Building maintenance for government agencies

The Department of Housing and Works engages with agencies to plan and develop annual maintenance programs, addressing required routine and preventative maintenance, and considers upgrade, replacement and renewal projects as part of an agency's annual maintenance program. 

Agencies must have a Strategic Asset Plan and include a Maintenance Plan. Agencies may develop their Maintenance Plans with assistance from the Department of Housing and Works. 

Maintenance Plans may include:

• evaluating historic maintenance expenditure
• assessing deferred maintenance need using the Building Condition Assessment Report and other tools
• assessing the agency's portfolio age profile to determine the historic life cycle costing profile
• determining the acceptable level of deferred maintenance based on risk assessment
• assessing maintenance funding implications of proposed asset disposals and acquisitions
• preparing a ten-year plan for recurrent and capital funded maintenance.

Agencies must maintain a Building Maintenance Logbook for each facility. They should follow the Maintenance Minimisation Manual to reduce building maintenance requirements and promote sustainable building design.

These building related works projects are delivered through dedicated project officers and the majority of projects are delivered through established contracting arrangements such as the Low Value Maintenance Panel (LVMP) in the metropolitan area, and the Service Alliance 2012 (SA12) in the regions.

The Maintenance Services Arrangement (MSA) is a contractual arrangement administered by the Department of Housing and Works, delivering services to select State Six government agencies have their building maintenance in the Perth metropolitan area region and parts of the Peel region through a facilities management managed by a private contractor model. under the Maintenance Services Arrangement (MSA) contract.

The agencies are:

• Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport
• Department of Education
• Department of Fire and Emergency Services
• Department of Justice
• Department of Training and Workforce Development
• Main Roads Western Australia

Programmed Facility Management (PFM) was awarded the MSA contract in 2016. Maintenance services delivered by PFM, include:

• breakdown repairs
• routine maintenance
• low value maintenance (works under $100,000)
• projects (over $100,000)
• strategic maintenance and planning advice
• property services, and
• site-based personnel (such as electricians, plumbers and handy persons).

For detail, please email MSAContractManagementTeam@dohw.wa.gov.au 

Simple Works provides an avenue for agencies to directly engage with contractors from our maintenance contractor panels to undertake low value, low risk improvement works. Contractors on these panels have already met our requirements for quality of work and standard pricing.

Examples of Simple Works include: 

• minor electrical work (outlets or lights)
• marking of courts and car parks
• internal painting
• minor plumbing work (taps or drains).

Agencies should not use the Simple Works service for urgent maintenance like breakdown repairs. In addition, agencies that are part of the Maintenance Services Arrangement (MSA) in the Perth metropolitan area, should contact Programmed Facilities Management (PFM) via the PFM’s portal or call 1300 044 113 for direct engagement of contractors for low value, low risk works.

If your agency does not receive services under the MSA, the Simple Works procedures provide an explanation of what constitutes Simple Works, the application process and other related works processes – including interactions between maintenance contractors, ourselves and other agencies.

The following Simple Works documents will help you through this process: 

1. Simple Work procedures
2. Simple Works request form

For any additional information please email simpleworks@dohw.wa.gov.au

The Service Alliance 2012 (SA12) was introduced by the Department of Housing and Works to deliver building, maintenance and improvement work on Government assets in regional Western Australia.

SA12 aims for strong working relationships with local contractors from building-related trades. It does not include suppliers, consultants or project managers.

Agencies not participating in the Maintenance Services Arrangement can access the Department of Housing and Works 24/7 breakdown repair service for urgent, non-routine maintenance through a call centre network on 132 134. The call centre lodges requests for repairs with pre-qualified contractors. The breakdown repair service provides a comprehensive range of services that maintains most aspects of buildings.

Routine Maintenance Service

The Department of Housing and Works manages the delivery of routine maintenance services through the direct engagement of contractors. It is work performed on a cyclical basis to comply with statutory requirements (e.g., fire equipment) or in accordance with manufacturer’s/industry standards for periodic servicing, and includes work that prevents failure, consequential damage or extends the life of components.

Inspections and Assessments

The Department of Housing and Works offers government agencies a service to arrange Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM) inspections and Building Condition Assessments (BCA) upon request. These services are conducted on government owned and leased sites across Western Australia. Site reports and asbestos registers are hosted and available to users at any time on an external facing web portal.