Facilities

The Facilities Department is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. The department does not work during the following college holidays; New Years, Memorial Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving Day and the day after, Christmas Day and either the day before or after.

Please contact Public Safety at (765) 983-1400 to report any emergency related to buildings & grounds outside of normal facilities’ hours of operation. Please do not report emergencies via email or Facilities voice mail (983-1315).

Emergencies are problems that create a safety hazard, interrupt building operations or seriously disrupt academic, administrative or College life and would require immediate attention, or cannot wait until the next business day.

• • Examples: Fire, major power or water outage, water or gas leaks, broken glass in high traffic areas, total loss of space heating in freezing weather, major equipment breakdowns, exterior doors that cannot be latched, etc.
    

High priority problems are less serious than emergency work, but require repair within three business days after the discovery of the problem.

• • Examples: Repair of broken window in cold or hot weather, drinking fountains, inoperable lighting/outlets, dripping pipes, extremely warm or cool rooms or spaces, etc.

Medium priority problems are less serious than high priority. Completion can be expected within (10) business days of receipt of the Work Order Request, depending upon the availability of manpower and supplies.

• • Examples: Leaking faucets, sticky doors, ceiling tile replacement, etc.

Low priority problems include all requests not falling within the other categories. Scheduling is on a “first come-first serve” basis and completion can be expected within thirty (30) days of department approved work request depending upon the availability of manpower and materials.

• • Examples: Repair of chairs, minor painting, installation of additional electrical outlets, chargeable request, etc.

1. The person making a request is the best source to explain the issue at hand. You are able to offer the best description (your office or room is too hot/cold, lights are out, window is broken, etc.). This way the request can get assigned to the appropriate trades person for service and repair and there is less chance for confusion about exactly where the problem is located.
2. Work orders are used for accountability. Once the order is received and created this is how we know what is getting done and are able to track if there are repeated problems within an area.
3. By submitting a work order request complete with your name, phone and email, you put yourself into the loop and are automatically informed of the status of your request.

When submitting a work order request through the Facilities online form select your facility by clicking on the drop down arrow and select either Earlham College, Student Dorm or Student Houses. Proceed from there by selecting the correct building.

At the next screen provide the information required by the red asterisk. The “area” will give you the selections for room, etc. Tag type and tag# are not required or needed. Please select your department or provide your account number in the request box so work can be charged to the correct department. Any request that is not specifically building maintenance will be charged accordingly to the requesting department.

First, if there is an urgent or life safety issue call x1315 during business hours or x1400 after hours. However, even if you call to let us know of an issue, you still need to follow up with completion of the work order request. (See answers 2 and 3 under Why do I have to submit a work order request.)

When submitting a request for work to be done in your area the following will occur.  Upon receipt of the completed request through the computerized system you will receive automatic email notification that the process has begun. The work order will be created by the Facilities admin assistant and in turn assigned to the appropriate trades person (plumber, electrician, carpenter, etc.) via their iPod. They will complete the required work in the order/priority received and close the work order. At this point another email is automatically generated to update the requester on the status.

Things to remember about work orders … Actual building/facilities work or repairs will be charged to the appropriate building account. Requests that are for the convenience, desire or comfort of the occupants such as furniture moves, hanging pictures or bulletin boards, etc. will be charged to the requesters department account. When filling out the work request please include this account number so that the correct charge can be accomplished. If in doubt, please call the Facilities office at x1315 with questions or concerns.

Work requests for student room furniture moves or changes (lofting kits, etc.) must be approved and submitted by the appropriate RA or AD.   

Projects: Small remodeling/improvement projects to existing facilities. All project work is to be planned and coordinated with the department making the request and the Director of Facilities and all other trades or personnel involved. An approved account number must be provided prior to Facilities beginning detailed planning. Facilities will work with requesters to develop cost estimates and schedules before committing to do the work. This preliminary planning and effort clarifies intent and scope and will help requesters understand budget and time frame required.

Examples: Office remodeling, construction of bookcases and cabinets, addition of lighting or power circuits, decorative painting, etc.

We track orders through the operation by the work order number. If you don’t have a WO number, then provide as much information as you can about the job. This information would be most helpful:

• Building and room location
• Person who placed the order and date