1.2.13 Facility Service Disruption and Shutdown Notifications

Effective Date: December, 2008
Revision Date: December, 2013
Signature/Position: Director, Finance and Administration

Purpose

To outline the provision of notification to campus building occupants and facility users in the event of planned or unplanned utility service or building system shutdowns.

Scope

All Physical Resources staff, all building occupants and all facilities users whose teaching, research or activities will likely be affected by a planned or unplanned service disruption or shutdown of building systems or supplied utilities.

Policy

The distribution of utilities to the main campus, operation of building systems and decisions concerning shutdowns i.e., interruption and restoration of utility services and building systems is the responsibility of Physical Resources.

Shutdowns have the potential to pose operational problems for occupants of buildings and users of facilities, however periodically, utilities involving water, steam, chilled water, electricity, fan systems, air conditioning, condensate, compressed air, gas, fire alarms etc. must be shut down to permit routine maintenance, repairs, modifications, or installations of building systems or related campus distribution systems.

It is the policy of Physical Resources to ensure the organization of shutdowns begins well in advance of the event thereby providing ample notification time to building occupants and facility users. Occasionally breakdowns occur which require the immediate shutdown of a utility or service supplied to a building to avoid risk of injury to persons and/or further damage to affected buildings or facilities. Whether a planned or unplanned shutdown occurs, Physical Resources staff shall make every effort to minimize the impact of any outage by following the Physical Resources facility service disruption notification process.

Notifying Persons with Disabilities of Temporary Disruptions

Physical Resources shall provide notice to the University’s Accessibility Office in the event of a planned or unexpected disruption in the facilities or services used by persons with disabilities. This notice will include information about the reason for the disruption, how long the disruption is expected to last, and a description of any alternative facilities or services available (where applicable).

Upon notification from Physical Resources, the Accessibility Office shall place at all public entrances and service counters any service disruption notice involving a service which has the potential to affect any persons with disabilities. Depending on the nature of the disruption, notice will also be provided by email, outgoing telephone messages and on the University’s Accessibility Office website via a link to the Physical Resources, Main Campus Facility Service Disruption Notification webpage at following URL: www.pr.uoguelph.ca/customer-services/main-campus-facility-service-disruption-notifications-bulletins