Rate My Professor Rob Wilks

Rob Wilks is the Associate Director Property Operations in the Property Services Division at the University of Otago, overseeing a team responsible for meeting built-environment regulatory commitments, providing building consent services, and managing as-built records for the university's extensive property portfolio. With a career spanning over 35 years, he began as an electrical apprentice with the Dunedin Electricity Department in 1987, gaining broad experience with commercial, industrial, and domestic electrical contractors. He then spent 17 years at Chubb Fire and Security (formerly A & T Burt’s), where he earned Trade Certificates in Heating, Ventilation, Air-Conditioning & Refrigeration Systems and Fire Detection, Advanced Trade Electrician Registration, and certification as an Independent Qualified Person (IQP) in Fire Detection, Mechanical Ventilation, and Smoke Clearance Systems. As an adult apprentice, he represented Otago/Southland in the Wallie Askew competition.

Joining the University of Otago's Property Services Building Compliance Team in 2014, Wilks progressed to Building Compliance Manager in 2016 and Building Information and Compliance Manager in 2019, with his team expanding to include the Design office. He demonstrated leadership during the 2021 closure of the earthquake-prone Wellington School of Medicine buildings, coordinating the response and serving as Acting Incident Control Manager during the COVID-19 lockdown. His innovations include co-creating comprehensive fire refuges at Mellor Laboratories—believed to be the most advanced in New Zealand—and developing the university's Passive Fire Guide, which has been adopted and adapted by organizations such as the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Auckland, Waikato, and Southern District Health Boards, and Mercy Hospital. Wilks created Compliance Schedule documentation for more than 200 buildings and led the introduction of a Leica BLK2GO handheld 3D laser scanner in 2021 to produce precise virtual models of buildings, improving asset management, maintenance planning, health and safety, and decision-making. He represented Universities New Zealand on the Standards New Zealand committee reviewing NZS 4512:2021 and NZS 4514:2021, contributing to enhanced life safety provisions, and served as chairperson of the Otago Southland chapter of the Institute of Refrigeration, Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers of New Zealand from 2015 to 2018. In 2021, he was named a finalist for Property Professional of the Year by the Property Council of New Zealand South Island People Awards.