campus in a district should have the ability to initiate a work request and determine its status. However, it is a good policy to limit "official" requesting authority to a single person at each site so that better internal oversight is maintained (e.g., to prevent multiple requests being submitted for the same job). Many organizations provide staff with a one-page work request (in either paper or electronic form) that is then submitted to the person responsible for evaluating and entering requests into the work order system.
 


How many people need to "touch" a work order before the task gets completed? That depends on the size and organization of the school district. However, a good rule of thumb is that work order systems should be streamlined to minimize the number of people involved in delivering, approving, and performing a job.

Once a work order reaches the maintenance department, a control number is issued and the work is given a priority rating. The task is then assigned to a craftsman and a supervisor. Upon completion of the work, the craftsman records all labor and parts needed to complete the job. The work order is then submitted to the maintenance office for close-out. But first the supervisor must determine that the quality of the work meets or exceeds departmental standards. Because it is unrealistic to check every work order that goes through the maintenance office (even in small districts), good supervisors often take a two-step approach to evaluation: 1) randomly inspecting a small percentage (e.g., 3 percent) of completed work orders; and 2) in every case, providing the requesting party an opportunity to respond to a customer satisfaction survey.

Upon closing out a work order, all information about the request should be placed in a data bank for future historical and analytical use (e.g., for determining the yearly cost of building maintenance). Sophisticated CMMS enable the data to be analyzed in detail and at different scales (e.g., weekly, monthly, and annual reporting; as well as by room, building, and campus), depending on user need.

Basic Elements of a Work Order System for School Districts

Primary Types of Users

Work order initiators: Typically school-based personnel, including school secretaries, teachers, and principals

Work order recipients: Typically facilities management staff, including the facilities maintenance manager and secretary

Typical Workflow

A maintenance need is identified at a school district facility. Information required to request a work order includes:

  Graphic of Checkmark Contact name: A person in the facilities department to contact about the work order
  Graphic of Checkmark Contact phone: The telephone number of the contact person
  Graphic of Checkmark Contact e-mail: The e-mail address of the contact person
  Graphic of Checkmark Room number/location: The building, room, or other site where the work is to be performed
  Graphic of Checkmark Work requested: A short description of the work to be performed
  Graphic of Checkmark Job type: Carpentry, custodial, electrical, environmental, glazing, grounds, maintenance, heating, masonry, new construction, painting, plumbing, roofing, supplies, systems, or vehicles
  Graphic of Checkmark Urgency: Typically a yes/no indicator as to whether the work order is urgent; may also be a "pick list" (e.g., urgent, routine, preventive)
  Graphic of Checkmark Requested date of completion: When the school-based personnel initiating the work order would like to have it completed. (Note that the actual date the work is scheduled by maintenance staff may differ because of work loads or other factors.)

A good CMMS will automatically generate the following:

  Graphic of Checkmark Job number: A unique number that identifies the work order (often sequential)
  Graphic of Checkmark Received date: The date the work order was requested
  Graphic of Checkmark Entry user: Verifies the ID name/password of the person authorized to request a work order

The maintenance administrator adds the following to the work order:

  Graphic of Checkmark Work person: The person to whom the work order is assigned
  Graphic of Checkmark Scheduled date: When the work is to occur (not necessarily the requested date)
  Graphic of Checkmark Work order priority: Emergency, routine, or preventive
  Graphic of Checkmark Status code: For example -

O (Open) - The work order has not yet been assigned

A (Assigned) - The work order has been assigned to a worker and is in process

C (Completed) - The work order has been completed

R (Reopened) - The work order was completed but is now reopened

D (Deferred) - A work order will not be assigned at the current time

Comments: Additional instructions or guidance as necessary

After the assignment and scheduling information is entered, the work order record is updated in the database so the person who initiated the job can view the status of the request. Time and materials data are optional and may or may not be entered against a work order. These data are tracked in a separate but related database.

A record layout that incorporates the basic data elements for an effective computerized work order system is shown as Appendix E.

Image of School BusFor more information about work order systems, visit the National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities' Facilities Management Software Page at http://www.edfacilities.org/rl/software.cfm, which describes and evaluates computer-aided facilities maintenance management systems for handling priorities, backlogs, and improvements to school buildings.
 


Publishing an annual calendar of school or district events helps prevent duplicate scheduling of resources and facilities. To be most useful, the calendar should be posted to a network or web site so that it is easily accessible and new events can be added as they are scheduled.

Building Use Scheduling Systems

Another use for computers in facilities maintenance is the employment of an automated building use scheduling system for planning special events (activities such as athletic contests, PTA meetings, and holiday concerts that occur during non-instructional hours). The building secretary enters into a database all special activities in the facility that will require extended heating, cooling, or lighting. Information captured for each activity includes: the date of the event, expected attendance, beginning and ending time, specific location within the building where the activity will occur (e.g., classroom #201, the gymnasium, or the auditorium), HVAC and lighting needs, person authorizing the event, and a contact name. The HVAC department can print a list of all special needs on a weekly basis, allowing staff to schedule its systems for appropriate heating, cooling, and lighting in the particular areas where these after-hour events are taking place. The Facilities Manager can also access the building use scheduling the activities.

