Precise Air’s Building Performance Optimisation team saved a client 13.5% or $18,000 in electricity costs in one summer month with zero capital expenditure by fine tuning the commercial building’s existing HVAC systems. “Our objective is always to make the most of the building’s existing systems,” explained Wissam Salama, Precise Air’s General Manager – Building Performance Optimisation. “Firstly we re-scope the BMS maintenance routine, switching from preventative to performance based BMS maintenance. We focus on checking for abnormalities through historical and current data then taking equipment back to design intent. Then we set about fine tuning the existing systems to increase their performance, both on an operational and an energy efficiency level.” “Being vendor neutral, we are not tied to any product supplier,” Wissam continued, “so we are not incentivised to replace existing equipment that can still perform well within its lifecycle stage, or to replace BMS or energy monitoring software that may already be in the building.” There are also other benefits from Precise Air’s approach. “Increasing energy performance means that we can increase the NABERS rating without upgrading any equipment,” said Wissam. “Switching from preventative to performance based BMS maintenance involves streamlining the BMS maintenance tasks, removing some repetitive […]

As a national provider of Mechanical, Fire, Electrical (MFE) and essential services, we need to be certain that not only our employees are inducted into our safety system and individual contracts, but that all of our approved partners are as well. Precise Air Group’s switch to LinkSafe has made employee and contractor compliance so much more transparent. “Linksafe allows us to carry out an evaluation of approved partner network health, safety and environmental management systems based on the level of risk associated with the work activities being carried out on our behalf,” explained Richard Bagnato, Precise Air Group’s National Health Safety Environment and Quality Manager. “It also allows us to centralise all of our approved partner’s insurances and licences in the one place, together with our partner employees’ credentials,” continued Richard. “We can quickly report on and follow up any outstanding paperwork and check whether their employees have actually completed the inductions that they say they have. ” Reporting on incidents and hazards is also simplified, with electronic records verifying every stage of the process. A  “mobile” learning and induction platform has been incorporated within LinkSafe so that we can develop and manage the distribution of content to employees and […]

Today’s Facility Managers are expected to do more than just ‘keep the building running’. The FM industry has moved on from its origins in the trades and into the realm of professional services, so Facility Managers have developed a different suite of skills to meet these demands. However, FMs still need a level of technical understanding to be able to assess and negotiate the best possible solution to improve the performance of their systems. “Increasingly, we are finding that Facility Managers are becoming more reliant on the advice of their technical providers,” explained Precise Air’s Director Business Development, Sam La Rocca. “For example, they may not understand why they should replace a component instead of fixing it, or why it’s important to do a small upgrade now instead of being hit with a major failure in the future.” To keep FMs up-to-date, Precise Air has developed a HVAC training for Facility Managers programme for our customers. The aim is to increase Facility Managers’ technical knowledge and confidence so that they understand the risks and benefits of maintenance and lifecycle planning. Training includes an introduction to the various types of equipment, how the equipment works and its importance in the overall system, […]

Complex, technical upgrades that tick all the financial, operational, sustainability and strategic boxes can be difficult for even the most technically savvy facility managers to assess. How can you know whether you are getting the best advice and solution possible? Can you be confident that the solution isn’t tainted by incentives, partnership or vendor arrangements between service providers and product suppliers? Finding out where these commercial arrangements exist can be the fastest path to understanding whether the advice you are getting is the best solution for your problem…or for the service providers’ bottom line. After all, the ‘best solution’ is what you are looking for, and it’s the best outcome of vendor neutral advice. The incentive behind vendor neutral advice (whether it be replacement, upgrade or repair of your mechanical or fire systems), is implementing the right ‘fit for purpose’ solution that ticks all those boxes. “Being vendor neutral is really important to us”, said Joe Mazza, Precise Air Group National Business Development. “It gives us the freedom to actively seek the best solution for our customers without restraint and provide them with transparency into our decision making. “Being tied to particular product suppliers can limit the options available – it […]

