Facilities Maintenance Auditing

NEW PRMS Website

Facilities Management - the problem

As part of its service provision mandate, the Facilities Branch of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) is committed to providing safe and secure buildings for all State operated Schools. In 1996/7, as part of DEECD's Asset Management Strategy, Hammond Street Developments (HSD) developed software and computer systems required for a Condition Audit Project. The project was known as the Physical Resources Management System Audit, or the PRMS Audit Project.

The PRMS maintenance audit identified and prioritised maintenance needs of all schools across the state in a consistent manner. It provided the Department with an invaluable tool to analyse and plan its maintenance program on both a state-wide and an individual school basis. Schools planning their maintenance activities at a local level have also used the resulting audit data.

Currently DEECD manages some $8 billion in assets and a maintenance budget annual revenue totalling $80-$100 million, the task of managing allocation and distribution of maintenance funding is mostly automated and seamless.

A recent agreement was formed between DEECD and HSD, to commercialise the intellectual property of this software suite. After many years of the PRMS suite operating as a tried and well tested government benchmark, we are proud to now provide a proven platform for use by DEECD, other government departments and the private sector. Many commercial operatives such as Universities, Emergency and Council services also currently utilise the PRMS suite.

The task of identifying and prioritising the maintenance requirements of each and every state-owned school is truly a mammoth task. Collecting and collating maintenance data from over 1650 schools scattered all over Victoria, requires a multi facet application that takes into consideration the requirements of all stakeholders and users alike. PRMS provides a single interface for over 2000 users to simultaneously access maintenance reports and display data visualisation, providing them with the necessary information to determine budget allocations and develop maintenance programs.

With a multi million dollar maintenance program in play, somehow the clipboard or paper-based method was not going to cut it. Building complex architecture for an audit process would include variables such as:

DEECD

Strategic information:
- Maintenance analysis
- Data visualisation
Maintenance Program Management:
- Funds allocation
Audit Program Management:
- Finance management

Schools

Audit Review:
- Maintenance programs
- Budget allocation

Audit Firms

Project Management:
- Communication management
- Distributed application technology (Rich User Interface)
- eCommerce

Auditors

Audit Software to include:
- GIS/GPS
- Building Plans
- Data collection
- Mobile computing with touchscreen
- Mobile internet

Strict timelines and regulatory requirements have made facility auditing processes more critical. Coupled with demand for immediate results, future solutions require adoption of technology and systems that more effectively streamline the process. This process is maintained through a quality assurance program which engages all aspects of the audit to ensure distribution of available maintenance funding is provided by a clear and transparent process devoid of any subjective inputs.

If you require more information on PRMS, please contact Eric Woolford by phone on +61 3 9875 5905 or email at Sorry, you need Javascript on to email us.

For more information, please refer to the following: