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Aberdeenshire Council’s Property & Facilities Management Service

…designing, constructing and maintaining

The Property & Facilities Management Service is part of Aberdeenshire Council’s Business Services Directorate. The team supports the delivery of Aberdeenshire Council’s priorities through the provision of a high quality and customer focused Property Management Service. With an extensive property portfolio including schools, libraries, sports facilities, care homes, administrative offices and a large portfolio of industrial and other non-operational property, the remit of the team is widespread.

Allan Whyte, Head of Service Property & Facilities

“The Property and Facilities Management team exists to support the delivery of Council Services, from facilities management to our buildings; providing a design service delivering capital programmes across the Council’s extensive range of property assets; to the provision of managing industrial and non-operational units to stimulate economic activity in our region and provide an income stream. We have grown considerably in recent years, to have a team in place delivering over £1 Billion of investment since 2010, with a reduction in operational property assets by 24% over the same period.”

Project Portfolio

Some most recently completed construction projects

The team undertakes three key areas of activity:

Property Asset Management
Construction Programme Delivery (for both Housing and Non-Housing Assets)
Facilities Management

Property Asset Management

Estates: This team of professionals manages the Council’s operational and non-operational assets. In terms of non-operational properties, the team provides industrial and other non-operational properties which both support the local economy and generate an income for the Council, which can be invested in service delivery. In terms of operational properties, the Asset Management team ensures that the Council’s built estate has the right properties in the right place at the right time to support the Council’s strategic requirements. Through an asset review process the team identifies investment requirements, and where relevant, disinvestment, through challenge of asset use to highlight underperforming assets. The team also manages data concerning property assets to inform the decision making process. As part of the asset review process, the team identifies properties that are surplus to the use of Services, and the Council, which are then transferred to the non-operational portfolio for disposal, or demolition, as appropriate.

Examples of work undertaken in recent years include:

Acquisition of sites for new academies, primary schools, care homes, transportation hubs, depots etc., including the use of compulsory purchase where necessary.
Development of new industrial properties.
Development of office and depot strategies, including identifying the need for new facilities and disposals of surplus assets.
Maintaining a high level of occupancy in the commercial portfolio.
Managing leases that generate approximately £5m in annual income for the Council.

John Gahagan, Estates Manager

“As the Estates Manager I am very pleased that through the recruitment of individuals with excellent track records in the private and public sectors we have been able to assemble a very high quality team of property professionals who provide an excellent level of service to the Council, its tenants and stakeholders.”

Current vacancies in Estates Management:

Team Leader – Estates ( 1 x Full Time and 1 x Part Time)

Asset Disposal Surveyor (Full Time)

Construction Programme Delivery

The professional teams involved in this workstream design and deliver the building assets required by Council Services. These include facilities for all Council Services, comprising schools, care homes, sports centres, housing, depots and the like. The Construction Programme delivery team has in-house expertise comprising:

Architecture

The Architecture team includes expertise across a wide range of disciplines that deliver a range of design, specification, detailing and management services. Disciplines within the team include:

Architects and Technologists
Project Managers
CDM-Advisors
Contract Leaders
Technical Officers
Property Clerk of Works (inspecting Building, Mechanical and Electrical works on site)

The team delivers new-build solutions, upgrades, stock improvements, refurbishments and extensions for all internal services including housing, commercial, office accommodation, education, leisure, depots and waste. Projects delivered are funded through both Capital and Revenue budgets and include managing the construction projects from inception to completion. Project option appraisal, Masterplanning, feasibility and assessment analysis are also delivered by the team.

The large programme of work managed by the team requires that some design services are outsourced to private practices, including some specialised design input such as acoustic engineering or fire engineering. All outsourced architecture and structural engineering design service work is managed by the architecture team.

Quantity Surveying

The Quantity Surveying team carry out cost planning capturing the whole life cost of proposed construction projects from inception to completion. The team contributes to option appraisal processes and business case evaluation to establish best value solutions. The team manage the tendering process and deal with the commercial and contractual aspects of construction projects including monitoring budgets, construction procurement, risk and value management. The team further provide insurance replacement values for the Council’s extensive property portfolio.

Engineering

The Engineering team includes mechanical and electrical buildings services engineers, an energy management team and a property security coordinator.

Building services engineers provide technical solutions for new buildings, extensions, refurbishments and upgrades in schools, offices, leisure centres, care homes and depots and for housing stock improvements. The works include design, calculations, drawings, specifications, bills of quantities, cost control, feasibility studies, option appraisals, risk assessments, value engineering and project management. The team collaborates with other Council Services, design teams, external consultants, contractors and utility suppliers.

The energy management team monitor and target energy costs, consumption and emissions, validate and verify energy invoices, manage fuel procurement contracts and manage building management systems.

The team works with all Services to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.

Brian Smith, Engineering Manager

“My Engineering team have considerable knowledge and experience of building services and energy management and aim to provide an excellent level of service.”

Facilities Management

The Facilities Management Team helps meet the public’s demands and expectations through the provision of modern local offices and ensures the Council wider built environment has effective and efficient facilities management arrangements in place.

Hard Facilities Management.

Response, Planned Preventative and Lifecycle Component Replacement

This element includes the management of the repair, maintenance and improvement of the buildings Council services are delivered from, including education, leisure, office accommodation, depots and operational buildings. This Team includes a range of professional disciplines including Building Surveyors, Property Inspectors and Technical Officers, each with a firm focus on customer need, quality and cost management. This element manages minor works programmes and an innovative approach to the delivery of reactive and planned preventative maintenance activities and uses a single source provider model.

Soft Facilities Management

The main corporate office sites throughout Aberdeenshire are supported by a small Team of facilities staff that provide reception and caretaking related activities, such as general and minor maintenance tasks, mail room duties, health & safety checks, building security and cleaning. The building cleaning team manages the provision of building cleaning for all Council Services that covers operational establishments including offices, schools, sheltered housing sites and libraries and applies British Cleaning Institute Standards to provide a consistent approach to service delivery and one in which efficiency is key factor. The Service also includes the operation of Public Convenience sites. It manages substantive posts and relief staff and includes a mobile reactive team to clean Council Housing stock void properties, bus shelters and remove graffiti. It can also deploy trained staff to implement infection control procedures to sites to assist in the management of community health and wellbeing.

Current vacancies: