Real estate management is responsible for the maintenance of the administrative buildings, which include not only the district service building in Homburg but also numerous other external offices of the administration, and for the operation of the 18 schools (including ancillary buildings) under the sponsorship of the Saarpfalz district. Furthermore, the Saarpfalz district is also involved, among other things, in the preservation, renovation, and modernization of cultural buildings at the European Cultural Park Bliesbruck-Reinheim, in the cultural center Haus Lochfeld in Wittersheim, and the Rischbach tunnel in St. Ingbert. The draft budget plan for 2025 includes 9.7 million euros for building maintenance and 14 million euros for investments.
The real estate management is divided into the areas of "Technical Real Estate Management" and "Commercial Real Estate Management".
The technical real estate management is mainly responsible for the tasks of technical and structural building maintenance, renovation, and modernization of district-owned properties, including the consideration of energy-related aspects as well as new construction.
Infrastructural and commercial concerns regarding the district-owned properties fall within the scope of commercial property management. This includes, for example, the building-specific contract management and controlling (rental, lease, and operating contracts) as well as janitorial, cleaning, and winter services.
The activities are thus consistently diverse and are increasingly implemented within the framework of major projects. For example, the main building and sports hall of the Robert Bosch School in Homburg are currently being energetically renovated and partially modernized for around four million euros; in addition, construction of the extension of the all-day community school St. Ingbert-Rohrbach along with a new sports hall is expected to begin in April/May 2025. The investments there amount to 22.5 million euros.
"To meet all areas of responsibility, a broad professional portfolio is required. Currently, we employ ten engineers, four construction and electrical technicians, two draughtswomen, a procurement clerk, and a climate protection manager in Technical Real Estate Management. Additionally, the Commercial Real Estate Management includes 46 other administrative staff members, including gardeners, janitors, and cleaning personnel, so that the entire real estate management currently has a total of 63 employees," informs department head Jürgen Leroux.
In the technical field, it is worthwhile to take a closer look at the tasks of the electrical technician alongside the areas of responsibility of (civil) engineers and/or architects, who are primarily responsible for project management in new construction, conversion, and expansion projects, as well as for the supervision and execution of new construction and maintenance measures. This job involves largely the economic planning and consulting of electrical trades for new and existing projects. Close coordination and collaboration with the respective construction and project management, specialist planners, and contracted subcontractors are required. The electrical technician shares responsibility for the planning, costing, tendering, and awarding of electrical services and is at the forefront of site supervision (including quality and performance assessment) up to the successful acceptance of construction sites. Not to be forgotten are the 25 district-owned photovoltaic systems that need to be maintained.
"It is no secret that even we in the public sector nowadays have a demand for well-trained and reliable professionals. I can only recommend that both career starters and experienced professionals take a closer look at the employment opportunities in our district administration, which are truly very diverse, in order to weigh all the advantages of the work environment, possible working time models, or types of employment, etc.," said District Administrator Dr. Theophil Gallo.
