Facility Management | By Temitope Lawal
For maximum work efficiency and productivity in a workplace environment, people need to be in a building where they feel safe and welcoming. People spend about 87% of their time in buildings. With buildings getting smarter everyday ad technology getting more sophisticated, these buildings need to be managed effectively to avoid work disruptions and hazards. A statistic by Navigant Research showed that the smart building market will increase from global revenue of $8.5USD billion to $8.5USD billion in the coming year. This is where facility management comes in. Facility management ensures the proper running of the physical infrastructure of businesses.
This a facility management deep dive and it includes a simple guide to everything you need to know about facility management. It includes answers to your frequently asked questions about facility management such as why is facility management important?the types, or components of facility management., functions of facility manager, how to become a facility manager, the top 4 importance of facility management and the qualities of the best facility management companies.
What is Facility Management?
In simple understanding, the term “facility” is used to indicate a physical space where business activities take place, such as an office suite or a floor or group of floors inside a building. It also means a broad spectrum of buildings, structures,or physical entities. Such physical structures include the museum, banking hall, hotel, movie theater, grocery stores, sports complexes, jails, auto shops, hospitals, retail establishments, and other revenue-generating establishments or institutions.
Now, we can define facility management.
According to ISO (International Standards Organization), facility management is a profession that integrates people, place, and process within a built environment, with the sole aim of improving the quality of life of people in an organization and consequently, improves the productivity of the business.
IFMA (International Facility Management Association, defines facility management as a profession that includes multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety, and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, lace, process, and technology”
To avoid technical terms and for your better understanding, we would define Facility Management this way: It includes all day-to-day activities or operations that coordinate the physical workplace with the people and work of an organization with the aim of supporting business goals in a cost-effective way.
The need of each facility differs from one another. The facility need of a museum is different from that of a banking hall, although they all may share a basic need such as furniture, air conditioning systems, energy, and office space.
Facility management sectors includes:
- Real estate management
- Energy maintenance and management
- Environment Health and safety
- Occupancy and space management
- Maintenance and operations
- Emergency management and business continuity
- Building maintenance
- Security
- Building Administration
- Project management
- Space management
- Facility management Technology
- Testing and inspections
- Lease management (leases administration and accounting)
Types of Facility Management/ Components of Facility Management
There are 2 main components of Facility Management:
- Hard Facility Management Services
- Soft Facility Management Service
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Hard Facility Management:
Often called Hard FM, refers to the management of physical structures including assets. It focuses on Space and infrastructure, such as design, planning, workspace, furniture, occupancy, heating and cooling system, maintenance, plumbing, wiring, and elevators.
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Soft Facility Management:
Soft FM on the other hand focuses on tasks carried out by people and organizations such as security, catering, cleaning, ICT, HR, ground keeping, accounting, management, and hospitality
4 Top Importance of a Good Facility Management – Why is Facility Management Important?
What is the role of facility management? Like every organization and field, the field of facility management exists to fulfill important functions. A good facility management company ensures that the physical working space and assets can support the needs of every organization.
The best facility management and maintenance companies also ensures that they deliver greater adaptability, flexibility, and sustainability for the organization they manage.There are more reasons why facility management is important.The best facility management companies ensure the following:
- Work-life Productivity: The first importance of facility management is to ensure that the staff and employees of an organization can fulfill their daily duties effectively and efficiently. For this to be possible, a good facility management company ensures that that workspace is clean and organized. It also ensures the proper functioning of the equipment and vehicle.
- Safety and Comfort: Facility Management companies in Nigeria and other countries ensure that the building space is safe and comfortable for every worker. They ensure that the buildings and equipment meet up to the safety standards to reduce risk, liability, and accidents at work. Facility Managers are saddled with the responsibility of ensuring ways that a facility can better meet the needs of its occupants.
- Profitability and Cost Reduction: The many goals of every organization come down to profit. One of the major importance of facility management is the maximization of profit and reduction of cost. Facility management is centered on efforts to minimize unnecessary operational costs for business profit. An example of a facility management system put in place to reduce costs and increase profit is Energy Management.
- Scalability: One of the best practices of facility management is sustainability. Facility management personnel are responsible for promoting greener practices for organizations and businesses. This includes waste reduction energy efficiency optimization.
Others include Maintenance of Regulatory Compliance,Sustainability, and Cost maintenance.
Who is a Facility Manager?
A facility manager is a professional who is responsible for the maintenance of a business or company’s buildings. He/she ensure that a business or organization meets the legal requirements and safety standard.
What are the Roles and Responsibilities of a Facility Manager?
What does a facilities manager do? The functions of a Facilities manager, otherwise known as FM, cut across different business management and operations, The role of a facility manager may differ from company to company; however, they all perform similar services. A facility manager can also work in the field of project manager and can do the work of a project manager. He can also take up other operations in facility manager such as a business manager, strategic manager, and other international business management positions.
The functions of a facility manager include but is not limited to the following services:
- Real estate maintenance
- Building maintenance
- Cost bench marking
- Property maintenance
- Environment, health, and safety maintenance
- Renovation and maintenance management
- Energy maintenance
- Equipment management
- Manpower supply
- Facility maintenance.
The following summarizes the responsibilities of a good facility manager:
- Advising businesses and organizations on ways of improving the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of their facilities
- Ensuring that basic facilities are maintained and in safe condition for the safety of workers.
- Overseeing structure renovations, refurbishments, and other facility projects.
- Managing businesses’ budgets
- Dealing with emergencies that may arise within facilities.
- Ensuring that facilities comply with the standard regulations
- Drafting maintenance reports.
How do I become a Facilities Manager? : What Qualification does a facilities manager needs?
There are vital skills and qualifications a facility manager should possess. The followings are the qualifications of a facility manager or facilities management certifications in Nigeria and other countries
- Diploma in facility management
- Degree in facilities management
- Related qualification in engineering, architecture, environmental sciences, or management
It is important to note that may employers will prefer to take an applicant who has professional certifications recognized by the international facility management association. In addition to this, hands-on practical experience is a major advantage.
Every business needs a facility manager. This is because a facility manager ensures the safety and comfort of every staff and the efficiency of the built environment.
Puzzled on how to get started? Consult with us as soon as you can. Max-Migold Facility Management Advisory team can supply you with the information necessary for your business(es) to scale.