Some construction for maintenance, repair, major renovation, or new construction is accomplished through contracts with outside contractors administered by the Interim Associate Vice President for Facilities, Jim Brummer. Only authorized Physical Plant personnel may direct the work of contractors for new construction or renovation.

Cleaning of academic and administrative areas is accomplished by the Building Service Workers.

If emergency cleaning is required, Service Workers will be assigned on the basis of availability by calling Steve Uhls, the Custodial Manager, at 651-962-6536. Any problems or questions involving needed cleaning may be directed to the Custodial Manager during normal business hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Building Service Workers are not permitted to perform personal or unauthorized services. This includes unlocking doors for individuals. The Department of Public Safety and Parking Services must be contacted in St. Paul at 651-962-5100 or in Minneapolis at 651-962-4100 for entry into locked areas.

Good judgment is an important factor when determining whether or not a situation should be considered an emergency. Any disaster, unusual occurrence, utility malfunction, or equipment failure that presents imminent danger to life or property is an emergency and should be reported immediately by telephone to the Physical Plant at 651-962-6530.

After normal working hours, report emergency conditions to the UST Department of Public Safety and Parking Services, 651-962-5100.

Physical Plant response to emergencies will normally be immediate, depending on the time of day and availability of personnel. If the time of occurrence is other than normal working hours, the on call staff duty person will secure the emergency condition and determine upon consultation what immediate action or repairs need to be taken.

Since the majority of the university's utilities distribution and telephone systems are underground, all excavations and digging on the grounds must be approved and coordinated by the Physical Plant. Questions regarding digging or excavation should be directed to Jim Brummer, the Interim Associate Vice President for Facilities and Construction Manager, at 651-962-6530.

Maintenance for all basic classroom furniture and fixtures is provided for and budgeted by the Physical Plant. Broken classroom furniture may be reported to the Physical Plant office at 651-962-6530 during normal working hours, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Maintenance for specialized departmental instructional equipment items, office furnishings, and other furniture is a departmental responsibility. The Physical Plant is able to provide repair services for such items on a reimbursable basis. A Service Request should be submitted to the Physical Plant for such requests.

The Environmental Health and Safety division of the Physical Plant is responsible for the clean up and disposal of hazardous chemicals and waste. If there has been a spill of hazardous material on campus, Colin Brownlow, the Director of Environmental Health and Safety, should be contacted immediately at 651-962-6533.

The Environmental Health and Safety division provides training at safety seminars for UST personnel regarding the storage and use of hazardous chemicals. Any questions about these seminars or use of hazardous chemicals on campus should be directed to Colin Brownlow at 651-962-6533.

Material Safety Data Sheets for chemicals used in Physical Plant operations are available online at http://insideust.stthomas.edu/chemicalsafety. You must be a member of the St. Thomas community to access Inside UST.

The Physical Plant Department maintains all campus door locks as a part of building maintenance. Lock changes may be made by written request from the Administrative Head of a department.

Access to locked areas may be requested by calling the Department of Public Safety and Parking Services at 651-962-5100 in St. Paul or in Minneapolis at 651-962-4100. Physical Plant personnel are instructed not to unlock doors for anyone without prior permission from appropriate authority.

For defective or malfunctioning door lock hardware, please call the Physical Plant office at 2-6530, from 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays who will then notify the locksmith. After 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, for weekends and holidays please call Public Safety at 962-5100 who will page the Physical Plant staff duty officer to call in a carpenter.

In emergency situations UST security officers trained to change lock cores are authorized to change out defective cores in the residence halls. The office of Public Safety and Parking Services in Morrison Hall has emergency lock cores available for residence life facilities on the main and south campuses. Defective cores that are changed out are to be returned to the Physical Plant office the following morning. A voice message should be left on the key shop telephone 2-6543 or the Physical Plant office telephone at 2-6530 detailing the facility and room number of the lock core that was changed out by the security officer.

