Facility Audits

Most schools have not recently assessed the condition of their largest single asset – plant and equipment. Armed with a professionally prepared audit, managers and administrators can prepare more accurate budgets, guide fundraising, direct long-range planning and positively influence their accrediting bodies.  A facility audit covers all building systems from HVAC and electrical, to roofs and finished walls.

 

Excella Group is experienced with special-use spaces such as laboratories, resource centers, cafeterias, performing arts facilities, gymnasiums and fitness centers. Our company is uniquely equipped to offer current benchmarks and standards of “best practices” to the independent school community.  You don’t have to be a facility audit client to participate in our facility audit program and receive the most complete report on independent school facility characteristics available in the country today.

 

Security Audits

When school officials, governing boards, or insurers need an objective and experienced risk assessment, a security audit is usually the first step.  Excella Group will staff the audit with a law enforcement professional with specialized training and experience as a School Resource Officer.  The SRO conducts a vulnerability assessment, by inspecting the campus, interviewing and surveying users, reviewing existing tools and emergency response plans that are in place, and recommending actions that are intended to improve physical safety and security.  A third-party review and report by a school-experienced advisor, without involvement in equipment or hardware sales, is an essential building block for your risk management program.

Audit clients are eligible for annual reviews of their facilities department operations and their progress in retiring deferred maintenance, all at a fraction of the cost of a full-facility audit.  This natural extension of the facility audit keeps your facilities staff motivated and focused on long-term improvements and increased efficiency.  Remediation budgets, capital forecasts, and regulatory compliance are all kept current, so the audit can truly be a living document that provides ongoing value to the facilities staff and governing bodies alike.  If the school wishes to pursue LEED-EB certification (link) through the U.S. Green Building Council, the annual operations review is a perfect context for initiating and moderating such an effort. 

 

Excella Group is strongly committed to the LEED program and can assist in the formation and guidance of your facilities sustainability effort.

The senior managers within Excella Group, Inc. are all previous facilities and property managers.  They are supported by a wide array of engineers and specialists who are experts in their fields.  This team of hands-on operators and professional problem-solvers is an ideal source of information and planning for the maintenance and operation of any building.

 

Through its strategic partnerships, Excella Group can deploy its recommended procedures as a web-enabled maintenance software program, allowing facility managers to simply plug-and-play.  Or, if you already have a preferred maintenance or planning software, we can help you implement and populate the database.  Our team will tailor its services to your specific needs.  If you utilize our strategic partnerships, training will be provided on the implementation and use of the software, along with unlimited ongoing phone support.

 

Have you joined the ever increasing number of organizations committed to LEED-EB certification of their property operations?  Although the efficiency and sustainability benefits of LEED-EB certification are fairly self-evident, it helps to have a facilitator on board who is versed in operations and is respected by the many constituents who make a LEED program successful.  Our commitment to ongoing operations support and the LEED movement drive us to constantly seek out the “best practices” and most efficient solutions for each of our clients.