Facility management is an interdisciplinary field devoted to the coordination of space,
infrastructure, people and organization, often associated with the administration of office
blocks, arenas, schools, convention centers, shopping complexes, hospitals, hotels, etc.
However, FM facilitates on a wider range of activities than just business services and
these are referred to as non-core functions. Many of these are outlined below but they
do vary from one business sector to another. In a 2009 Global Job Task Analysis the International
Facility Management Association identified eleven core competencies of facility management.
These are: communication; emergency preparedness and business continuity; environmental stewardship
and sustainability; finance and business; human factors; leadership and strategy; operations
and maintenance; project management; quality; real estate and property management; and technology.
FM has become highly competitive, subject to continuous innovation and development,
under pressure to reduce costs and to add value to the core business of the client organisation
where possible. Facility management is supported with training
and professional qualifications often co-ordinated by FM institutes or associations, and a limited
number of formal degree programs exist at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
Role of the facilities manager The FM sector acts as an umbrella, horizontally
oriented market. It currently represents about 5% of global GDP. Its relationship to the
human resources, real estate and information technology functions of an enterprise has
increased. The discipline of facility management and
the role of facility managers in particular are evolving to the extent that many managers
have to operate at two levels: strategic-tactical and operational. In the former case, clients,
customers and end-users need to be informed about the potential impact of their decisions
on the provision of space, services, cost and business risk. In the latter, it is the
role of a facility manager to ensure corporate and regulatory compliance plus the proper
operation of all aspects of a building to create an optimal, safe and cost effective
environment for the occupants to function. This is accomplished by managing the following
activities: Health and safety
The facilities management department in an organization is required to control and manage
many safety related issues. Failure to do so may lead to injury, loss of business, prosecution
and insurance claims; the confidence of customers and investors in the business may also be
shaken by adverse publicity. Fire safety
The threat from fire carries one of the highest risk to loss of life, and the potential to
damage or shut down a business. The facilities management department will have in place maintenance,
inspection and testing for all of the fire safety equipment and systems, keeping records
and certificates of compliance. Security
Security to any organisation is necessary to protect the employees and the business
and this often comes under the control of the facilities management department, in particular
the maintenance of the hardware. Manned guarding may be under the control of a separate department.
Maintenance, testing and inspections
Maintenance, testing and inspection schedules are required to ensure that the facility is
operating safely and efficiently, to maximize the life of equipment and reduce the risk
of failure. There are also statutory obligations to be met. The work is planned, often using
a computer-aided facility management system.how. Cleaning
Cleaning operations are often undertaken out of business hours, but provision may be made
during times of occupations for the cleaning of toilets, replenishing consumables plus
litter picking and reactive response. Cleaning is scheduled as a series of "periodic" tasks:
daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Operational
The facilities management department has responsibilities for the day-to-day running of the building,
these tasks may be outsourced or carried out by directly employed staff. This is a policy
issue, but due to the immediacy of the response required in many of the activities involved
the facilities manager will need to keep tight control, often requiring daily reports or
an escalation procedure. Some issues require more than just periodic
maintenance, for example those that can stop or hamper the productivity of the business
or that have safety implications. Many of these are managed by the facilities management
"help desk" that staff are able to be contacted either by telephone or email. The response
to help desk calls are prioritized but may be as simple as too hot or too cold, lights
not working, photocopier jammed, coffee spills, vending machine problems, etc.
Help desks may be used to book meeting rooms, car parking spaces and many other services,
but this often depends on how the facilities department is organised. It may be split into
two sections often referred to as "soft" and "hard" services. Soft would include reception,
post room, cleaning, etc. and hard the mechanical and electrical services.
Tendering
The facilities management team will seek to periodically re-tender their contracts, or
at the very least bench mark them to ensure they are getting value for money. For this
to happen it is necessary to have an up to date list of equipment or assets to send out
with the tenders. This information is often retained on the same computer as the maintenance
schedule and updating may be overlooked as equipment gets changed, replaced or new items
are installed. The asset register is also an important tool for budgeting, used to for
life cycle costings and for capital expenditure forecasting.
Commercial property management
Building may be owned by the occupier or leased. Leased properties will be subject to periodic
rent reviews.. Business continuity planning
All organizations should have in place a continuity plan so that in the event of a fire or major
failure the business can recover quickly. In large organizations it may be that the
staff move to another site that has been set up to model the existing operation. The facilities
management department would be one of the key players should it be necessary to move
the business to a recovery site. Space allocation and changes
In many organizations, office layouts are subject to frequent changes. This process
is referred to as churn rate, expressed as the percentage of the staff moved during a
year. These moves are normally planned by the facilities management department using
computer-aided design. In addition to meeting the needs of the business, compliance with
statutory requirements related to office layouts include: the minimum amount of space to be
provided per staff member; fire safety arrangements; lighting levels; signage; ventilation; temperature
control and welfare arrangements such as toilets and drinking water. Consideration may also
be given to vending, catering or a place where staff can make a drink and take a break from
their desk. Europe
The European facility management association, EuroFM, uses the EN15221 definition. The definition
of facility management, EN15221-1, provided by the European Committee for Standardisation
and ratified by 31 European countries is: "(the) integration of processes within an
organization to maintain and develop the agreed services which support and improve the effectiveness
of its primary activities." According to this European standard, the scope
of FM is 'Space & Infrastructure' and 'People & Organisation'.
Currently a project is underway to develop an ISO standard that defines FM on a global
level. This project is being led by the British Standards Institute represented by Stan Mitchell,
former chairman of BIFM and Global FM. Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Institute of Facility Management established in August 1999 was the local professional
institution of Hong Kong SAR to promote and develop facility management in the Hong Kong
SAR. They organised Hong Kong's only FM Award, the Excellence in Facility Management Award
on yearly basis. Their success can be referred from the website www.hkifm.org.hk.
See also Activity relationship chart
Physical plant Building information modeling
Computerized maintenance management system Property maintenance
Property management 1:5:200