Facility (or Facilities) management (FM) is an interdisciplinary field devoted to the coordination of space, infrastructure, people and organization, often associated with business services functions such as offices, arenas, schools, convention centers, shopping complexes, hospitals, hotels, etc. However, FM facilitates the business on a much 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.

Across the globe there are two types of accepted definitions of FM. First the ones used in official national (BSI, UNI, DIN, etc.), continental (such as EN for Europe) and global (ISO) standards and norms. Secondly there are commercial standards and norms defining FM such as the ones from RICS, IFMA, etc.

According to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), facility management is "a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, processes and technology."

The European facility management association, EuroFM, uses the EN15221 definition. The definition of facility management, EN15221-1, provided by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and ratified by 31 European countries is "(the) integration of processes within an organisation 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' (planning, design, workplace, construction, lease, occupancy, maintenance, furniture, cleaning, etc.) and 'People & Organisation'(catering, ICT, HRM, HS&S, accounting, marketing, hospitality, etc.).

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.

Over the years, FM has been growing as a business field and also as a scientific discipline, slowly finding and anchoring its position among organisations’ business processes. Nowadays, the dedication of FM organisations to new developments and continuous innovation processes seems to be the way to stay in business, constantly exceeding customers’expectations and adding value to the core business of the client organisation (Mudrak, T., Wagenberg, A.V. and Wubben, E. (2004), “Assessing the innovative ability of FM teams: a review”, Facilities, Vol. 22 Nos 11/12, pp. 290-5).

It has now entered mainstream education with new courses being introduced for it across the globe called Facilities and service planning.

  Role

The FM sector acts as an umbrella, horizontally oriented market. It currently represents about 5% of global GDP. Because of its increasing relevance to the core business, it more and more takes the lead when developing a 'new world of work' and 'new ways of working'. As a result the need for convergence with Human Resources, Real Estate and Information Technology has increased dramatically. Also, the FM sector has started taking its social responsibility, has become a strong driver of economy and proofed its role as integrator of people, place and processes. As a result FM has become the leading business service able to integrate the tangible assets of real estate and facilities with the intangible assets of facility services.

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 some of the following activities (The United Kingdom market is being used here as an example only. For all other countries other activities, descriptions and standards might apply.).

  Health and safety

• Occupational safety and health, including compliance with local, state, and national laws and agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and EN 54
• Industrial hygiene, including indoor air quality^[1][2]
• Display Screen Regulations^[3]
• Safety Rules for Contractors^[4]
• Permit to Work System^[5]
• Risk Assessments^[6]
• Control of Substances Hazardous to Health

  Fire safety

• Fire protection and safety^[7]

• Fire Risk Assessments^[8]

  Security

• Security
• Access control
• Security guarding
• Intruder alert
• CCTV^[9]

  Maintenance systems

• Heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration
• preventive and predictive maintenance
• Corrective maintenance/Reactive repairs
• Building automation systems
• Building fabric and decorative
• Grounds maintenance and horticulture
• Computerized maintenance management system

  Periodic statutory testing and inspections

• Lifting equipment^[10]
• Work equipment^[11]
• Legionella^[12]
• Pressure systems^[13]
• Asbestos^{[14] [15]}
• Mansafe systems (window cleaning, roof access, etc.)^[16]
• Electrical portable appliances and fixed wiring^[17]
• Lightning conductors^[18]
• Emergency lighting
• Fire protection systems
• Compliance audits

  Operational

• Help desk
• Asset management
• Disabled Access ^{[19] [20]}
• Cleaning
• Waste management^[21]
• Environmental Issues^[22]
• Reception
• Meeting room management
• Mail Room
• Photocopying
• Vending
• Office space planning, layout, and furniture placement
• Car Parking^[23]
• Specifying, tendering and contracts' negotiation^[24]
• Pest control^[25]
• Daily inspection of escape routes and fire exits

  Commercial property management

• Lease Negotiations ^[26]

  Business continuity planning

• Business continuity planning
• Disaster recovery
• Emergency procedures

  See also

• Facilities and service planning
• Activity relationship chart
• Building information modeling
• Computerized maintenance management system
• 1:5:200

Facility Management

  References