New construction and remodelling as well as comprehensive restoration of properties are part of communal property management. It organizes, plans, coordinates and supervises such construction projects. Various stumbling blocks such as legal submission requirements can lead to a complexity, which is difficult to handle through existing in-house expertise and personnel capacity. In most cases, external private builder representation and consulting is imperative. Comunas offers such support and representation during the development and project phase including the preparation and execution of architects-designers competitions and study contracts in accordance with the legal submission requirements.

The feasibility study is an important basis for the actual project plan. This study reviews the implementation of the needs under the given framework conditions. Most of the time, different variants are developed after the needs were systematically and comprehensively documented and all framework conditions are clarified in detail. Comunas has the professional expertise and experience required in this field. Therefore, it can develop for you these important foundations in a professional and goal-oriented manner.

In addition to a feasibility study, the preparation of a criteria catalogue and provision of all documents necessary for project planning and the execution of project competitions. These tasks are often significantly underestimated. The funds required to pay for these tasks and the time to prepare these are often missing. Comunas supports you comprehensively and efficiently during these processes.

Communes are legally mandated to maintain their facilities. This must be planned well. It does not only require to plan the repairs for buildings in poor condition but also the maintenance for buildings in as new condition and well preserved structures. Comunas supports you in the development of a strategic maintenance plan and it familiarizes employees in the methodology and application (and management respectively ), in order to ensure an ideal plan for a far-reaching time horizon of 20 to 30 years. Comunas is licensed service provider of Stratus buildings.

Of course, any repairs and maintenance of facilities require capital. Comunas calculates the required financial need as basis for the budget of the following year and on request, it develops a financial plan covering up to 20 plus years.

In particular, it is necessary to consult an expert in case of defects and during earlier planning phases. Based on his or her comprehensive professional expertise and knowledge of the legal principles and standards in construction, the expert is competent to represent the builder.

How many employees are needed for professional facility management and what are the qualifications and competencies these employees must have? How should the job profile be described? Comunas has the tools and key indicators needed to calculate the required personnel capacities and prepares suggestions for the organisation and the required profiles for publishing the needed work hours and requirements specifications.

In cooperation with ZHAW, VLS offers courses to support, optimize and professionalize the management of public facilities. The target audience covers employees in public facility management from government employees up to interested professional groups in the field of property management. The course work has the following goals:

• knowledge of public administrations and interfaces to facility management
• knowledge of the structure, organisation and the scope of services, resource planning of the facility management department
• basic knowledge of holistic facility management
• knowledge of the development of a sustainable facility strategy and financial planning covering several years
• knowledge of the execution of construction projects from the development to the operation
• basic knowledge of public procurement, contracts, tenancy laws and knowledge of historic preservation
• knowledge in the area of safety (earth quakes and fire protection)