The main building of BanEcuador, located in the center of the city, requires adaptations due to its “small operational capacity” for the work of the administration and sub-administration of Guayaquil and Zone 5 (Guayas).

This decrease in surface areas began to be recorded from December 2021, almost two years ago, due to the transfer of administrative and technical staff to this unit, after the change of the address of the headquarters from Quito to Guayaquil, established by the executive decree of the year 2018 and the administrative decision of the year 2019.

Because of this migration, departments are not in line with the ‘minimum necessary’ for ‘proper’ employee development, as detailed in the recruitment process, which was in the Q&A phase until November 2 and which, the subject noted, is expected to will be canceled in the coming days.

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The work is planned to be carried out in six months with a budget of one million dollars, which is the amount determined through the unit price system. This option, which is contained in Article 268 of the Rulebook of the Law on Public Procurement, allows the items that make up the work to be classified so that each component is subject to price analysis. For this reason, proformas were not requested from suppliers and similar contracts were not considered, such as the construction of the BanEcuador headquarters in Portoviejo, in 2020, for USD 1.6 million; or the renovation of the Italia building, in Quito, which began last May for $450,058.

“Although the above process has a similar contracting objective, the amounts, deadlines and technical description are not similar to the project to be contracted because its scope is different,” BanEcuador, whose parent company serves, stated in the process. an average of 1400 users per day.

The building was built 56 years ago, has a surface area of ​​4,609 m², and employs 319 employees; However, the financial company requires 5,104 m² for that number of employees, which caused an “alarm” in the design and distribution of space, since the occupancy and functionality of the headquarters is “insufficient”.

With this contract, the financial company hoped to comply with labor regulations, such as – for example – that workplaces must have 2 m² of surface area for each worker, according to executive decree 2393; and with the distribution determined by BanEcuador’s office manual – updated in 2021 -, which foresees that 50% of the total area is for furniture, 25% for circulation and 12% for office growth.

Apart from the distribution of space, the building’s facilities have “many shortcomings”, according to the process. On the ground floor and on the mezzanine floor, the only access areas for users, there are visible parts of the floor with cracks, worn parts of the floor and a detached edge of the marble counter. Also, there are no bathrooms for customers. “They’re damaged, there’s only one for staff,” the security guard told the user.

Part of the foundation of the inn, which is located on the ground floor of the BanEcuador building, is separated. Photo: Courtesy

In the five floors, the basement and the terrace there is – documentation of process details – dilapidation of drinking water pipes and water network of the fire protection system; leaks and blockages; moisture in plaster walls and ceiling; cracks in pillars, walls, tiles and ceramics in bathrooms; corrosion in electrical points and deterioration of electrical connections and malfunctions in central air conditioning equipment.

When extinguishing the fire that occurred on the first floor in July 2021, the building was also affected, especially the walls, ceilings and floors of the mezzanine and ground floor.

Against this backdrop, the financial institution planned to set aside 37% ($376,588) of the budget for architectural structure adjustments, such as layout changes, porcelain and crawler tile installation, wall ceramics, painting, screens, and aluminum doors and glass.

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24% ($245,277) of resources were needed for air conditioning work, such as the production of ductwork with brackets, the purchase of 40 air conditioners, refrigerant gas, bathroom exhaust fans; 17% ($167,027) would be used for the electrical system, such as LED lights, outlets and switches; 13% ($129,285) was for voice and data systems, such as data points, central ducting and connections, and the remaining 9% ($90,686) would be for fire protection, pump maintenance, tank cleaning, fire protection at doors for emergency exit and smoke detectors.

Each floor has an assigned amount to work with. 22% ($206,426) of resources will be used for fifth floor improvements; 17% ($171,709) for mezzanine; another 17% ($169,881) for the second floor; 15% ($154,385) for the third floor; 14% ($138,597) for the fourth floor; and 12% ($119,428) for the ground floor. While the first floor, terrace, basement and wooden emergency exit staircase make up the remaining 5% ($48,436) of the allocation.

With these adjustments, the parent company planned to extend the life of this property and restore “adequate premises” to ensure a “safe and healthy working environment for employees”, thus avoiding – BanEcuador pointed out – possible “complaints that could result in the imposition of fines .”

For the second time, the matrix adjustment will not be performed

For the second time this year, in 2023, the adaptation of the headquarters building of BanEcuador will not be contracted, the financial entity that first announced this process last May. However, the institution declared it null and void on October 20 because the invited supplier – the Public Company for Works, Goods and Services UG-EP, University of Guayaquil – did not submit a bid.

Ten days later, on October 30, this contract was reopened. The next day, the 31st, this newspaper asked BanEcuador for an interview and information about this process that began a month after the change of government. However, at the end of the afternoon on November 1, the state-owned company replied that they had decided to cancel the job.

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“The start of the procedure for its announcement was carried out before the date defined for the inauguration of the newly elected president was known, because there were even challenges. In this sense, the current administration made a decision on October 31 to stop the recruitment process, for which appropriate reports are being prepared,” said Fernando Chiang, general manager of Ban-

Ecuador, and added that this contract was included in the annual operational plan for 2022 and was approved for this year’s exercise.

Next week, the official assures, the cancellation of the process will be visible on the public procurement portal. Meanwhile, the work remains necessary to – according to the finance company – “ensure the quality and safety of institutional work for our public servants”, who served 250,000 clients at the headquarters, so far this year, until September.