Facility Investment Services is one of the most important programs the Charleston District has. FIS isn’t as well-known as construction, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable. In fact, FIS is a longer term, bigger project. Typically, renovations and construction are deemed as “major projects” but keeping previously constructed buildings in good shape is critical. Maintaining facilities is a lot cheaper than building new ones, and a lot less wasteful, leading to less taxpayer money spent.
FIS is typically broken into the “golden triangle,” incorporating three categories: service calls, task orders and preventive maintenance. Service calls can happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week, where the District responds to repair needs at facilities, such as fixing or replacing door handles, pumps, showers, toilets or ceiling tiles. These aren’t usually critical, but
need to be fixed before they reach that point. Task orders are the same, but typically take more time and cost more money, such as replacing a building’s HVAC system. These projects are usually needed quickly, but are more involved. Preventive maintenance is the art of addressing potential problems before they happen so as not to cost much time or money for the customer, such as replacing filters or greasing parts. Identifying these needs is critical to the long-term success of any
tangible product.
For the last 10 years, the District’s FIS portfolio has grown steadily. What started as a small contract doing work for just the Marine Forces Reserve has expanded to Fort Jackson, the 81st Regional Support Command and two Defense Logistics Agency facilities. The reputation has grown for the District’s abilities and these agencies have continued to call on the District’s experts. The District is now providing FIS on buildings totaling more than 20 million square feet. Many of these buildings are even buildings that the District constructed 10-15 years ago. Being involved with maintenance of buildings we have built allows us to be better-informed on how easy or difficult the buildings are to maintain. This allows us to make changes in future designs to keep maintenance costs reasonable on other projects.
The District continues to look for new opportunities to provide the best service to our customers. We’re proud to build new buildings for all of these customers, plus customers like the Veterans Administration and the Department of State, but maintaining existing structures is just as important to the missions of our interagency partners. Keeping them running allows all of our missions to be met and allow each agency to better serve the nation.