Barwon Water has announced that it plans to outsource its civil maintenance, electrical and mechanical maintenance, land management and stores services to Programmed Facility Management.
The move is part of an organisation-wide efficiency review aimed at reducing costs and keeping customer prices down.
Barwon Water’s Board unanimously selected Programmed Facility Management as the preferred provider from a short-list of four tenderers.
Assessment criteria included:
- cost
- people management, specifically around affected Barwon Water employees
- customer service
- ability to meet performance targets
- safety, quality and environment systems
- operating competency
- ease of implementation
- delivery model.
Under the proposed arrangement, almost all employees in these areas would be expected to be transferred to Programmed Facility Management and would not lose any of their entitlements.
No contract has been signed. Over the next two weeks, affected employees will be consulted in accordance with the Enterprise Agreement. Feedback will be considered before further negations with Programmed Facility Management.
Any transfer of business would occur next year, with full contract handover in July 2014.
The company says that Programmed Facility Management is a good cultural fit for Barwon Water with a strong local presence combined with a proven track-record in the water industry.
