LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON - If a furnace breaks down in Jean Marie River Stan Sanguez now feels more confident about troubleshooting and possibly fixing the problem.

"I'm not scared of furnaces anymore. I know how it works now," said Sanguez.

Participants in the Building Operations Course including from left, back row: Steven Jose, Enos Tonka, Stan Sanguez, David Nataway, Jerry Enzoe, instructor Yousry Abdelmegid and Jonas Sanguez; front row: Morgan Matou and Dolores Tonka now have a better understanding of how to maintain public buildings in their communities. Clayton Konisenta is missing from the photo. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

Sanguez was one of nine participants in the Building Operations Course that was held in Fort Simpson from Nov. 16 to 25. The course, which is offered by the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs through their School of Community Government, is designed to increase the skill level of people who maintain public buildings for community governments.

For 10 days participants from Jean Marie River, Fort Simpson, Nahanni Butte and Lutsel K'e learned about boilers, furnaces, ventilation, lighting, alarm systems and energy management. The course covers the skills that are needed to diagnose all of the problems a building might have and maintain it in good shape, said Yousry Abdelmegid, the course instructor.

The most common problems in buildings, particularly homes, come from the heating systems, said Abdelmegid

"The weather is harsh on the heating and you don't get qualified people in the community," he said.

By learning about heating components course participants learn how to do the preventative maintenance that can stop the most common problems before they start and even fix minor problems when they occur.

The course also covers energy maintenance, which includes how to run systems efficiently and perform regular maintenance on doors and windows. Participants put their new knowledge to use during the course by looking at the boilers and furnaces in some homes in the village, including a few where elders live.

In every community he's visited since 2003 when he began instructing the course Abdelmegid said people have been interested in participating even if they already know some of the information. Fort Simpson followed the same pattern.

All of the participants agreed that it would be beneficial if more people took the Building Operations Course. The course builds up people's skills so they have more job opportunities and it also lets them help their communities, said David Nataway of Lutsel K'e.

Nataway said he'd like to see more women and younger people enrolled in the course.

In the smaller communities people are retiring from government jobs and more skilled workers are needed who can take their places, said Jonas Sanguez of Jean Marie River.

"With the course you find out where your problem is and how to troubleshoot," he said.

It's important to understand the basics of cleaning furnace parts and how to diagnose problems using an electrical multimetre, said Sanguez.

Communities can easily be left under serviced because many rely on one or two people to do all of the maintenance, said Abdelmegid. If those people leave there is no one left to look after all aspects of maintenance, not just furnaces and boilers, he said.