Plant Operations is comprised of Custodial Services, Grounds Maintenance, Machanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP), and Building Maintenance. Physical Plant Operations maintains over 1 Million square feet of campus facilities, and over 200 acres of landscape and grounds. The Assistant Director is responsible for the development, training, implementation and management of operational rules, procedures, and quality standards. The Assistant Director insures that physical and human resources of the Physical Plant are ulitized to their full potential.
The Building Maintenance Department provides routine maintenance, reactive repair services, minor alterations, access control, and emergency facilities response for all campus buildings, excluding the Miramar Complex.
Design & Construction Services, in consult with various outside Architects and Engineers, provides project coordination and management (10% management fee), field inspection of capital construction, renovation, alterations, or remodeling projects for the University. They create plans and specifications, prepare cost estimates (free), perform facility audits and surveys, and gather management information, analyze it and prepare reports for presentation. Projects range up to $1,000,000 for new construction and up to $2,000,000 for renovation projects.
The Custodial Services keeps our buildings clean. Their work includes dusting, trash removal, shampooing carpets, floor care, window washing, and sanitizing restrooms, in addition to handling emergencies. Depending on the building and its use, service is provided on a five or seven day schedule. Shifts include days, evenings, nights and weekends.
Grounds Maintenance manages over 200 acres of turf and landscape areas, recreational fields and paved areas. They design, provide estimates, and participate in master planning and site planning issues. Their jobs include lawn mowing and trimming, weed control, tree and shrub trimming, and chemical application for insects and disease, maintenance of irrigation systems, pick up loose trash, and install seasonal flower beds. They are also responsible for special preparation and setups for campus events, moving furniture, and a variety of other tasks. Also check Special Event Pricing
MEP provides chilled water (CHW), for cooling, and hot water (HW) for heating, through the direct-buried underground Campus Utility Piping Distribution Loop to 20 buildings. The Central Plant provides the chilled/hot water for this loop. The water tower is used to store the conditioned water for use during the day. This helps keep energy costs down. For those buildings not on the campus loop, building cooling and heating is provided by stand-alone units.
To provide comfortable interior space temperatures, while being energy efficient, we maintain occupied space temperatures between 74° and 76° degrees in the cooling season and between 68° and 70° degrees in the heating season.