California County Goes Overtime to Keep Plumbing Projects In Housetest

By Dave Lubach, Associate Editor

March 2015

Overtime usually carries a negative connotation among maintenance and engineering managers, who are often unwilling or unable to pay it and instead outsource projects at their institutional and commercial facilities.

The facility maintenance department for Ventura County, Calif., bucked the overtime trend with a series of plumbing-system retrofits starting in 2009. Instead of avoiding paying overtime, the county embraced the concept, using in-house technicians to complete the jobs instead of hiring outside contractors.

“We did not consider outsourcing the work,” says Rob Harris, the county’s principal engineer. “We have an overtime budget allocated to us, which we simply managed to make sure we did not over expend. It was very important for us to have our staff do something besides the mundane every day repairs. A special project tends to peak their interest and overall engagement.”

Originally profiled in a 2012 Facility Maintenance Decisions article, (click to read), Ventura County’s commitment to keeping projects in house continues today.