 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
The Accommodation Planning Process This Section describes the accommodation planning process under the following headings:
Overview of the Planning Process The objective of any office accommodation planning process is to enable your office accommodation to better align with your business needs. This means that changes at a facility level need to clearly support the objectives and strategies of your organisation at a corporate level. In this regard it is important that you refer to Government's Total Asset Management policy when considering changes to your accommodation. Total Asset Management (TAM) is the strategic management of physical assets to best support the delivery of agency services and the achievement of desired Government outcomes. TAM requires agencies to assess what assets are needed to support successful service delivery having regard to whole-of-government objectives, an agency's Corporate Plan, and its Service Delivery Strategy. It then calls for detailed plans for the management of those assets that are to be acquired, maintained or disposed. Further information about TAM can be found on the Treasury website at www.treasury.nsw.gov.au When considering major organisational accommodation changes agencies should also have regard to Government's Shared Corporate Service Strategy that was announced in Premier's Department Circular 2002-01. Office Accommodation Strategy Agency Level As part of their Asset Strategy, Government agencies are required to develop an annual Office Accommodation Strategy (OAS) and submit it to Treasury by 31 August each year. The Strategy should be developed at a corporate or whole of agency level with clear links to an agency's service outcome objectives. Guidelines to assist agencies to develop these plans can be found in the Office Accommodation Strategy Guideline that is part of the TAM Manual on the Treasury website. The Guideline provides a planning checklist in Appendix B. Facility Level The OAS identifies the actions required within an agency's office accommodation portfolio for a three-year period to ensure its alignment with service delivery objectives. This may include refurbishments, relocations, lease renewals, rationalisations or collocations for specific facilities within the portfolio. In the majority of instances it would be worthwhile to complete a facility plan, although Premier's Memorandum 2002-09 only requires the submission of a facility plan to the Department of Commerce for premises in excess of 1,000m2. The Accommodation Planning Process The following diagram describes the accommodation planning process in broad terms:
1 - Determining Your Accommodation Requirements Preparing a Facility Plan A Facility Plan defines the most appropriate workplace strategy for your organisation that supports business goals and objectives over a defined time and within certain financial parameters. It takes into account matters such as suitability of existing accommodation, review of alternative portfolio options, agency objectives and business needs together with identified future changes, people issues, technology and specific services issues. Whenever major organisational changes are being planned, the facility planning process should be used to review existing business practices. Major relocations occur infrequently and provide an ideal opportunity for organisations to streamline business processes and change cultures where necessary. The Facility Plan provides a "roadmap" on which future accommodation-related decisions can be based. It can be relatively straight forward and satisfy the requirements of the OAS planning checklist, mentioned earlier, or can provide a significant opportunity for your agency to take a fresh look at accommodation and maximise the potential provided by a new working environment. It is essential that sufficient time be incorporated into the program to allow adequate involvement of staff at all levels across the organisation so that a diverse range of ideas and opportunities can be identified and explored. This can take up to six months for large organisations who require a comprehensive facility plan. Developing a Design Brief A Design Brief should be developed having regard to the completed facility plan and interprets the operational and spatial requirements of your organisation. These are usually developed for individual Business Units/Departments and aim to summarise specific requirements for each space, together with performance specification standards. Such issues may include spatial layouts and requirements, office equipment and appliances, office planning, furniture and workstations, flooring, walls and doors, sustainability design criteria, special services requirements, access needs, etc. Preparing a design brief, producing an approved
design and implementing the design can take up to six months for
a new accommodation project up to 500m2 and twelve months or more
for a larger project. An accurate and well-considered brief, prepared
through a process of consultation with staff, unions and strategic
facility planning/design experts will help ensure the success and
timeliness of a project. This section assumes there is a need to find alternate premises. This should only be the case for a new initiative or where existing accommodation no longer meets functional or service delivery needs. If there is a need to look for new accommodation, agencies must notify the Department of Commerce before approaching the market. They must also comply with the other requirements outlined in Premier's Memorandum 2002-09, Office Accommodation Lease Management and Negotiation, and detailed in Government Policy on Office Accommodation. Agencies must also consider the requirements of the Premiers Memorandum 2004-04, Greenhouse Performance of Government Office Buildings and Rental Properties, which details the Australian Greenhouse Building Ratings' targets that agencies must endeavour to achieve. The type of building that is suitable for an agency depends to a great extent on the size of the agency and its potential to grow or shrink in size over time. Agencies that expect little change in size can be accommodated in many different types of buildings. Dynamic organisations, however, need to consider buildings that provide flexibility both in terms of layout, building services - large open floor spaces with capacity for future expansion are likely to suit such organisations. Depending on the needs of your organisation suitable premises may be defined by location, internal amenity, site adjacencies and infrastructure, floor plate size, shape and depth, building core location and configuration, floor planning efficiency, building services, sustainable design and many other factors. A Building Selection Criteria Matrix incorporating these factors is provided in the Tools section of these Guidelines. You should complete your facility plan before
