Background
County Hall Estate Management looks after the County Hall building on the South Bank of the Thames in London. It asked Maxwell Stephens to recruit a Building Maintenance Manager with responsibility for the fabric of the building and estate.
The role covers common areas, loading bay and basements, facades and external estate areas. The purpose is to protect the asset and keep it safe and attractive for the occupiers who work there.
The Challenge
Fabric management is a narrower and more technical discipline than general facilities management, and strong candidates are scarce. The role owns the fabric maintenance budget and contracts, runs regular contractor meetings with KPI reviews and carries out inspections of the roof, facade and wider estate.
It also asks for long-range planning: a ten year planned fabric maintenance plan with an annual survey and update, annual planned preventative maintenance surveys, remedial works to cladding and stonework, and fire door surveys. Defect diagnosis, building warranties, critical spares and small works packages sit alongside.
The client wanted tendering and contractor management skills and sound financial control, with experience in a managing agent environment seen as an advantage. That combination of technical building knowledge and commercial discipline on a large, high-profile estate is uncommon.
Because the building is a landmark with a mix of occupiers, a missed survey or a slow defect repair is quickly visible, so the manager has to be organised and methodical as well as technically sound.
Our Approach
- We briefed in depth on the scale of the estate and on how much of the role was technical fabric work as opposed to general operations.
- We targeted fabric, building maintenance and technical managers on large commercial and mixed-use estates, including managing agent teams, where facade and roof programmes are part of the working week.
- We screened for evidence of planned maintenance programmes, survey cycles, defect management and contractor performance reviews, and for the ability to hold a budget.
- We presented the shortlist with full CVs and interview notes, then supported the client through interviews and offer to acceptance.
The Outcome
Maxwell Stephens made the appointment.
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