The scope of services of M&P
- Inventory and condition assessment of surface-level technical plants
- Preparation of tender documents for maintenance and testing activities
- Transfer of data recorded on paper into a digital CAD system
M&P gets involved with a place that has great symbolic power: for decades, the salt dome in Gorleben was considered a suitable repository for high-level radioactive waste, and one of the largest anti-nuclear protests in Germany took place there. Peace has long since returned: after several years of research by the German federal company for radioactive waste disposal (BGE), it has become clear that the salt dome is not a suitable location for radioactive waste. What remains? Time for a technical inventory.
M&P contributes to safe mine operations. In the summer of 2020, the FM consulting team from Brunswick was commissioned by the BGE to carry out an inventory and condition assessment of the following surface-level technical systems on the site of the mine:
- Ventilation and air conditioning systems incl. fire dampers
- Sanitary facilities incl. pressure boosting systems
- Refrigeration systems and split air conditioning units
- Associated control cabinets or control components for these systems
- Sprinklers and hydrants
Subsequently, the M&P experts prepared tender documents for regular maintenance and testing activities on the systems.
Our team completed the task on schedule within half a year – despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus pandemic. But we also dug up other obstacles in the mining area.
Ventilation, air conditioning, sanitation: a rocky inventory in the Gorleben mine
During the inventory and condition assessment of the tender-relevant technical systems including their components, our team was faced with a challenge that is unusual in the modern world: important information was not available digitally. The M&P experts did some real detective work, determining data from old plans and file folders on-site, some of which had handwritten additions – and transferred everything into a modern form of recording: digital CAD plans.
Gorleben (© BGE)
Successful interdisciplinary cooperation in the M&P Group
However, M&P not only initiated the transfer of the collected data into a digital (CAFM) CAD system. Our FM team also recommended the data model (what data will be needed in the future and to what extent?) and a process for updating data on an ongoing basis (‘data change service’).
Our experts then determined the scope of the standard services (maintenance, inspection, legally required tests) and their cycles per (similar) system class (e.g. air conditioning units with certain performance data from ... to ...) and used the information in tender documents such as draft contracts, statements of work and bills of quantity.
The handling of missing digital inventory data and the experience gained from it will help M&P managers in future projects.
This knowledge transfer brought us and our clients several advantages at once:
- Lower potential for additions in the subsequent FM tender (accompanied by M&P at Tempelhof), as reliable inventory data is used.
- M&P Engineering can incorporate the ‘baton’ of reliable master data for the technical systems for its ‘Tempelhof project’ from the M&P FM Consulting department and supplement its planning accordingly.
With all that in mind, good luck to the M&P teams in Gorleben and Berlin: the adaptation of the service portfolio in both major projects is further impressive proof of the effectiveness of the holistic consulting approach and interdisciplinary cooperation within our Group.