Buildings and General Services seeks $8 million for major maintenance; outlines $8.9M State House masonry plan

The Senate Economic Committee on Institutions heard an overview April 16 of Section 2 of the governor's recommended capital budget, covering the Agency of Administration's Buildings and General Services (BGS). For the record, Gerald Lejuez, director for design and construction for Buildings and General Services, told the committee the department is requesting $8,000,000 in cash for the major maintenance program and described several building-specific projects, permit-driven stormwater work and facility upgrades.

The money requested for major maintenance is an annual appropriation used to address repairs and replacements across state-owned buildings, Lejuez said. He described the portfolio as including office and operational facilities, labs, courthouses and the State House, and said roughly a quarter of those buildings operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (primarily correctional and certain health facilities). Lejuez said BGS generally treats work above about $750,000 as a separate line item rather than routing it through the major maintenance bucket.

Why it matters: Lejuez said major maintenance supports basic building safety and continuity of services across state operations, and that deferred work can lead to larger future costs. The committee was asked to consider the requested cash appropriation and a suite of project priorities that the agency manages and sequences.

Most important details

- Major maintenance process and funding: Lejuez described a twice-yearly review of work orders, a priority rating system (priority 1'3) and a triage between planned, unplanned and emergency work. Larger projects are scheduled as line items; smaller or routine repairs are handled at the maintenance level. He said emergency repairs…