Precise Air Group’s reputation for delivering high quality maintenance services to the retail sector continues to grow with a series of portfolio contract wins across the country. Precise Air recently won the mechanical services contract for  ISPT’s IRAPT portfolio of 27 regional and suburban shopping villages and shopping centres located throughout NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. “Our Retail portfolio has really taken off in the last five years as more and more shopping centre managers are looking to us to increase the performance and energy efficiency of their centres,” explained Sam La Rocca. “Along with ISPT, we have recently been awarded contracts for shopping centres in NSW, South Australia and Queensland. This is in addition to our existing portfolios of suburban shopping centres and retail precincts around Australia. Precise Air’s approach to maintenance and optimisation means that facility owners can get more out of their existing systems. “Shopping centres have their own unique set of requirements when it comes to managing their assets and the day to day reliability of their systems,” said Sam. To remain competitive, Centre Managers require optimum comfort conditions all year round to attract shoppers, retain them, and finally motivate and encourage shoppers to return […]

Precise Air Group is proud to have been awarded the mechanical and fire services contracts for the NSW Department of Justice via Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions (BGIS). The portfolio includes over 190 court houses, justice services and precincts throughout NSW. Security protocols and close contract management on this type of account are paramount. “Due to our work over the years on portfolios with similar requirements, we have built high security protocols into our contract management frameworks,” explains Precise Air’s Director National Business Development, Sam La Rocca. “This has enabled our teams to quickly and easily transition into new contracts that require the highest levels of screening and induction.” Precise Air Group has effectively established mechanical and fire services that deliver high quality PPM, ad hoc works and equipment upgrades to secure facilities including: NSW Police Force Commonwealth Department of Public Prosecutions Qantas domestic airports Long Bay Prison and Forensic Hospital Villawood Detention Centre Federal Member of Parliament offices. For more information, please contact Sam La Rocca on 1300 728 250.

Streamlined mechanical and fire servicing for 20 Martin Place 20 Martin Place has undergone a complete transformation over the last two years, from an outdated 1970’s office block to a spectacular new landmark building in the centre of Sydney. Precise Air and Precise Fire worked closely with Built on a number of mechanical and fire fit outs during the upgrade and have now won the maintenance contracts for both of these services throughout the building. “As we were the incumbent service provider for ANZ Retail’s flagship branch (which occupies three floors at 20 Martin Place) and had completed the mechanical and fire fit out projects, we were already familiar with the building,” explained Sam La Rocca, Precise Air Group’s National Business Director. “This gave us a competitive advantage not only on price, but the added value of having technicians that already had great experience with the systems and the onsite team. That meant there was no real transition period into the contract as our technicians had already built up experience working on the site during DLP.” “The beauty of awarding both the fire and mechanical services to the Precise Air Group means that the Facility Manager only has to make one call for both services,” said Sam. “We […]

Switching to a Performance Based BMS Maintenance routine has the potential to save thousands of dollars in maintenance costs per year. Precise Air’s Building Performance Optimisation team reviewed the traditional BMS Preventative Maintenance programmes in place with two differing customers – a portfolio customer and a single facility customer – who were trying to find ways to reduce the cost of their BMS maintenance. Building Performance Optimisation Manager, Wissam Salama, worked closely with the BMS providers and facility managers to identify where savings could be made. “We assessed the value of each the tasks performed and determined that more than 35% were redundant and skilled resources were underutilised,” said Wissam, “that is, highly skilled technicians were duplicating checks across the system and completing simplistic tasks.” “Traditional BMS maintenance incorporates reviews on a large number of point to point checks for the sake of checking the point,” explained Wissam. “That is, it focuses on checking that ‘what is working…is working’ and prioritises maintenance over higher risk tasks. This is not only ‘labour hour’ intensive, it yields minimal benefit to the client and also fails to recognise where improvements can be made.” Alternatively, Performance Based Maintenance checks for abnormalities through present and historical data, giving the […]