you start to consider accommodation options. The facility plan should
provide you with a thorough understanding of the type of premises
and locations that may be appropriate for your agency. In designing your workplace, the designer will be briefed comprehensively through your facility plan and design brief and will work with you to develop an appropriate design in the premises selected. The design must comply with the requirements of occupational health and safety and disability discrimination legislation. These requirements are discussed further in Design for Access and Mobility, and Occupational Health and Safety. Once again it is important to consult with staff and relevant unions throughout the process. In this regard agencies should be familiar with Premier's Department Circular 97-53, Consultative Arrangements: Policy and Guidelines released on 29 August 1997. The design should also incorporate, as appropriate,
the sustainability issues discussed in Sustainability
Considerations in Design. and comply with the requirements
of Premiers Memorandum 2004-04. Fitout construction can commence once contractors have been finalised through the tender process. Agencies must ensure that any tender process complies with the NSW Government Procurement Policy, the Code of Practice for the Procurement and any other related Government directives. For fitouts with a value in excess of $500,000 agencies must comply with the requirements of Treasury's Memorandum 91/07 which requires the procurement risk management role to be undertaken by the Department of Commerce on your behalf. The design consultant, in-house or outsource project manager's role is to monitor construction and contract administration, including program and project budget. The final step in the process is occupation of the new premises. This requires the development of a relocation strategy and for larger organisations this may be quite comprehensive. Ideally, the relocation strategy should be developed with sufficient time so that the designers and others can advise and discuss aspects of the relocation with the relocation consultants. Staff must also be involved in this process to ensure a smooth transition. Further details on issues associated with relocation are provided in the following sections. It is also recommended that agencies undertake
a post occupancy evaluation (usually 3 to 6 months after occupation)
to ensure that the fitout delivered on the original objectives of
the facility plan and design brief. The Post
Implementation Review guidelines in the TAM Manual provide
a useful reference for this activity. There are a number of matters that must be completed to ensure that a relocation does not adversely impact on service delivery. The following is a list of some of the more important issues but is by no means a complete list of what must be attended to.
For enquiries about industrial issues that may arise as a result of a proposed relocation. Agencies should contact the Premier's Department Public Employment Office on 02 9228 3568 (Employee relations and workforce planning issues) or 02 9228 4164 (Redeployment issues) Transport Access Guides A Transport Access Guide is a precise presentation of how to reach a site or venue using low energy forms of transport - public transport, walking or cycling. Transport Access Guides provide a quick visual representation of a particular location that makes it easy for a person to see the relationship of the office site or venue to train stations, bus stops and taxi ranks, walking and cycling routes. It can take many forms - from a map printed on the back of business cards or on invitations or "With Compliments" slips, or a brochure, to more comprehensive information - eg. as part of an induction kit to new employees or as part of a Traveller Information Kit to employees relocating to other office premises. For agencies relocating to new office locations, a Transport Access Guide can be a valuable tool in assisting employees to make sustainable, active transport choices to their new office location. Employees who use a Transport Access Guide can reduce their car travel and associated greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to reducing traffic congestion and improve their health through active transport. By providing a Transport Access Guide for employees who are relocating to a new office location, your organisation will contribute to good staff and customer relations and demonstrate a commitment to environmental sustainability. The Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) relocated 500 staff from offices around Sydney to Parramatta in late 2001. Staff were issued with a Traveller Information kit that included a Transport Access Guide. A survey of staff indicated a 17% shift to public transport, walking and cycling after relocating, and the most useful source of transport information was the RTA Transport Access Guide. Your organisation can produce a Transport Access Guide by downloading a copy of the RTA/Department of Energy, Utilities and Sustainability (DEUS) brochure "Producing and Using Transport Access Guides" from the Internet or by attending a workshop conducted by the RTA. For information about producing and using Transport
Access Guides for your organisation, contact the RTA on 9218 6620
or by e-mail to tdm@rta.nsw.gov.au
or via the Internet at www.rta.nsw.gov.au
or contact DEUS at www.energysmart.com.au. When determining your accommodation strategy you should consider existing lease liabilities and endeavour to minimise the risk of being exposed to double rent situations. Where your accommodation solution has resulted in the creation of surplus space you must ensure appropriate action is taken to minimise any unnecessary financial liability for Government. In some cases this may mean actively pursuing the sublease or assignment of surplus space that has an ongoing lease liability. Where you have planned your accommodation solution to allow you to relinquish an expired lease, you must meet your obligations to makegood the premises. In many cases this can be negotiated with the lessor. Many lessors will accept a lump sum payment while others may insist on a physical makegood. In either event you should ensure that you achieve the optimum result for Government.
