JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- The Air Force is negotiating with privatized housing owners on a Performance Incentive Fee plan aimed at improving customer service and strengthening the role of installation commanders in privatized housing program quality.
Corvias Group, LLC, is the first project owner to reach an agreement with the Air Force on the revised Performance Incentive Fee plan, or PIF.
The Air Force privatized housing program awards fees to project owners for achieving specific performance standards each fiscal quarter. As part of a sweeping effort to improve the Air Force housing program, officials revamped the fee structure to ensure residents have a voice in the operation and evaluation of housing and increase the chain of command’s involvement and ability to solve problems and drive improvements at the installation level.
“Under the new criteria coming into effect at Corvias projects, and with other project owners slated to follow, residents will have more impact in their community,” said Col. Michael Beach, director of Air Force housing programs at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. “This plan makes resident satisfaction a major component of the metric.”
The commander evaluation will make up one-fourth of the total award of the new incentive plan and focuses on resident satisfaction, project safety, maintenance management, and financial management. Resident responses via work order satisfaction surveys and the annual resident satisfaction survey will inform evaluation if project owners are meeting the tougher metrics spelled out in the revised plan.
Corvias, with about 3,900 housing units at six Air Force installations, reached agreement in early April. “We appreciate Corvias’ partnership and leadership to not only change their operations but to also hold themselves accountable by putting their incentive fees at risk should they fall short of the high standards our military families deserve,” said John Henderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment and Energy.
The Air Force will negotiate similar revisions to the PIF with the remaining nine Air Force project owners, including Lendlease, Hunt Military Communities and Balfour Beatty Communities. Lendlease provides 3,200 units at six installations. Hunt has 18,000 housing units at 26 installations, and BBC provides more than 15,000 at 21 installations.
The improved PIF plans are part of the Air Force’s improvement initiative plan to address shortfalls in the privatized housing program. The improvement plan divides 51 improvement initiatives into five lines of effort addressing: empowering residents, improving communications, integrating leadership, improving oversight and standardizing policy.
Among some of the initiatives already accomplished are the Air Force toll-free 24/7 housing helpline at 800-482-6431, a resident bill of rights, installation resident councils, resident advocates and increased participation of the installation commander.