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Partnership committed to life safety and fire awareness
Facilities Management and the UH Fire Marshal�s
office have formed a partnership in support of campus fire and
life safety initiatives for the university�s physical
environment.
The most recent initiative, led by Barry Simmons, Facilities
Management Project and Program Manager, is the development of a
full two-year program plan. This plan will address various fire
and life safety projects, including prior compliance items
related to fire/life safety needs across campus, as well as to
establish a planned maintenance program for repaired and
restored systems. The maintenance program will provide that all
system needs are planned, funded, scheduled and administered on
an annual basis to ensure the ongoing safety of the campus
community.
In calendar year 2012, the program team worked to complete more
than 24 projects valued at over $12 million. These projects have
included the clearing of aged compliance issues with the state
fire marshal, fire hydrant and city fire department connections,
and standpipe hydrostatic testing, inspections, and repairs
across the campus.
The program team�s approach has been to prioritize a completion
schedule based on the following criteria: facility safety, SFMO
compliance requirements, funding availability, facility occupant
work and class schedule needs, project significance, design
requirements, public procurement process, and project phasing.
A good example of the diversity of project types is also one of
the more visible fire safety projects that have been undertaken:
the annual inspection, maintenance, and painting of the fire
hydrants across campus. During the course of the project, Barry
received an email from a campus observer asking why the
university was painting the bonnets (tops of the fire hydrants)
UT orange and not UH red. Barry responded with the explanation
that the fire hydrant bonnets are painted in this manner based
on the water flow rate, which indicates to the city fire
department how much water, or flow rate, can be expected from
that fire hydrant.
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