Managing Supplies

A large portion of a school district's maintenance budget goes to purchasing supplies for day-to-day maintenance and custodial work. Managing supply inventories efficiently may not seem like a difficult task, but a considerable amount of planning is required to ensure that valuable funds are not tied up in excess inventory.

A Reasonable Expectation

Marty Simmons was a reasonable man, everyone at Lincoln High School agreed. As principal, Marty rarely had time to waste, so when the lock on the door to the teacher's lounge broke, he promptly instructed his secretary to notify Jack, the maintenance supervisor for his building. Twenty-four hours later, when the lock hadn't been repaired, Marty called the maintenance department himself. Linda, the maintenance secretary, said the supervisor was in a meeting, but she was sure he was handling the job. Two days later, Marty called again. This time Jack caught the brunt of the frustrated administrator's impatience. "Jack, how tough can it be to fix a lock? I've got teachers who need a quiet place to retreat during the day and they deserve their privacy. What's wrong with you guys?" He was surprised by Jack's calm reply: " I know it's not a big job, Marty, but I've finally been authorized to get that heavy-duty, tamper-resistant lock you've wanted for so long. It will be here tomorrow. I thought it would be well worth the wait." Marty smiled. He had wanted that type of lock installed for years and it was surely worth a day or two's delay. "But why didn't you just tell me so I wouldn't have wasted my time worrying about the repair job?" he asked. It was a reasonable question, Jack realized (after all, Marty was a reasonable guy). "Hmm," Jack wondered out loud, "maybe it's time I got that work order system that I've always wanted. It would have allowed you to see the status of the job right from your desk." "Yes," Marty replied, "you should definitely get that system-so that I don't call and chew you out for no good reason any more."



Every dollar in parts sitting on a shelf is a dollar that is not available for classroom instruction.




Consignment cabinets save money and time-they contain supplies that are provided by vendors, but not paid for by the district until they are used.









For routine replenishment of supplies, a "just in time" system may be used. For example, because HVAC filters are needed on a routine and predictable schedule, they don't need to be stored in-house; instead, they can be ordered in bulk for delivery by a vendor the day before they will be used.

Parts purchased for storage should meet one of the following criteria:

Graphic of Checkmark High-volume purchases generate cost savings that exceed the cost of storage.

Graphic of Checkmark The parts may be needed at any time for emergency repairs.

Graphic of Checkmark The parts are difficult to obtain or take a long time to get delivered.

Many facility managers take advantage of consignment cabinets that vendors supply at their cost. That is, a vendor stocks the district's storage space, but the district does not pay for the material until it is used. What's in it for the vendor? Well, the consignment cabinet translates into guaranteed business for the vendor whenever the district needs the stored parts or supplies.

Another effective system for managing equipment inventories is the use of open purchase orders or open procurement cards, which can be issued to a local store (e.g., a $1,000 purchase order at the hardware store that is valid for a 30-day period). As parts are needed for a project, craftsmen go to the store, select the items, and sign the purchase ticket. At the end of the 30-day period, the purchase order is closed out and paid. To verify the legitimacy of all purchases, receipts must include an itemized list of the items purchased, the name and ID number of the staff person, and the work order number.

Centralized Versus Decentralized Parts Storage. Both site-based storage and central storage systems have costs and benefits. Site-based storage keeps parts where they will be needed-i.e., maintenance staff don't have to wait for supplies to arrive from central office. On the other hand, supplying multiple sites leads to increased costs associated with redundant inventories. When vendor-supplied consignment cabinets are used, redundant inventories don't cost the district any extra money except for the storage space. Another drawback with site-based storage is that inventory management is difficult, leaving the district vulnerable to property loss from theft (making effective key control for supply facilities essential). Whether centralized or decentralized, the inventory management system must be integrated with other facilities and financial management software in use (e.g., the organization's CMMS).







If constrained by "low bid" requirements, district planners might consider switching to performance-based specifications to ensure they get the equipment they want.

Image of KeysStandardization of Parts and Equipment. It makes sense to standardize equipment and parts whenever possible. After all, if a district has three different brands of chillers (or even three different models of the same brand), then it will need three different kinds of replacement parts - a waste of storage space. Moreover, staff training requirements increase since maintenance workers will need to know how to service three different pieces of equipment instead of one. Unfortunately, many school districts must adhere to low-bid contracting, which can result in a different vendor getting a given contract in successive years. One way to overcome this problem is to include language in all procurement contracts that requires vendors to provide services and equipment that is consistent with the existing infrastructure and staff expertise.

A large portion of the custodial budget goes to the purchase of cleaning chemicals. Thus, chemical dispensers that automatically mix chemical concentrates with water at the proper ratios can result in significant savings by ensuring proper mixing, as well as reduced waste and theft of cleaning agents. Other custodial supplies can also be purchased in bulk and managed using appropriate inventory control procedures.

When selecting parts, keep in mind that you may not always need the best product-for example, if your HVAC system has a 10-year life expectancy, there is no need to purchase a top-of-the-line 15-year pump as a corollary component. But neither does it make sense to buy cheap 15-year shingles for a new building that has a life expectancy of 40 years.