AW-14 · Space, Facilities and Civil Works Operations

1. Purpose and scope

Purpose. To ensure that IoL's teaching, assessment, simulation and meeting spaces are allocated by a published priority rule, confirmed ready before learners arrive, maintained through HQ Facilities and University Facilities, and altered only with committee approval, with every facilities, space and civil-works request entering through one form, triaged within a day and closed on the requester's acceptance.

Scope statement. This procedure manages IoL's facilities, space and civil-works requests from the Workplace Request Form to closure and the update of the IoL space list, together with the term timetable for IoL-controlled teaching space, the readiness check at the room door, access control and external hire.

Applies to. Room and venue bookings; maintenance requests; space allocation and reallocation; civil works inside and outside University premises; every IoL-controlled space and its fixed AV.

Does not apply to. IT requests, which enter through the same form and are handled under AW-15; the execution procedures of HQ Facilities and University Facilities; maintenance of biomedical equipment (AW-13); logistics for learning activities (AW-21); readiness of simulation equipment, scenarios and consumables (WF-12); event content (WF-23).

Rules that hold throughout. Every request is submitted on the Workplace Request Form to the SDO Workplace Officer; a room is not booked by email, message or conversation. Standard services on the Annex A list pass straight to the service provider without Chair endorsement. All civil works require committee approval before any design commitment, purchase or execution: works inside University premises go to the University Space Committee, works outside to the Capital Committee. Purchases arising from an approved request are processed under AW-10. A University Facilities permit is obtained before any works, deliveries or movements inside University premises. Each request with cost names its budget entity, University or DAHC. A request returned for revision and not resubmitted within 10 working days is closed. Rework of a service not accepted by the requester is the provider's, under its own procedures. The Annex A list is reviewed annually by the HAO. Space is allocated in this order: timetabled teaching and assessment for accredited programmes; assessment requiring secure conditions; CPD and CME under WF-21; research activity and internal meetings; events under AW-21; external hire.

Annex A, standard services (facilities and space). The IT rows of the same list are in AW-15.

2. Trigger, boundary and interfaces

3. Roles and accountability

Process owner. Head of Administration and Operations (HAO). Custodian. Administration Affairs (SDO), through the SDO Workplace Officer, which operates the procedure and keeps its records.

The Dean holds the highest IoL authority in this procedure; the Dean's own requests are approved by the Dean's superior, named in AW-05. The provider at step 12 may also be a vendor engaged under AW-10.

[CONTROL] Segregation. The requester does not triage, approve or close. The approver of the cost does not accept the service. Acceptance is recorded by the requester after inspection, not by the provider. The person who approves an external hire does not raise the invoice; charging is AW-12's alone and no cash or card is taken by IoL staff. After-hours access is authorised by the HAO, never by the user.

[CONTROL] Delegation tiers. Cost arising from a request is approved by the tier for its value under AW-05: tier 1, the SDO Head of Finance within the internal limit set by the HAO; tier 2, the HAO up to the HAO limit; tier 3, the Dean up to the Dean's authority under the DOA Manual; above the Dean, Level 3 through HQ. The three values are stated in AW-05 [HAO to state; not yet stated in any document]. Civil works carry two approvals in sequence, the HAO or the Dean on the submission and the committee on the works.

4. Procedure

1. Maintain the space list, the priority rule and the term timetable. The SDO Workplace Officer keeps the IoL space list (each space, its standard layout and minimum turnaround [SDO to confirm; assumed 30 minutes for seminar rooms, 60 for simulation and clinical skills rooms]) and the access register of card, key and code holders, publishes the priority rule, and before each term loads the teaching and assessment block into the booking system [SDO to confirm which system] and freezes it; later changes are conflicts settled by the rule or by the HAO within 2 working days. [CONTROL] A lower-priority booking is displaced only with 10 working days' notice [SDO to confirm], except in an emergency, and every displacement is recorded with the reason and the alternative offered. [CONTROL] The access register is reconciled quarterly against AW-07 and AW-08 leavers and the AW-15 access review; a leaver's physical access ends on the last working day. Next: step 2.

2. Submit the Workplace Request Form. The requester submits the form to the SDO Workplace Officer stating the category (booking, maintenance, space allocation or reallocation, civil works, or IT), location, scope and justification, required date, and the budget entity, University or DAHC, where cost applies. A booking also states numbers, layout, AV, any hazardous activity (AW-17) and set-up and turnaround time. Next: step 3.

3. Triage against Annex A. Within 1 working day the SDO Workplace Officer determines whether the request is a standard service on the Annex A list and checks a booking against the priority rule and the timetable. A fault that makes a space unsafe withdraws it from booking and goes to AW-17 the same day; AV and IT faults go to AW-15. [CONTROL] Standard services pass to the provider without Chair endorsement; everything else needs it. Decision point. Standard service: step 11. Non-standard request: step 4. IT request: the request is transferred to AW-15 and closed in this procedure.

4. Endorse the business need. The Department Chair reviews the business need. Decision point. Endorsed: step 5. Returned with comments: step 2. Declined: the request is closed and the requester informed. Timeout. Not resubmitted within 10 working days of return: the request is closed.

5. Assess and categorise. The SDO Workplace Officer assesses scope, feasibility, safety, estimated cost, budget entity and budget availability, consulting the SDO Head of Finance, the Chair and HQ Facilities or University Facilities, and records an assessment note. [CONTROL] No request with cost proceeds without a budget line with capacity in the named entity. Decision point. Civil works: step 6. Other facilities and space service: step 10.

