RESTRICTED  
  
WT/BFA/W/650  
 
6 September  2023 
(23-5975) Page: 1/6 
Committee on Budget, Finance and Administration    
 
  
REQUEST TO DRAW FUNDS FROM THE  BUILDING RENOVATION FUND TO UPDATE 
AUDIO -VISUAL EQUIPMENT IN WTO CONFERENCE  ROOMS  
1  THE WTO PREMISES  AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT  
1.1.  The WTO premises c omprise  seven buildings and the Chinese Gusu Garden , situated on 
2.9 hectares of land . The buildings situated on the land are  the Centre William Rappard (CWR), the 
Extramuros (EM), including the underground carpark with 200 parking spaces, the Welcome Pavilion 
(BCI), the Salle William Rappard ( CR), the Villa Rappard (VR) , Villa des Chênes 1 , and Villa des 
Chênes 2. 
1.2.  Three of these buildings  – the CWR, the BCI , and the EM  – as well as the  Gusu Garden, are 
owned by the WTO.  
1.3.  The CR is owned by the Canton of Geneva and maintained by the "Fondation des Immeubles 
pour les Organizations Internationales" (FIPOI).  
1.4.  The Villa Rappard, Villa des Chênes 1 , and Villa des Chênes 2 also belong to th e Canton of 
Geneva.  
1.5.  In the WTO buildings, t here are ten medium -sized and  big conference rooms equipped for 
virtual meetings.  
2   MAINTENANCE AND UPKEEP  OF THE BUILDINGS  
2.1.  The normal maintenance and upkeep of the CWR, BCI , and EM , together with that of the 
technical installations and other fittings  in these buildings , is financed from  the WTO regular budget.  
2.2.  As part of its handover of the ownership of the CWR to the WTO, the Swiss Confederation, 
through the FIPOI , committed to allocate  an amount of up to CHF 1.1 million  per annum  to be used 
exclusively for extraordinary maintenance wor ks in the CWR. In this regard, the WTO Secretariat 
submits selected works to be undertaken at the CWR to the FIPOI for review and validation. The 
FIPOI then applies its procurement policies to hire contractors and service providers. The WTO 
Facilities Mana gement Section  oversees the projects, and the FIPOI makes payments directly to the 
contractors and service providers.  
2.3.  In addition, t he maintenance and upkeep costs of the CR is supervised and paid for by the 
FIPOI.  
2.4.  The Villa Rappard, Villa des Chênes 1 , and Villa des Chênes 2 , although owned by the Republic 
and Canton of Geneva , are maintained by the WTO in its capacity as sole user of the buildings.   WT/BFA/W/650  
 
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  3   ESTABLISHMENT  AND UTILIZATION  OF THE BUILDING RENOVATION FUND  
3.1.  The Building Renovation Fund  (BRF)1 was established in 2015 and complies with the revised 
2013 Infrastructure Contract2 agreed by the WTO and the Swiss Authorities.  
3.2.  The BRF is to be utilized to cover the foreseeable costs of medium - and long -term building and 
infrastructure projects and extraordinary maintenance, repair, improvement , and enhancement of 
the building and infrastructure  for which the WTO is responsible.  
3.3.  According to the FIPOI the annual amount to be allocated for the renovation of buildings in 
Switzerland takes into account the value of the building  for fire insurance purposes, the age of the 
building, the lifespan of the building's structural components and equipment, and the purpose for 
which the building is u sed. Based on the FIPOI model  and the "Bureau d'Estimation de Bât iments" 
(BEB) of Geneva index o f construction costs , the average annual allocation needed for long -term 
renovation of the WTO buildings (the BCI, CWR and EM buildings) is approximately CHF  2,572,000.  
3.4.  The balance of the Building Renovation Fund as at 31 December  2022 was CHF 2 5.1 million.  
3.5.  The guidelines for the BRF are as follows3: 
a. The funds shall only be used to finance extraordinary maintenance, repair, improvement, 
and building and infrastructure enhancement costs, including the upgrading of existing 
facilities . 
b. The Secretariat shall maintain an up -to-date list detailing estimated expenditures that may 
be financed from the Building Renovation Fund . The list shall be presented to the 
Committee regular ly.4 
c. Use of the fund shall be subject to approval of the Committee .  
d. The Secretariat shall report on fund activities as part of the annual financial report .  
e. The Secretariat shall coordinate renovation projects with FIPOI regularly to ensure 
maximum use o f the funds made available by the Swiss Confederation on a priority basis . 
f. Funds shall be transferred to the Building Renovation Fund as follows:  
i. annual financing from the regular budget . 
ii. any other source in accordance with the Financial Regulations . 
g. The closure of the Building Renovation Fund shall be decided by the Committee. Any 
remaining unused funds shall be returned to the Surplus Account upon closure of the fund.  
4   REQUEST FOR THE UTILIZATION OF THE BUILDING RENOVATION FUND TO FINANCE 
THE UPGRADE OF AUDIO -VISUAL EQUIPMENT  
4.1.  The WTO conference rooms are currently equipped with Bosch audio discussion systems that 
allow users to communicate with each other, and through Interpreters. The conference rooms are 
also equipped with Cobranet, HDBaseT , and BLULink technologies , which are used for audio and 
video distribution. These technologies are part of the backbone that enables video recordings, room 
linkages, presentations t o the audience, webcasting of sessions, video display for Interpreters , and 
hybrid meetings. The systems and technologies  were installed from 2011 to 2013 as part of the 
major CWR building renovation project.  
 
1 WT/BFA/W/369/Rev.2  and WT/BFA/151, para. 7.3 (a).  
2 WT/BFA/W/298 . 
3 WT/BFA/151 , para. 7.3 (c) and Annex I.  
4 There are currently no projects approved . WT/BFA/W/650  
 
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  4.2.  The audio discussion system s in some of the conference and meeting rooms  have significant 
technical problems , significantly disrupting Member meetings . Notably, microphones  in Rooms S1 
and W often turn on by themselves (ghost microphones). Furthermore, interpretation channels are 
no longer functioning as they should, switching languages on their own . The WTO technicians and 
the outsourced maintenance services provider have been working since mid -2021 to resolve the se 
problems . These issues were raised with the equipment manufacturers, who indicated  that the 
equipment is obsolete and no longer supported, and nothing can be done  to fix it. This type of 
equipment has a depreciable life of 10 years and a technological life of 5 to 7 years , and the WTO 
equipment has been in operation for over 10 years . An independent consultant advised that  the 
deterioration w ould accelerate . Accordingly, the consultant noted that piecemeal replacement is not 
a realistic option, and the optimal solution would be to replace all the  system s in a coordinated 
manner  before complete failure . Therefore , the matter is quite urgent . 
4.3.  In November 2022 , the Secretariat submitted a proposal (WT/BFA/W/614) for the utilization 
of the 2021 budgetary surplus  amount of CHF  6 million to cover various costs in 2023. Of this 
amount, CHF  1 million was to be allocated to begin work on the necessary and urgent upgrade of 
the audio discussion and interpretation system in some conference and meeting rooms. An estimated 
additional amount of CHF  2 milli on was forecast to be required to upgrade the rest of the conference 
and meeting rooms in 2024 and 2025 , and the proposal noted that the Secretariat would make a 
request to the CBFA in 2023 to approve that such amount be drawn from the Building Renovation 
Fund.  That proposal was approved by the CBFA but not in the General Council, with one Member 
arguing that the project should be funded exclusively out of the Building Renovation Fund.  
4.4.  The original estimate of CHF  3 million was based on an assessment  of CHF  1.05 million from 
the current maintenance service provider for the upgrade  of the malfunctioning audio discussion 
systems  in Rooms S1, S2, S3 , and W , including transition from  the current  outdated  analog  system  
to a slightly more advanced Audio Over Internet Protocol  system , which w ould be aligned with ITSD's 
network infrastructure .5  
4.5.  At the time of submitting the p roposal  for the utilization of the 2021 budgetary surplus , a study 
was being undertaken by a n expert audio -visual  consultancy company to assess the state of the 
audio -visual equipment and systems in all conference rooms and to make specific recommendations. 
The report from the consultancy company , received late last year , indicated that the audio -visual 
equipment  and systems  in all the conference rooms (i.e. , A, B, C, D, E, F, S1, S2, S3 , and CR) need 
to be completely replaced  because they were  either obsolete or reaching end of service life. In 
addition, the report indicated  that Bosch would cease supporting the equi pment  because  
manufacturing  of the discussion system s and equipment  currently in use at WTO  ended in 2022 . 
Furthermore, the consultancy recommended a complete transition  from the current analog  to Audio -
Visual over Internet Protocol6 for all the conference rooms  to conform to the evolved  technology  and 
best practices . In other words, the consultant did not find it viable to merely upgrade to the A udio 
Over Internet Protocol system, as the service provider had (see paragraph 4.4). The report further 
indicated that the estimated cost for these upgrades would be  CHF 4.4 7 million. The report 
recommended that a procurement process, with a comprehensive request for proposals, would be 
the best way to identify a suitable company to supply, in stall, and maintain new audio -visual 
equipment . 
4.6.  On the basis of the consultant report, Secretariat determined that it would be wise to address 
the situation for all of the rooms, in a comprehensive manner.  To that end,  on the basis of  the 
earlier estimate , the Secretariat extrapolated the cost that would be incurred to extend the upgrade 
and transition to Rooms A, B, C, D, E, and F to harmonise the systems in all the WTO meeting rooms.  
4.7.  The consultant's report does not include the costs for adapting or replacing furniture, carpeting, 
lighting, cabling, nor for adapting the ventilation in technical booths to the new AV equipment. The 
 
