The University of Queensland

A.G. Coombs was appointed by The University of Queensland (UQ) to plan, manage and deliver whole-of-asset-life maintenance services across the University’s multiple campuses; in excess of 518 active buildings over a range of sites including a large 97-hectare campus (St Lucia), a medical campus next to the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital (Herston), a 972 hectare agriculture focused campus (Gatton), an inactive mine site (Indooroopilly), and two marine studies sites (Heron Island & Stradbroke Island).

To overcome the major challenge, that being the sheer size and diversity of the contract. A.G. Coombs has applied a different model to the way asset management and maintenance services are being delivered – taking a systems-based approach to maintenance as opposed to looking at individual assets. The service delivery framework also addresses the technical redundancy or obsolescence of aging assets, broader environmental and lifecycle considerations, operational performance, and condition and/or risk-based decision making.

Maintenance strategies were developed to optimise system performance and environmental outcomes over the short, medium and long-term, covering the University’s diverse installed base of heating, ventilation and air conditioning assets and building management and controls systems. The University’s comprehensive asset register was also updated and verified, using a purpose-built A.G. Coombs App to upload detailed information. A HVAC lifecycle / rehabilitation program was also established to run concurrently with the planned and corrective maintenance activities, to help bring systems to a common standard. And direct interoperability with UQ’s asset management system is allowing for the real time communication of all maintenance related activities.