Cutting Costs with Privatized Maintenance

Maintenance services provided by contract workers on an as-needed basis can provide much needed assistance to facilities working within a tight or downsized budget. By reducing, but not eliminating, a fulltime maintenance staff and privatizing maintenance where possible-especially outside the secure perimeter-facilities can reduce expenses while also controlling security risks.

Security concerns are always an issue whenever outside personnel are allowed repeated access to high-security areas; the danger of contraband entering the facility increases as does the possibility of inmates gaining access to workmen’s tools and equipment. In order to take advantage of privatization, facilities need to make it possible to perform more maintenance tasks outside of secure areas. However, it’s recommended that facilities retain at least one in-house maintenance staff member for handling routine tasks.

Designing Around Security Challenges

No matter how desirable maintenance outsourcing may be, it cannot be allowed to compromise security. In many older facilities, where the exterior wall of the building is the boundary of the secure area, there is simply no way to avoid potential contact between inmates and contract maintenance personnel. However, for facilities still on the drawing board, there is much that can be done to reduce or eliminate workers entering secure areas.

One of the most effective strategies is to locate heating, ventilation, and air condition (HVAC) ductwork, as well as plumbing systems, in an exterior plumbing chase located outside secure areas. Since the periodic maintenance and repair of today’s sophisticated mechanical equipment is almost always performed by trained specialists, a proper facility design places equipment in an outside mechanical room where boilers, air handlers, water heaters, and the like can be serviced by contract workers without jeopardizing security.

A view inside the plumbing chase that encircles the Spartenburg County Detention Facility. The design allows private mainenance workers to access the area without coming into contact with inmates.

A plumbing chase design that makes contract maintenance more practical involves placing plumbing fixtures on the back wall of cells and creating a walkway or passage that runs behind the cell walls. Contract maintenance people can deal with the most routine of maintenance and plumbing needs without entering the cells or secure area. The same design allows access to HVAC ductwork.

Privatizing the maintenance of HVAC and plumbing components within an existing facility is usually difficult because equipment is generally located within a secure area. When it is time to replace major components, plans should include the relocation of equipment to a new mechanical room constructed outside the secure area. New designs have the plumbing chase run around the exterior of the cells but within the building envelope, offering easy access to nearly all HVAC ductwork, power, plumbing equipment, water lines, ducts, and pipes. Unfortunately, nothing nearly this efficient and this accommodating can be achieved with preexisting facilities.

Security Systems Maintenance within the Secure Perimeter

The reality is that almost every corrections facility has its own unique combination of security system components, probably acquired piecemeal as needs changed, funding increased, and better technology became available.

And, even in the best-designed facilities, closed circuit TVs, locking systems, consoles, duress alarms, and related components must be maintained where the equipment is needed-within the secured area.

As this equipment becomes increasing complex, the need for specialized outside maintenance becomes more pronounced, requiring rigid security procedures when within secure areas.

However, by specifying the installation of or upgrading to equipment requiring a minimum of maintenance during its scheduled lifecycle, facility managers can decrease the frequency of visits from private maintenance personnel. Asking manufacturers to specify off-the-shelf components and systems that do not require special tools, reduces the number of visits from outside personnel and reduces security risks.

Glen Renfro, CFM is director of justice programs, Southern region, for HDR, an architectural, engineering, and consulting firm. He can be reached at: (972) 960-4052, or by e-mail at: grenfro@hdrinc.com.