5 In an a nalog conference system , signal is transmitted with the analog form. Due to the functional 
limitations of analog signals, this type of conference system is limited in terms of integration and additional 
functions , and this system is now obsolete . A more advanced Audio over Intern et Protocol transmits digital 
audio signals through Internet Protocol and  would  be aligned with ITSD network infrastructure . 
6 Audio -Visual over Internet Protocol is the transmission of audio, video,  and control signals over a 
network cable infrastructure . WT/BFA/W/650  
 
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  estimate also does not include the cost of equipment replacement in the CR, beca use it would be 
covered by the Swiss authorities.  
4.8.  However, the replacement of the AV equipment will entail additional technical works, such as 
replacing the high - and low -voltage cables in the conference rooms and upgrading the electrical 
installations. Lighting also needs to be enhanced and low -emission lights  would have to be installed , 
as traditional lights containing mercury are being phased out  in Switzerland. Other more substantial 
technical works will need to be planned in the coming  years. Furthermore, it may be necessary  to 
upgrade  certain other elements  of the rooms, such as carpeting, which is worn out in some places.  
4.9.  The estimated total costs for this project , in accordance with the recommendations  reflected  in 
paragraph 4. 5. above, are summarize d in the Table  below : 
Identifier  Brief Description  Estimated 
Cost (CHF)  
A The study mentione d in paragraph 4.4. above  indicated that the 
audio -visual (AV) equipment in all the conference rooms (i.e. , S1, S2, 
S3, W, A, B, C, D, E , and F) need s to be completely changed . A 
company with in-depth  technical  expertise in this area will be 
contracted to assist with preparing the  Request for Proposals for the 
upgrade of audio -visual equipment in the above -mentioned  
conference rooms , evaluation of the offers, and assistance with 
financial negotiations . 
      60,000  
B  An engineering company is required to manage the project.  The cost 
of such services is approximately 12% of the total cost of the new 
audio -visual equipment. That is, 12% x CHF 4.47 million , estimated 
in Row C below.  
 
 536,400  
C Upgrade of the  equipment in conference  rooms A, B, C, D, E, F, S1, 
S2, S3, and W , as well as a transition to Audio -Visual over Internet 
Protocol . (Refer to Annex 1 for the tentative schedule for installation 
of the equipment).  
 4,470,000  
D7  (i) Estimate for carpeting  
 150,000  
     (ii) Estimate for cabling  
 490,000  
     (iii) Estimate for lighting  and controls  
 400,000  
E.  Total      
 Estimated 
 Cost  6,106,400 
F.  Contingency   
The contingency is 10% of the Total Estimated Cost ( E) 
    610,640 
G.  Updated 
 Total  
 Estimated 
 Cost  6,717,  040 
 
4.10.   The procurement process cannot begin without an assured funding source . Accordingly, this 
request to use the Building Renovation Fund is preceding the procurement process . If the request is 
approved, the Secretariat will report to the CBFA , as required by the BRF guidelin es. 
4.11.   If the CBFA agrees to utilize the Building Renovation Fund for this project and the project is 
commenced, the Secretariat will work closely with the companies involved to schedule the work to 
 
7 The actual cost will be known only once the bids for the AV equipment have been received and a 
solution is chosen . In an eff ort to provide a sense of costs for these items, the Secretariat estimated costs 
based on other work s. However, the scope of that work is likely quite different . Specifically, t he estimated 
amount for carpeting is based on unit price s of an existing framew ork agreement. The estimate for lighting and 
controls is based on a  feasibility study that was undertaken under the auspices of  the Fondation des immeubles 
pour les organisations internationals ( FIPOI ) to improve lighting in Rooms S1, S2, and S3 . The estim ate for 
cabling is derived from  a project to pull IT  cables  for WIFI routers  that was completed in 2020 . WT/BFA/W/650  
 
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  avoid peak time and to minimize disruption to Members . It is expected that the work could begin in 
the 2nd quarter of 202 4, depending on the procurement process and supply chain factors , and end 
in the 4th quarter of 202 4. A tentative schedule is contained in Annex 1 of this document . 
4.12.   The Secretariat requests the C ommittee on Budget, Finance and Administration to approve 
the utilization of an amount of CHF 6,717 ,040 to finance the upgrade of audio -visual equipment in 
Rooms A, B, C, D, E, F, S1, S2, S3 , and W.   WT/BFA/W/650  
 
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  ANNEX 1 – TENTATIVE PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE8 
 
WTO Project  2023  2024  2025  
N° Salles  Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 
1 CWR - S1  
 
 
 
 
 
Multiple procurement processes   
 
 
 
 
Ordering 
and 
delivery of 
equipment  
 760,000    
2 CWR - S2 515,000    
3 CWR - S3 515,000    
4 CWR - W  660,000   
7 CWR - A  255,000   
8 CWR - B  290,000   
9 CWR - C  205,000   
10 CWR - D   520,000  
11 CWR - E   405,000  
12 CWR - F   265,000  
13 All Rooms 
(Harmonising room 
management 
system)    80,000  
 
Total   
CHF4,470,000  
 
 
__________  
 
8 This timeline is indicative and will be revised when the procurement process is completed and a tender 
is awarded.