Estates and Facilities Management service disruptions

Updates on current disruptions affecting Estates and Facilities Management (EFM) services in University buildings, upcoming works which will affect EFM services and recently resolved issues.

This page will only be updated during Helpdesk working hours: Monday to Friday 8am to 4pm

Current Maintenance Issues

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the service disruptions described below and are working hard to resolve these as soon as possible.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
23/12/2025	1904 - Nanoscience	Lift 1 is currently out of service until further notice. Tech Services are aware and external contractors are aiming for this to be resolved by the first week of January.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
11/12/2025	Hicks South East Wing	The hot water is to be isolated between 4pm today and 8am tomorrow (12th December) due to urgent reactive works.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
05/11/2025	Pam Liversidge	The entrance doors (Newcastle Street) are currently faulty. We are aware and our technical services team have been making continued efforts to rectify this.

Upcoming Scheduled Maintenance

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
05/01/2026	Various	The Annual Blackout Test that was scheduled for Monday 5 January is NOT going ahead and is postponed (further details to follow in 2026). Some works will still be carried out in the following buildings in the early morning of Monday 5 January. A separate notification of works will be issued - 1507 Information Commons - 1205 Chemistry (Dainton Building) - 1211 Chemistry Haworth Building (West Wing) - 1212 Chemistry (North Wing) - 1214 Chemistry (North East Wing) - 1215 Chemistry Richard Roberts Building (East Wing)

Recently Resolved Issues

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
22/12/2025	1201 Geography Planning Building 1202 Western Bank Library 1203 Arts Tower 1204 Western Bank (Firth Hall Block) 1205 Chemistry (Dainton Building) 1206 Central Annexe 1207 Western Bank (Edwardian Block) 1208 Alfred Denny Building 1209 Western Bank (Central Block) 1210 Addison Building 1211 Chemistry Haworth Building (West Wing) 1212 Chemistry (North Wing) 1214 Chemistry (North East Wing) 1215 Chemistry Richard Roberts Building (East Wing) 1216 Western Bank (Rotunda) 1217 Western Bank Concourse 1218 Central Annexe (Technical Services Workshop) 1219 Firth Court Back Lane, 1220 Western Bank (West Wing) 1221 Western Bank (North Wing) 1222 Zebrafish Aquarium 1224 Perak Biology Laboratory 1225 Florey Building 1226 Concourse Substation 1227 Dainton Building Car Park 1231 Arts Tower Car Park 1233 The Transformer 1302 Students Union (University House) 1303 Hicks Building (Main Block) 1304 Octagon Centre 1305 Hicks Building (Neutron Block) 1307 Students Union (Link Building) 1308 Students Union (Graves Building) 1309 Hicks Building (Lecture Theatre Block) 1310 Hicks Building (South East Wing) 1331 Hicks Cycle Hub 1505 Computer Building 1507 Information Commons 1511 Emergency Generator Building 8073 Royal Hallamshire Hospital - Medical School	We have been contacted by Northern Power Grid (NPG) to inform us of urgent and critical maintenance to the Victoria Street Substation which will require the power supply to be completely switched off for 1 hour. The power shutdown is scheduled for 11p.m (23:00) on Monday 22nd December but we need to start taking action from 6p.m (18:00) to secure the affected buildings. Please take any action required in your departments to prepare for a loss of power. The Transformer will provide back up power, according to its normal sequencing. EFM will be closing all affected buildings at 6p.m (18.00) including to anyone who usually has out of hours access. Please ensure all staff and students have vacated buildings by this time. We expect buildings to reopen as usual at 8a.m on Tuesday 23rd December. There may be a short delay with some systems coming back online, but if there is a prolonged delay with this please contact the EFM helpdesk.

Start Date

Building/area affected

Details

22/12/2025

1201 Geography Planning Building

1202 Western Bank Library

1203 Arts Tower

1204 Western Bank (Firth Hall Block)

1205 Chemistry (Dainton Building)

1206 Central Annexe

1207 Western Bank (Edwardian Block)

1208 Alfred Denny Building

1209 Western Bank (Central Block)

1210 Addison Building

1211 Chemistry Haworth Building (West Wing)

1212 Chemistry (North Wing)

1214 Chemistry (North East Wing)

1215 Chemistry Richard Roberts Building (East Wing)

1216 Western Bank (Rotunda)

1217 Western Bank Concourse

1218 Central Annexe (Technical Services Workshop)

1219 Firth Court Back Lane, 1220 Western Bank (West Wing)

1221 Western Bank (North Wing)

1222 Zebrafish Aquarium

1224 Perak Biology Laboratory

1225 Florey Building

1226 Concourse Substation

1227 Dainton Building Car Park

1231 Arts Tower Car Park

1233 The Transformer

1302 Students Union (University House)

1303 Hicks Building (Main Block)

1304 Octagon Centre

1305 Hicks Building (Neutron Block)

1307 Students Union (Link Building)

1308 Students Union (Graves Building)

1309 Hicks Building (Lecture Theatre Block)

1310 Hicks Building (South East Wing)

1331 Hicks Cycle Hub

1505 Computer Building

1507 Information Commons

1511 Emergency Generator Building

8073 Royal Hallamshire Hospital - Medical School

We have been contacted by Northern Power Grid (NPG) to inform us of urgent and critical maintenance to the Victoria Street Substation which will require the power supply to be completely switched off for 1 hour.

The power shutdown is scheduled for 11p.m (23:00) on Monday 22nd December but we need to start taking action from 6p.m (18:00) to secure the affected buildings.

