OLD Mutual Properties has appointed three firms to manage facilities at 400 buildings in its portfolio.

Richard Murphy, the head of Old Mutual Properties Facilities Management Consulting Division, said the overall R15 million contract would be shared by Drake and Scull, Tlhokomelo, a subsidiary of VKE, and Stewart Scott after adjudication of tenders from 10 companies.

The contract covers total facilities management, including all repairs and maintenance, security, landscaping and cleaning.

Drake and Scull would look after facilities at buildings in Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town, with Tlhokomelo responsible for those at buildings in Gauteng. Stewart Scott is responsible for facilities at buildings at Witbank, Nelspruit, Port Elizabeth and East London.

Murphy said the tender process on 'soft services' had resulted in savings of R7 million against benchmarked costs across the portfolio for security, landscaping and cleaning.

'The process involved probably the largest benchmarking of costs in all aspects of property facilities management in South Africa. It has provided us with a comprehensive database that will enable us to advise companies on realistic costs for repairs, maintenance, security, cleaning, landscaping and human resources requirements to manage specific portfolios. '

Murphy said the FM Consulting Division of Old Mutual Properties had been appointed to review and tender the entire lift / hoist portfolio at the University of Cape Town.

This would be done by developing a comprehensive 'Request For Proposal' document together with a performance contract for the lift and hoists.

This followed an evaluation of design criteria at Century City in Cape Town, which had led to an annual saving of R560 000 on infrastructure warranties.