In refurbishing, relocating, rationalising or collocating a specific facility your organisation may take the opportunity to review the way things are done now and look at improving them. Here are some examples:
Changing your workplace provides one of the greatest opportunities to improve your business. By changing the way your workplace is arranged and changing the business processes that support it, however, means that you are changing the way your people do their work. This is not a small feat. You cannot simply put in place new systems and expect your staff to operate within them easily. Instead, you will need to carefully manage the change and work in close consultation with staff at all levels to show them how they can work within the new systems. Having a dedicated change manager is an ideal
method for driving this change process on larger projects, but this
might not be feasible on smaller projects. Importantly, whether
you have a change manager in place or not, you must spend the time
and develop a strategy for facilitating your people in changing
the way they work to align with the new systems. Participants in the office accommodation planning process should be:
To ensure the success of and maximise the effectiveness of any office accommodation fitout or relocation, it is essential for agencies to consult with the users of the facility, the staff, at the earliest possible stage in the planning process. It is the responsibility of each agency to ensure that effective mechanisms are in place to keep staff informed of office accommodation proposals and staff must be given appropriate opportunities to provide input into the process. An agency's approach to managing communications with staff during a relocation or fitout project will vary depending on the size of the project or the amount of change occurring within the tenancy as part of the project. Changes in accommodation may affect the culture of an agency, its structure, management philosophies and work processes. For smaller projects (eg. less than 500m2 or 20 staff in total), or projects that involve only minor alterations within a larger office, semiformal arrangements (such as staff briefings or newsletters) can be used to ensure all staff affected by the project are aware of any issues and have the opportunity to provide input into the project. For major relocation or fitout projects agencies should adopt a more formal consultative process to manage staff input at every stage of the project. This formal process should include the involvement of representatives from the relevant public sector unions. As mentioned earlier, the Premier's Department released Consultative Arrangements: Policy and Guidelines (Premier's Department Circular 97-53) in August 1997 to assist agencies to integrate consultative arrangements into their efforts to achieve productive reform in the workplace. The Guidelines were endorsed by both the Public Service Association of NSW and the Labor Council of NSW, and should form the basis for consultative arrangements for office accommodation projects. The Guidelines outline the specific roles of management, employees and unions in the consultation process and also outline a number of policy principles including:
The Guidelines detail a number of issues impacting on office accommodation that can be considered by consultative committees, including:
The Department of Commerce must be notified, before any approach to the market when you are considering undertaking a relocation, lease renewal or establishing a new office. This is best done by contacting either: Mr Graham Miller or Mr Vince Spanhel
Information you should have available to discuss includes:
Department of Commerce will also check its records for any available vacant government space that may suit your purposes. If there is vacant space available you will be asked to consider it before any action is taken to lease additional space. If the Government Leasing Service covers the area in which you are seeking new space, refer to Premier's Memorandum 2002-09, the Department of Commerce will arrange for you to be put in touch with a lease negotiator to act on your behalf. For those leases not covered by the Government Leasing Service it is important that, having obtained approval to secure new premises, you keep in touch with the Department of Commerce and let them know where you are up to in identifying and securing premises. Also, whenever you alter your lease arrangements in markets not covered by the Government Leasing Service you must advise the Department of Commerce of the new details of your lease. |