6. Prepare the committee submission. The SDO Workplace Officer prepares the submission with justification, scope, layout, cost estimate, budget source and timeline, consulting the requester and HQ Facilities or University Facilities. [CONTROL] No design commitment, purchase or execution takes place before committee approval. Next: step 7.

7. Approve the committee submission. The HAO, or the Dean above the HAO's limit (AW-05), decides; the Chair is informed. Decision point. Approved, works inside University premises: step 8. Approved, works outside University premises: step 9. Returned: step 6. Rejected: the request is closed and the requester and Chair informed.

8. University Space Committee decision. The SDO Workplace Officer transmits the signed submission to the University Space Committee under its mandate. The committee approves or rejects the works; SDO, the requester and the Chair are informed. Decision point. Approved: step 10. Approved with conditions: step 6 to revise, then step 10 without a second HAO approval where the cost is unchanged. Rejected: the request is closed.

9. Capital Committee decision. As step 8, to the Capital Committee under its mandate. Decision point. Approved: step 10. Approved with conditions: step 6, then step 10 as in step 8. Rejected: the request is closed.

10. Approve the cost within delegation. The SDO Workplace Officer confirms whether the approved request involves cost to IoL. Where it does, the approver for the value tier (section 3) approves, returns or rejects and the Chair is informed; purchases follow AW-10 inside the purchasing window. [CONTROL] The approval matches the AW-05 tier for the total cost; a request is not split to reach a lower tier. Decision point. No cost to IoL: step 11. Cost approved: step 11, with the purchase under AW-10 alongside. Returned: step 5. Rejected: the request is closed and the requester and Chair informed.

11. Obtain the permit and schedule. The SDO Workplace Officer obtains the University Facilities permit where the works, delivery or movement is inside University premises and confirms the schedule with the provider, the requester and, for a booking, the timetable. [CONTROL] No works, deliveries or movements begin inside University premises without the permit. Next: step 12.

12. Deliver the service and confirm readiness. HQ Facilities, University Facilities or the vendor executes the works or confirms the booking and records completion. For a teaching or assessment session in an IoL-controlled space, the SDO Workplace Officer or delegate signs the building-level readiness checklist (access, layout, AV, climate, cleanliness, consumables and the AW-17 safety items for the room type); simulation and clinical skills rooms are then handed to WF-12 at the door [SDO to confirm: IOL-OPS-009 v0.1 passes a standard booking straight to the provider; this procedure keeps the readiness checklist because WF-12 receives the room at the door]. [CONTROL] For assessments, readiness is confirmed no later than 60 minutes before the start [SDO to confirm]; a failed item is escalated to the HAO and the assessment lead immediately. Next: step 13.

13. Verify and accept. The requester verifies the outcome against the request and records acceptance; the SDO Workplace Officer holds the record. [CONTROL] Completed works are accepted by the requester after inspection, not by the provider. Decision point. Accepted: step 14. Not accepted: the provider reworks under its own procedures and returns to step 12.

14. Close the request and update the space list. The SDO Workplace Officer closes the request, informs the Chair, and updates the IoL space list, the access register or, for fixed assets, AW-13. After a session, damage or loss goes to AW-13, any incident to AW-17, and no-shows and late cancellations are recorded. Monthly, SDO reports booked against available hours by room, no-shows, cancellations and displacements; the report goes quarterly to AW-25 and feeds AW-02 capacity planning. End: request closed, space list current.

Exception routes. Emergency displacement (safety, building failure, institutional instruction): the HAO may cancel any booking, notifies the requester the same day and seeks an alternative; building loss beyond one day invokes AW-06. Urgent maintenance (safety, learner-facing outage): raised with HQ Facilities or University Facilities the same day as a standard service; IOL-OPS-009 v0.1 has no route for an urgent non-standard request [HAO to confirm whether the HAO may authorise delivery ahead of Chair endorsement, with the form completed within 2 working days]. After-hours use: requires the HAO's authorisation, a named responsible person on site and the lone-working rules in AW-17. External hire: assessed against the priority rule, the rate card [SDO to confirm] and the standard hire terms held by AW-23; the hirer signs the terms, provides insurance evidence where required and receives the AW-17 safety briefing; a venue tariff discount for a University event follows DOA Manual Chapter 9; no external use begins without signed terms and the HAO's approval, and the fee is raised only through an AW-12 invoicing request. Provider failure: SDO escalates to the HAO after the second failed acceptance; a lost space goes to AW-06. Three no-shows in a term: future bookings from that requester need the HAO's confirmation.

5. Service standards

6. Records, retention and controls

Records are retained for a minimum of seven years or the period required by the Dubai Department of Finance, whichever is longer.

Key controls. (1) Every request enters on the Workplace Request Form; no space is booked outside the system. (2) Standard services are triaged against the Annex A list, reviewed annually. (3) Civil works carry the HAO's or the Dean's approval and the competent committee's approval before any design commitment, purchase or execution. (4) Cost approval matches the AW-05 tier; no splitting. (5) A University Facilities permit precedes any works, deliveries or movements inside University premises. (6) Every teaching and assessment session has a signed readiness checklist. (7) Acceptance is recorded by the requester after inspection. (8) Every displacement carries a reason and an alternative. (9) The access register reconciles to leavers each quarter. (10) External hire has signed terms before use, and its fee passes only through AW-12.

OBEF touchpoint. None.

7. Performance measures

8. Change control