All requests for building master and sub-master keys must be approved by the Executive Vice President of the University. Please see the Key and Lock Policy for the University of St. Thomas. All University personnel who are issued a key must file a signature key card at the Physical Plant.

Individuals should report the loss of any key to the Physical Plant key shop, 651-962-6543, as well as notifying the Department of Public Safety and Parking Services at 651-962-5100.

Moving of University property within the grounds or to other University-owned properties is provided through the Central Receiving division of the Physical Plant on a limited scale and as a reimbursable service. A Service Request should be submitted to the Physical Plant at least 72 hours prior to the intended move date.

To move large amounts of furniture, materials, or items requiring special handing, an outside moving company will be contracted at the requesting department's expense. Please contact Bob Douglas, the Coordinator of Central Receiving, at 962-6388 for questions regarding moving services

Painting of buildings and facilities is performed on a scheduled basis, depending on time restraints and the availability of funds. Additional painting projects are treated as reimbursable services. A Service Request should be submitted to the Physical Plant for such projects.

Times for performing painting requests will be coordinated and scheduled by Jim Hoffman, Assistant Director of the Physical Plant, 2-6530.

The Physical Plant routinely provides, by contract, pest control services for buildings on campus (i.e. Food Service Facilities). If pests are noticed in buildings, departments may call 651-962-6530, and the contracted exterminator will apply insecticide or traps as a Physical Plant service. Control of insects in decorative plants is the responsibility of the plant owner.

Physical Plant personnel follow a regular schedule of routine preventive maintenance checks on doors, windows, roofs, hardware, refrigeration, air conditioning, plumbing, ventilation, electrical systems, and other equipment proprietary to campus buildings. Defects discovered during these inspections are repaired under the operational budget of the Physical Plant. Problems in these areas that are discovered by members of the University community may be reported to the Physical Plant office at 651-962-6530.

A similar service can be provided on a reimbursable basis for department equipment. Please call the Physical Plant office at 651-962-6530 for more information.

Recycling services are provided in all University buildings. Recycling containers are emptied daily by Building Service Workers. If there is a recycling container in a building that needs emptying, please notify the BSW Custodial Manager, Steve Uhls, at 962-6536. The cardboard desk paper recyclers are the responsibility of the office occupant(s) and should be emptied into the corridor recycling containers.

Pick ups of unusual amounts of recycling, confidential recycling, and requests for additional recycling containers can be accomplished by submitting a Service Request to the Physical Plant.  

Additional information on the UST Recycling program can be found at the Recycling Home Page or by calling Bob Douglas, Coordinator of Recycling, at 962-6388.

Trash and refuse generated by the University is picked up on a regular schedule by an outside contractor. Trash from buildings is taken by Building Service Workers to outside trash dumpsters for pick up by the contractor. The University is billed for each pick up as well as by tonnage. Departments are encouraged to make a concerted effort at recycling in order to assist in reducing the ever increasing trash removal bill at the University.

Special refuse pickups can be arranged as a reimbursable service on a limited basis by submitting a Service Request to the Physical Plant.

Problems with un-removed trash within University buildings should be reported to the Custodial Manager, Steve Uhls, at 651-962-6536.

Snow and ice control for roads, sidewalks, grounds, and parking areas is provided by the Physical Plant's Grounds division. Questions or concerns may be addressed to Bob Reed, the Grounds Supervisor, at 962-6545.

Removal of snow and ice from building entries is the responsibility of the Building Service Workers. Concerns about these areas may be addressed to Steve Uhls, the Custodial Manager, at 962-6536.

All members of the University community are responsible for removing their vehicles from off the public roads around the University during snow emergencies. The schedule for St. Paul snow plowing may be found at the St. Paul Snow Plow web page.

Connections for utilities may be made only by Physical Plant personnel.

On occasion, repair work or construction projects may require temporary interruption of utility services. In the majority of these situations, affected campus departments will be notified in advance by electronic messaging. In emergencies, the Physical Plant will notify the department chairperson and or directors of departments in the facilities affected.