# Boiler Inspection

# Introduction

### CONTEXT

Within a context of generalized precarity and massive rise of the costs of life, maintenance has become an extremely delicate and contradicting practice for self-organized cultural initiatives which run and maintain independent digital infrastructures.
The present form is a tool to inspect the current status of infrastructural well-being within such initiatives. It is an attempt to zoom-in into the everydays struggles and contradictions emerging from the self-administered survival of digital solidarity networks. The hope is that of triggering discussion and elaborate on questions like WHAT NEEDS TO BE MAINTAINED AND HOW? WHAT IS DIFFICULT TO MAINTAIN? WHAT NEEDS TO NOT BE MAINTAINED? WHICH COLLECTIVITY IS ACTUALLY INVOLVED IN THE MAINTENANCE?

Any form of collectivity is hereby simply addressed as "the organization".

### WARNING!

The boiler inspection will take around 60min, but obstacles and difficult conversation might stretch the inspection time up to 3 hours. The questions present in the inspection might not encompass all the issues and might generate even more questions; yet they might be used to address internal and/or external unspoken conflicts in a formalized way. Answers to the questions do not pretend to be exhaustive, and solutions MIGHT NOT BE GRANTED.

The following questions have been formulated and calibrated on the basis of past boiler inspections. Feel free to correct or modify both questions and answers according the specificities of your organizational urgencies.

Please, be wary that some of the questions might trigger anxiety, dizziness, headache, tension and/or confusion. If you experience any of these symptoms feel free to verbalize and discuss them, or to take a break, or to have a walk, or to leave blank spaces, or to leave thick black marks, or to fold the corners of the form, ot to rip them off, or to crumple up the whole form.

PLEASE MARK WITH THE SYMBOLS ⚠️ or 🔥 or 😡 ANY SENSITIVE INFORMATION YOU WISH NOT TO BE PUBLIC. Such information will be held as professional secret.

### GETTING READY

Find the appropriate time and space for the boiler inspection. Ideally, the inspection may be conducted togheter with everyone involved in your organization, but if this is not possible it's ok to do it with fewer people.
Ask not to be disturbed. Find a comfortable position, and take a deep breath.

Now you can turn the page and start the boiler inspection.

# Inspection form

name of the organization
inspected on by
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##### 1. description of the boiler

Age of the organization:
short description of the organization's activity
The following infrastructural elements are collectively used by the organization for its activities (select multiple):
meeting/working table
kitchen
stairs
toilet
couch
server
Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
file sharing
email service
cloud
code of conduct
working agreements
insurances
sick pay
pension
bank account
printers
3D printer
DIY tools and software
social media platform
API (Application Programming Interface)
other electronic components
hosting services
open source budgeting software
open source ticketing system
other open admin tools
other
Map of the boiler:
schematic drawing of the overall infrastructure, including the elements above mentioned
All the people inside the organization have "equal" access and/or basic knowledge of the infrastructural elements marked above and drawed on the map.
Write T (true) or F (false) next to their checkboxes and mark them with a cross on the map.
Is the organization ONLY using FLOSS (Free Open Source) software for their activities?
yes yes, but... no
If no, which proprietary softare are present?
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##### Governance

Formal number of people inside the organization
Actual number of people involved in activities of governance and maintenance of the organization
What organizational model is used?
collective
member based
informal group
other:
Are tasks clearly and fairly distributed (for example, not only based on the skills and knowledge of each individual)?
yes yes, but...no
Who can make decisions?
everyone in the organization
some in the organization
a representative
people outside of the organization
Others
How are decision making processes moderated?
Is the organization taking all the necessary caring procedures for eventual turnover (for example with exhaustive documentation)? How?
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##### Administration

What are the sources of income? (select multiple)
Contributions from private individuals incl. companies, or associations of friends
Contributions from private funds
Contributions from charity lotteries
Other contributions from private resources
Contributions from public funds
Subsidy government (culture funds)
Municipality subsidy
European Union subsidy
Other subsidies from public organizations
Beers
Meals
"In kind" facilities
"In kind" material
Coverage of travel costs
Coverage of accomodation costs
Other
Average number of other jobs that the organization's members have:
Dependency of the members on the organization's income stream. Score from 1 (not at all) to 10 (a lot.)
Is the current funding model/schema sustainable and wage fairly distributed? (Please elaborate)
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##### working conditions

Do people work:
on a contract basis
on a freelance basis
on a voluntary basis
other
The following questions are intended to be answered individually. Score the following from 1 to 10 ( 1 = not at all, 10 = a lot).
Space and resources for failure
Autonomy from bigger cultural institutions and their agenda
Space and resource for learning administration work
Space and resources for learning technical things
Space and resources for research and experimentation
Frustration due to technical issues
Time dedicated to connect with the components(members) of the organization
Time dedicated to repair broken things?

##### well-being

The following questions are intended to be answered individually. Score the following from 1 to 10 ( 1 = not at all, 10 = a lot).
Time dedicated to the organization outside of designated moments
Mental load*: check as many as you feel metally loaded.
* It indicates the feeling of saturation and overload due to extra time dedicated to think and worry about the organization outside of designated working hours.
Anxiety experienced
How many nervous breakdown in the past year?
Frustration due to inter-personal misunderstandings
Is time dedicated to address unsolved conflicts among the members of the organization?
yes yes, but... no
Are there space and resources for emotional support?
score from 1 to 10 (1 = there's none, 10 = there's a loooot)
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##### TBC Q&A

Space for more questions: