Building & Infrastructure

Announcements & News

A Refresh of Endodontics (Room D1-17)
On April 20, 2023, our dental maintenance team is launching the construction phase of a project to refresh the endodontics center in room D1-17.
Some details:
  • They expect it to take about five weeks and will be removing wallpaper, refinishing walls and painting.
  • If they discover that any asbestos abatement needs to occur (sometimes they don’t know until they get in there) we’ll let you know and they’ll take all necessary precautions and follow protocols to ensure the removal will be handled safely. (You can find more info about UF Environmental Health & Safety requirements related to asbestos here.)
  • Charles Lesch wants you to know that there could be noise, strange odors and other disruptions during the course of the project. If you have any issues or concerns, please contact him (clesch@dental.ufl.edu).
 

Oral vacuum will be shut down on Saturday, February 19 (UPDATED)

On Saturday, February 19 from 7am to 3pm, UF Facilities Services will have to shut down the oral vacuum to change/repair a valve.
 
The system will be operational before the next morning.
 
If you have questions or concerns, please contact Charles Lesch: clesch@dental.ufl.edu
 

Water Shutdown on Wednesday, February 2
5:30pm to 8:30pm
  • They need to change a valve so they can repair water lines in the building.
  • If this creates an issue for you, please contact Charles Parrish in UF Facilities ASAP (charles.parrish@ufl.edu)
 

Power Shutdown – in the dental tower on Sunday, February 20

On Sunday, February 20, from 7:30am to 5:30pm, Facilities Services is shutting the power off to allow a contractor to come in and coordinate a plan for removing an old transformer core and replacing it with a new one.

What is affected? 

  • Any refrigerators, freezers and all equipment that is not connected to emergency power will be affected in the areas listed below. 
  • Normal lighting in the entire dental tower from the ground floor to the 11th floor. 
  • Emergency lighting will be the only lights in the building during the outage. 
  • Normal receptacles (power outlets) for the small areas around D1-11, D2-11, and D3-11.  
  • Normal receptacles (power outlets) for the third through ninth floors. The only power on these floors will be for emergency power outlets.  
  • This will be a good time to clean out your departmental or personal refrigerators. 

What is not affected? 

  • Any equipment or lighting that is on emergency power will not be affected. 
  • Emergency lighting will be the only lights in the building during the outage. The building will be very dark.  

Direct questions to: 


Dental tower notice: UF Environmental Health & Safety first responder radio frequency testing on July 20 and 21

  • On Tuesday, July 20 and Wednesday, July 21, UF’s Environmental Health & Safety Radio Communications Inspector Robert Gonzalez will be testing the Dental Science building for the first responder radio frequency signal. 
  • Some tests may require entering rooms on the grid generated by the testing.
  • If you have questions or concerns, please contact Robert Gonzalez: rgonzalez@ehs.ufl.edu.

Siemens is conducting an energy survey this week (sent on April 12, 2021)
  • Wednesday, April 14 – Friday, April 16
  • Siemens will have a team in our building as part of an energy survey.
  • They will be escorted by UF facilities and/or our dental maintenance personnel. So don’t call 911 if you see them! 😉
  • Most of the walkthrough will be in mechanical areas but they may also be checking laboratory spaces. We don’t expect it to interfere with work going on in any of these areas.
  • If you have questions, concerns, insights or light jokes, please contact Charles Lesch at clesch@dental.ufl.edu.

Air Conditioning Outage – Thursday, April 15 at 5pm to Friday, April 16 at 6am (sent April 12)

UF Facilities is replacing chilled water pipes on the 7th and 8th floors of the tower, and they need to shut down the A/C for a bit this week for part of the building to make this happen. This is timed for when most people will have vacated the building for the evening so it will, hopefully, create minimal impact on our comfort.
 
Details:
  • A/C Outage – Thursday, April 15 at 5pm to Friday, April 16 at 6am
  • This will affect the 4th floor thru the 11th floor, on the south end of the tower (the part closest to Archer Road).
  • If you have questions or concerns, please contact Charles Lesch clesch@dental.ufl.edu

Cast Iron Replacement

UF Facilities started a long-term project on January 10 to replace some of the cast iron pipes on the ground, first and second floors of the dental tower.

Cast Iron Pipe Replacement, January 2021 thru December 2021

  • Yes – this is a 12-month process due to the complexity and the scope of the work involved.
  • They expect the work to primarily occur after hours to create minimal impact on normal building operations.
  • They will replace pipe above the ceilings on the ground and first floors; it will impact restrooms and parts of some hallways outside restrooms on the first and second floors. Some restrooms will be out of service during part of the project; restrooms are not being remodeled.
  • Expected sequence:

Second Floor: February 2021 – May 2021 (Restroom Work)

First Floor: January 2021 – May 2021 (Above Ceiling Work); May 2021  – November 2021 (Restroom Work)

Ground Floor: May 2021 – August 2021 (Above Ceiling Work)

Basement: August 2021 – November 2021 (Overhead Work)

If you have questions or concerns, please contact Charles Lesch at clesch@dental.ufl.edu


Fire Inspection: Tuesday, January 5 from 9am to Noon

On Tuesday, January 5, there will be a fire inspection in the dental tower and fire alarms will be turned off from 9am to noon. Details are below:
  • Dental tower fire alarms will be turned off from 9am to noon to facilitate an internal fire inspection. This is expected in rooms DG-8, DG-12 and DG-20 only.
  • There will be fire rescue personnel here and other support people to ensure that everyone and everything is safe.
  • If you have questions or concerns, please contact the UF Work Management Center via e-mail at workorder@admin.ufl.edu or 392-1121.
 

