Maintenance & Work Requests

Submitting A Maintenance or Building Alteration Request

You can submit the request yourself, as noted below, or contact the Facility, Operations and Safety Services team to submit the request for you. If you would like an estimate before deciding to proceed with the work, no budget number is needed. If work needs to be initiated immediately, please be prepared with a budget number or the name of your funding authority.

• Log in with your WSU Network ID and password to submit your building maintenance or renovation requests to the MyFacilities Portal
• Please note estimates can take several weeks to months, depending on the volume of work experienced by WSU Facilities Services. If you have a work request that is urgent, or highly time sensitive, please contact the Director of Voiland College Facility, Operations, and Safety Services to assist in expediting the work within the timeline required at 509-335-3783.
• If you want to proceed with work please make sure 100% of the funding is available in the budget provided.  If there is a remaining balance for the project, such as the 10% contingency, it is returned back to the budget(s) provided, not kept by Facilities Services.

WSU Facilities Services Frequently Asked Questions

Maintenance Services That Require Funding

Maintenance and repair of departmental equipment, when performed by WSU Facilities Services, is billable to the department/unit.  Departmental/unit equipment includes specialty equipment or systems not installed when the building was constructed.  Examples that would require departmental funding include specialty lighting, audio visual systems, digital signage, unit specific signage and/or directories, cage washers, lab installed DI water systems, lab vacuum systems, specialty flooring systems, cougar card readers, omni-locks, growth chambers, fencing, autoclaves, departmental installed cranes/hoists, refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioning units, pressure vessels such as air compressors installed by a department, and non-fixed equipment purchases such as equipment purchased via a grant, defibrillators, computers, furniture, and experimental and/or teaching equipment.

How Long Does Work Take To Complete

The answer on how long it will take varies on the work’s level of complexity and WSU Facilities Service’s volume of work.

Sample Timeline for Work Requests & Projects Via Facilities Services Shops (PPT)
Sample Timeline for Projects Going To Bid (PPT)

No charge maintenance requests are categorized by priority.  Hazards to people or property are prioritized first and addressed immediately.  Occupant comfort requests, such as too hot, too cold are usually completed in a day or two.  Required occupant maintenance is usually performed within a month, such as light bulb replacements.  Maintenance that is categorized as not immediate, such as a patch to fix a hole in the wall, is put on the Minor Capital Renewal list and will be addressed as resources allow.

Funded maintenance, work requests or projects are scheduled using the place they fall in the queue as of the date they are funded, by occupant timeline, and by WSU Facilities Services staffing availability.  Once funding is given to proceed with the work, something as simple as a new key may only take a few days. Electricians, depending on queued work, can take several weeks to schedule and the work may require an *L&I review.  A renovation may take up to a year depending on the level of complexity required for the design and availability of the space to be renovated – for example some areas can only be renovated when students are not using them, or at specific times of year due to site conditions.  For reference:

• An estimate may take up to a few months to get.
• *Washington State’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) requires any additional electrical load on a panel be metered for 60-90 days prior to the start of work.  A review of the design and final inspection may also be required by L&I before work can begin or completion is issued.
• Bargaining unit notification has to be given, with a 45 day window for the union to respond, if the work is to go outside of WSU to bid.  Notification has to be given, at minimum, in the following circumstances:
  • Specialized installations/alterations that Facilities Services may have limited, or no, experience with.
  • If Facilities Services lacks the skilled labor to perform the work.
  • The construction costs (not inclusive of administrative costs or fees) are estimated above $45K for a single trade or above $90K involving multiple trades.
  • Due to volume, capacity or availability, work cannot be completed by WSU Facilities Services in a reasonable timeline.

Other Options For Departmental Equipment, Furniture, Fabrication & Maintenance

Voiland College Shops can be hired to assist with specialized fabrication, maintenance, and modifications for departmentally owned equipment. (*This does not include any facility modifications.)