Please take any action required in your departments to prepare for a loss of power. The Transformer will provide back up power, according to its normal sequencing. EFM will be closing all affected buildings at 6p.m (18.00) including to anyone who usually has out of hours access. Please ensure all staff and students have vacated buildings by this time. We expect buildings to reopen as usual at 8a.m on Tuesday 23rd December. There may be a short delay with some systems coming back online, but if there is a prolonged delay with this please contact the EFM helpdesk.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
19/12/2025	Hicks C floor	The power is scheduled to be isolated on C floor from 12pm today to allow for reactive measures. All power has now been reinstated and issues rectified.

Start Date

Building/area affected

Details

19/12/2025

Hicks C floor

The power is scheduled to be isolated on C floor from 12pm today to allow for reactive measures.

All power has now been reinstated and issues rectified.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
12/12/2025	Perak Building	Please note lift 1 at Perak has had to be isolated by external contractor Ansa. Parts are being sourced and the lift will be returned to service asap. This lift is now back in operation as of 17/12/25.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
11/12/2025	Information Commons	The Information Commons building was closed due to some internal plumbing issues. We are aiming to have the building reopened by 18:00 today. Alternative study space can be found in The Diamond.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
04/12/2025	Student Union	The Goods Lift (Lift 2) in the SU has been temporarily isolated for safety reasons. External contractors are currently addressing the issue, and we will provide updates on this page as soon as more information becomes available. This lift is now back in operation as of 11/12/2025

Start Date

Building/area affected

Details

04/12/2025

Student Union

The Goods Lift (Lift 2) in the SU has been temporarily isolated for safety reasons. External contractors are currently addressing the issue, and we will provide updates on this page as soon as more information becomes available.

This lift is now back in operation as of 11/12/2025

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
26/11/2025	Western Bank	One of the boilers at the Energy Centre has experienced a fault, which may result in a temporary loss of heating in the Western Bank area. Contractors have been dispatched and are working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
26/11/2025	Western Bank Complex	We have been contacted by Northern Power Grid (NPG) to inform us of urgent and critical maintenance to the Victoria Street Substation overnight which will require the power supply to be completely switched off for 1 hour. This substation provides electrical power to our Western Bank Complex of buildings - the same ones that we include in the Annual Blackout Test - here’s a link to the list of buildings (ignore columns D, E and F - not relevant to today). This is scheduled by NPG for 23:00, but we need to start taking action in advance of this to secure the affected buildings. Please take any action required in your departments to prepare for a loss of power. The Transformer will provide backup power - according to its normal sequencing. We will be closing all affected buildings, including to anyone who usually has out of hours access, at 8pm (20:00) this evening until 08:00 tomorrow. Thursday 27 November. Please ensure all staff and students have vacated the buildings by then. We are working with Room Bookings, Performance Venues and the SU regarding bookings and events due to take place. A notification of works is being prepared and will be issued asap (we just wanted to give you the heads up as early as we could).

Start Date

Building/area affected

Details

26/11/2025

Western Bank Complex

We have been contacted by Northern Power Grid (NPG) to inform us of urgent and critical maintenance to the Victoria Street Substation overnight which will require the power supply to be completely switched off for 1 hour.

This substation provides electrical power to our Western Bank Complex of buildings - the same ones that we include in the Annual Blackout Test - here’s a link to the list of buildings (ignore columns D, E and F - not relevant to today).

This is scheduled by NPG for 23:00, but we need to start taking action in advance of this to secure the affected buildings.

Please take any action required in your departments to prepare for a loss of power. The Transformer will provide backup power - according to its normal sequencing.

We will be closing all affected buildings, including to anyone who usually has out of hours access, at 8pm (20:00) this evening until 08:00 tomorrow. Thursday 27 November. Please ensure all staff and students have vacated the buildings by then.

We are working with Room Bookings, Performance Venues and the SU regarding bookings and events due to take place.

A notification of works is being prepared and will be issued asap (we just wanted to give you the heads up as early as we could).

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
25/11/2025	Western Bank West Wing (1220) and Western Bank North Wing (1221)	The compressed gas supply is currently off in Western Bank West Wing (1220) and Western Bank North Wing (1221). This is due to a blow out that occurred late yesterday afternoon. Contractors are on site and compressed gas supply is expected to be restored around 10a.m. This will be an interim fix with further remedial works to be undertaken in the near future. Building users will be informed of this by a Notification of Works.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
21/11/2025	Student Union	The lift in Bar One has had to be isolated at present awaiting replacement batteries after water damage following the burst mains pipe. We don't have a timescale at moment but we will update you as soon as we have more information.

Start Date	Building/area affected	Details
20/11/2025	Students' Union	Update 10:00 The water supply has been fully restored. The building and all Students' Union and University Services and Outlets except Bar One are open. Bar One will be closed during the day today, but the team are working hard to have it open for the planned event starting at 22:00 this evening. There will be no further updates to this disruption. Update 09:00 Services in the SU building are still affected and a decision has been made to close the building, at least until 10.00. University Staff who are already working in the building this morning and are ok using washrooms and taps from nearby buildings are safe to remain if they choose to. We will provide another update by 10:00 Update 08:00 There is currently flooding around the SU area due to a burst water pipe. Yorkshire Water are on site along with our Technical Services teams. The building is open as usual however some services may be affected. Currently there is no access to washroom facilities or taps, but these can be accessed in the nearby buildings such as the Octagon and Hicks. Please contact us at The EFM Helpdesk if you have any further queries. This is currently a priority for our staff which may result in delays to reactive works today until further notice.

Estates and Facilities Management