Re-roofing Project – September 14, 2020 – January 2021

UF Facilities is beginning a major roofing project on the dental tower beginning September 14 and lasting about four months total.

  • We expect this to be a very noticeable process, especially for those in areas that are close to where the roof is being replaced, which is above the third floor on the western side of the dental tower.
  • They’re removing the old roof (which will be fairly noisy), placing a temporary roof and then placing a permanent roof. 
  • The permanent roof placement may also create noise and could generate smells, etc, from the materials used.
  • The contractor will take precautions to minimize any impact on our environment but please contact Charles Lesch if you are experiencing issues in your area.
  • The entire project is expected to take four months total, ending in January 2021.
  • This timeline may shift as a result of weather delays, but we’ll keep you updated.
  • We will have signage to help explain to patients and visitors what is happening.

 


What’s going on with the “back” elevators in the dental tower? February 6, 2020

You’ve probably noticed that the elevators in the back part of the dental tower have been non-operational for a bit and many of you have been wondering what’s going on. So we contacted facilities and got some deets for you.

The Details

  • The elevators were shut down because of a flooding incident that caused water to run down the hoistway* and over the top of both of the elevator cars.
  • This caused extensive damage to the electrical system and some of the other components. Parts have been ordered and are expected to arrive tomorrow or Monday.
  • Then it will take a couple of days for the repairs to be completed.
  • At this point, they’re expecting the elevators to be back in service by the middle or end of next week – so February 12 or so.

    Deionized Water Outage: Friday, October 11, 2019

    There is a three-hour deionized water outage scheduled for Friday, October 11 from 6 to 9am.

    If you have questions or concerns or simply please contact Charles Lesch at clesch@dental.ufl.edu.


February 5, 2020: Dr. Garcia’s update to Faculty Assembly Regarding the Dental Sciences Building

Dr. Garcia presented during the UFCD Faculty Assembly about outcomes and next steps regarding the Indoor Air Quality Assessment project initiated by UF in Summer 2020, and also progress related to a new dental sciences building. More information is available here.


Deionized Water Outage: Friday, October 11, 2019

There is a three-hour deionized water outage scheduled for Friday, October 11 from 6 to 9am.

If you have questions or concerns or simply please contact Charles Lesch at clesch@dental.ufl.edu.


September 25, 2019, email from Dr. Garcia Regarding the Dental Sciences Building

Dr. Garcia’s email on September 25, 2019, included updates about:

  • The Terracon Indoor Environmental Quality Assessment survey
  • Next steps in the process
  • On-site visual inspection scheduled for October 8-11, 2019
  • Other ongoing improvement projects
  • For the full email, please click here

July 8, 2019, email from Dr. Garcia Regarding the Dental Sciences Building

Dr. Garcia’s email on July 8, 2019, included updates about:

  • UF Board of Trustees – Concept Approval
  • Indoor Environmental Quality Assessment – more information here
  • West Wall Flashing Replacement
  • For the full email, please click here

Dental Tower West Wall Flashing Replacement Project

On Monday, June 24, 2019, UF Facilities Services, working with JAM construction, will begin the flashing replacement project on the west side of the Dental Tower.

  • You may recall that the same work was being done in December 2018 and January 2019 on the east side of the tower. And now we are heading west.
  • The work is expected to continue through July. So, for about five weeks, we can expect some disruption to be ongoing over the third floor. There will be noise, vibrations.
  • This project is to repair issues causing water intrusion outside of  D3-3, D2-6 and the 3rd floor hallway. We ask for your understanding during the duration of this critical repair.

If you have concerns or if any problems arise, please contact Neal Owens nealowens@ufl.edu and also keep Charles Lesch in the loop so he will be aware clesch@dental.ufl.edu.


April 19 thru September/October 2019 | Cast Iron Pipe Replacement Phase 2 Floors Ground thru Third

(Sent April 11, 2019) Facilities Services is starting on Phase 2 of a comprehensive improvement project in the dental tower. They have contracted with Charles Perry Partners, Inc. (CPPI) to replace all of the cast iron pipes in the dental tower on floors G-3. If it sounds like a big project, that’s because it is! But they will take it one day at a time and will coordinate with each area as they progress. They are still working out some of the details for scheduling so please keep in mind that some things may change.

But, for now, this is what we know:

  • The project starts on the second and third floors on April 19. The project is expected to take 20 weeks (that’s five months through September or October-ish).
  • They will be doing most of their work between 6am and 6pm, although there may be some work done during the day, and they’ll also be working some weekends.
  • CPPI will be scheduling work inside labs, offices and clinic areas as necessary. They are aware that some of the areas have very sensitive equipment and will take proper precautions and care.

This is going to be a very fluid project with a lot of moving parts. We realize that this will cause some inconvenience for many of you but we are happy to see these improvements in the works for our dental tower, so we appreciate your patience.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Charles Lesch, clesch@dental.ufl.edu or 352-273-8001; or the Charles Perry Partners, Inc. (CPPI) Terry Frey (Daytime Contact) terry.frey@cppi.com or 352-359-9085; or Charles Garrett (Night Work Contact) charles.garrett@cppi.com or 352-316-1036.


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