• Departmental equipment can be ordered and installed by the department with the following cautions:
  • Facility modifications can be very costly, but a bit of pre-planning can help reduce costs.  Prior to ordering equipment, verify that correct requirements are already in place where the equipment is going. If they are not there, see if the services exist elsewhere in the room/area that could be utilized.  It is strongly advised estimates are requested prior to ordering the equipment.  Preemptively specifying the specific equipment and services required is often beneficial.  Often this helps identifies large costs upfront that can be avoided via a subtle equipment specification change (such as an electrical plug, power option, etc..) that reduces or eliminates facility modifications, providing cost savings.  To get an accurate estimate be prepared with the services needed.  Some services to consider include power, water, air, gasses, hoods, ventilation, heating/cooling, fire suppression, power redundancy, networking, security cameras, door access, lighting, a hood’s sash opening/power/water/gas/chemical compatibility, etc.
  • Facility modifications can only be performed by WSU Facilities Services.  If equipment needs to be secured to the building – walls, ceilings, floors – if a connection needs to be made for services such as water, ventilation, drainage – if an electrical panel, circuit or hard electrical connection needs to be altered or made, WSU Facilities Services needs to be contacted.
  • Please be sure to verify that the equipment will fit through building entryways, in elevators, and into its final destination.
  • Signage may need to be updated outside the room to note particular safety hazards.
  •  Additional facility protections may be required depending on the application, such as security cameras, card swipe access, static free flooring, surfaces that can be wiped down and/or can handle the types of materials being used, a hood sash that opens far enough for equipment to sit within, and appropriate ventilation for heat, fumes, and/or exhaust.  Please ensure protocols are known, and updated in lab procedures and signage, to address the change in hazards and/or environments .
  • For equipment that needs to be maintained by specialists or that require re-certification, the maintenance and re-certification contracts are typically less upon purchase than they are to acquire later.
• Furnishings that are free standing, and do not attach to a building’s ceilings, walls or floors, (for example desks and chairs) can be designed, ordered and installed by outside vendors.   These contracts allow WSU to purchase at lower rates, and as the vendors are already on contract, do not require a bid for materials/labor if the order exceeds the direct buy limit.  (Orders exceeding the direct buy limit are still required to be processed through WSU Purchasing Services.)  Please contact Voiland College’s Facility, Operations and Safety Services, or WSU Purchasing Services, for vendors on contract with Washington State.

*Work performed by WSU Facilities Services is bargaining unit (union protected) work.  WSU is not allowed to used methods for alterations that are not approved by WSU Facilities Services, prior. The university cannot solicit bids or work from vendors outside of WSU, with the exception of freestanding furniture and departmental equipment.

Equipment Disposal & Surplus

Do you have items you can no longer use?

Offer The Items(s) To The College:

When you ask the Surplus group to pick up your items, please also offer the items to the college. Voiland College personnel are consistently looking for furniture, chairs, file cabinets, storage, or equipment. Please send an email out to the area administrators alerting them of the items you have available. If the items are still available when WSU Surplus comes to pick up the items go with Surplus. If not, you just helped your colleagues, and saved the college money. (Note: computer monitors may be reused across the college but computers rarely are. The Voiland College IT team can assist you in determining if a computer is at the end of its useful life, or if there is value in re-purposing it.)

An example note to send to the college’s schools/departments may look as follows:

Dear colleagues,

We are sending the following items to surplus: (provide a generalized list of items going to surplus here). If there is anything you would like from the items available please have them removed prior to surplus arriving on (it is suggested that at least 3 business day’s notice is given here). All items are on a first-come-first serve basis. The items are located at (building and room/area).

Request Items Be Collected By WSU Surplus:

If the college cannot use the items the university will take them and put them to best use at no charge to you. WSU Surplus will re-purpose, sell, recycle, or dispose of the items. They may also sell items on your behalf if the value is greater than $500. Please do not throw items out: Per WSU BPPM 20.76 all items purchased by, or for, WSU are considered state assets and must be disposed of properly. Surplus can typically get to your request within three business days.

To submit a request go to myFacilities. Located under the Quick Request list choose “Pick-up or Drop-off of Surplus Items. You will then need to log into MyFacilities using your WSU Network ID and password. Fill in the form and then select your unit’s inventory coordinator, usually one of your unit’s school/departmental administrators. The unit inventory coordinator has to approve the request prior to WSU Surplus coming out to pick up the item(s). Detailed instructions on how to submit a surplus pickup request.