Quality data integral to managing 45,000 assets on site Since taking on the consolidated engineering contract for a large client late last year, Precise Air Group’s permanent on site team have worked tirelessly with their client’s counterparts to set up the Archibus* framework and register over 45,000 Mechanical, Electrical and Hydraulic (MEH) assets. The scale of the implementation has been substantial. “Late last year our client moved from a multi-service provider model, using multiple subcontractors, to a consolidated engineering contract,” explained Mark Jenkins, Precise Air’s State Manager Queensland. “Our client had completed the first stage of loading Archibus’ elementary asset management modules before we were awarded the contract,” continued Mark, “but they were looking for help to maximise and use more of the features Archibus had to offer to achieve total asset management.” The team took on the project as if it was their own, using their technical knowledge and experience in asset management to set up the systems to manage the data the way the client wanted to use it. “Firstly we ran workshops and assisted our client in refining their Archibus framework,” said Mark. “We customised our Asset Registration and Site Risk Assessment Apps so that we could upload […]

Precise Air Supporting Partner of Bond University’s Indigenous Education Programme Precise Air is proud to be a Supporting Partner of Bond University’s Indigenous Education Programme, helping to provide valuable educational opportunities to a growing number of Indigenous students. Bond University is Australia’s first private, non-profit university and is strongly committed to helping bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous higher education enrolments and outcomes. The Programme is supported by corporate sponsorships, fundraising initiatives, philanthropic endowments and the University’s own contribution.  It encompasses a wide range of initiatives including full scholarships, support provided through the on-campus Nyombil Indigenous Support Centre, mentoring and career development programmes, school outreach programmes and cultural awareness activities. Since its inception in 2012, the Programme has invested over $4.18 million, awarded scholarships, and increased Indigenous student enrolments by 79% to 59 students. As a result of its financial and non-financial support, Bond University’s retention rate for Indigenous students is an outstanding 95%, well over the Australian average of 71%, with 43 indigenous graduates since 2012. As a Supporting Partner, Precise Air has helped the University’s scholarship fund award 14 full scholarships this year. “We are proud to partner with Precise Air, an organisation who shares our vision of […]

When customer experience is your priority Great customer service is the foundation of any successful service business. Without it, your customers will happily take their business elsewhere. But how do you turn ‘customer service’ into a great customer experience? Customer Service has evolved in recent years to become Customer Experience, shifting the emphasis from the company delivering the service, to the customer who is receiving it. “When you adopt the attitude that your customer’s experience is everything, it refocuses your business so that flexibility takes centre stage,” explains Sam La Rocca, National Business Development Manager, “…from flexibility in your technology and systems, management of your KPI’s and maintenance methods, through to reporting and account management. You stop trying to fit your customer’s requirements into your existing business systems and instead, you adapt your models to suit your customer,” continues Sam. “Facility Managers (our customers) are measured on their tenants’ experience every day, and need to be accessible, adaptable and quick to respond” continued Sam. “Operationally, they need to have the confidence that they can depend on their service providers to respond in an emergency. Their success depends on our employees sharing this flexible attitude and partnering approach, particularly with our customers who […]

Fine tuning and collaboration secret to NABERS success Precise Air’s Building Performance Optimisation team has successfully achieved a NABERS 5 Star Energy rating for Brookfield Global Integrated Solutions (Brookfield GIS) at the Headquarters of a large NSW agency. This was completed by fine tuning the building at low cost, in the process reducing electricity consumption by 20% and gas by 30% for the same period in the previous year. “Our success with this 5 Star NABERS certification centres on our approach,” explained Wissam Salama, Precise Air’s Building Performance Optimisation Manager. “Our approach differs from most in that we take the time to learn and understand the building, working closely with the building management team to avoid unnecessary and costly upgrades to equipment.” “We realise that over the years every building will change from its original design due to a range of issues…new and changing tenancy requirements, altered layouts, different maintenance providers and upgrades to equipment,” Wissam explained. “This all impacts on the efficiency of a building and takes it further away from its designed intent.” “As we were not the incumbent service providers, we needed time to understand the building and its performance,” Wissam continued. “We took the equipment back […]