Question NW2668 to the Minister of Public Works:

Stubbe, Mr DJ to ask the Minister of Public Works:

Does his department have sufficient capacity to maintain a rolling schedule of proactive and regular inspections to ensure that problems with facilities in its portfolio are detected and addressed on time? STRY PUBLIC WORKS REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA Department of Public Works l Central Government Offices l 256 Madiba Street l Pretoria l Contact: +27 (0)12 406 2034 l +27 (0)12 406 1224 Private Bag X9155 l CAPE TOWN, 8001 l RSA 4th Floor Parliament Building l 120 Plain Street l CAPE TOWN l Tel: +27 21 468 6900 Fax: +27 21 462 4592 www.publicworks.gov.za NATIONAL ASSEMBLY WRITTEN REPLY QUESTION NUMBER: 2668 [NW3099E] INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: No. 26 of 2015 DATE OF PUBLICATION: 31 JULY 2015 DATE OF REPLY: 08 SEPTEMBER 2015 Mr D J Stubbe (DA) asked the Minister of Public Works: Does his department have sufficient capacity to maintain a rolling schedule of proactive and regular inspections to ensure that problems with facilities in its portfolio are detected and addressed on time? NW3099E _________________________________________________________________ REPLY: The Minister of Public Works The State’s immovable asset portfolio consists of 99 249 buildings and other immovable assets nationally. It is not possible to inspect all the buildings on a regular basis with the current capacity of people, processes and systems. This has led to the Department’s current approach of prioritising the inspections of occupied buildings only. Currently, the Department has 33 Officials in all eleven regions that are responsible for inspections of all properties, owned and leased. In addition, the Department employs lease Portfolio Managers in the 11 regional offices, ranging from a minimum of 5 per region to 12 per region, who are also required to regularly inspect buildings which form part of their portfolio. In the 2014/15 financial year, 2 668 building inspections were conducted and 681 inspections have been conducted in quarter one of the current year 2015/16. As part of the Turnaround Plan Phase 2 - Efficiency Enhancement - the business processes, systems and Departmental structure are being updated as part of the revision of the operating model. In the revised PMTE Business Processes, which are currently in draft, and upon National Treasury’s approval of funds, this responsibility will rest with area based portfolio managers, thus increasing visibility and access to buildings nationwide. The roll out of Building Management Systems in 11 State-owned buildings over the MTEF period will also contribute largely to the better monitoring and management of State-owned facilities. The Department also plans to re-open numerous Facilities Management Workshops nationally in order to ensure rapid responses to maintenance requirements. The above mentioned initiatives along with various other planned interventions by the PMTE will ensure that the State’s immovable asset portfolio is well maintained and suitable for occupation. ____________________________________________________________________