FACILITIES MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY FORECAST FOR 2016

Seasons greetings colleagues and friends.                                                                                                                                                               

The current year is gradually coming to an end with its good and bad in the Facilities Management Industry. It was also filled with lots of activities which were meant to raise the demand for facilities management locally while riding on the support from the international organizations such as BIFM and IFMA. For example, local FM Company’s in Nigeria organized programmes in the Federal capital territory, Abuja and Lagos which is the commercial nerve of the nation. Some even invited international renowned speakers to grace their occasions in order to spice their events and give it the class it deserves as well as send a message to their prospective clients nationwide.

In the month of June, 2015, which commemorates the world FM day, the Global map was filled with activities here and there. Two significant events took place in Nigeria with FM Company’s continuously making noise in terms of trying to reach out to their customers and the international community. Some other FM organizations decided to make the celebration a quiet one with their team in-house. In India, NEXT Facilities Management Company organized a facilities management meeting to celebrate the global event which attracted key professionals around the world and was streamed live for the rest of the world to join. In addition to this, Australia, United States of America, UK and other European countries which also include SAFMA of South Africa dedicated the day to educate and learn new tends in FM. Other international events such as facilities fusion, Think FM by BIFM, MEFMA conference, world work place organized by IFMA and other related programs took place within the year to discuss issues underlining the progression of the profession and the solutions to combat imminent challenges within the built environment.

In Nigeria for instance, the BIFM established its presence with its first committee members and first launch in Africa; where else would it have been rather than the most populous nation in Africa and the most populous black nation in the world. A nation filled with lot of potentials to affect the global economy positively. Several committee and members meeting took place to propagate BIFM agenda and its focus to develop a robust knowledge of FM through research and development. This is just one of many benefits it offers its members. The major event organized by BIFM Nigeria region took place in September 2015 with a breakfast meeting with the C-suite in order to raise more awareness of the profession through the leadership of their respective organizations. The need to have a business confidence monitor for Nigeria was discussed after same research was achieved in UK and UAE. This will provide a realistic data and help investors and FM leaders to make informed decisions.

The FM profession is really struggling to be recognized in Nigeria and it’s really affecting the growth of the business because there is a very low percentage of an outsourced FM service in the country. Some enthusiastic FM leaders have taken a bold step through the current IFMA presidents [Lagos & Abuja] to send a bill to the senate for consideration.

Looking forward, 2016 is just by the corner with FM practitioners filled with a lot of expectations. I am sure so many FM companies must have had their strategic meetings to study the Nigerian and global FM market for new opportunities to penetrate the market and increase their market share. Significant investments must have been made in terms of new FM tools/assets to purchase in order to build capacity and differentiation to bring in more business. Leaders of these organizations should understand that FM is meant to add value and should not be done as business as usual manner. Low operational cost and increase in value to customers is just one of the many advantages of engaging a competent FM in the first place.

The coming year from my prospective is based on the current global economic state with the increasing free fall of oil prices will affect the FM industry greatly with other micro and macro-economic factors. Economist around the world forecast as low as $20 per barrel of oil within the first quarter of the New Year.  In addition to this, increase in security threat by terrorist both locally and internationally will affect the business of FM and thus increase the demand of FM professionals around the world through the development of a concise business continuity plans, project risk appraisals and security management of high end assets, critical system as well as protection of key personnel in any organization.

There will be more power challenges in the country and I do not really think the plans of government to make power more available will be realized in 2016, may be in 2017. Hence, FM’s have the opportunity to deploy cost savings strategies through the aggregation of the activities in their processes to identify and eliminate non-value adding processes for their clients. This will inevitably reduce the impact of our activities both in the industrial sectors and residential/commercial sectors on the environment. The only challenge here is that the real FM players are very few; others are just there to make the numbers. I will like to say here that consumers should seek knowledge and employ highly trained and experienced FM consultants to help develop a robust systems and standards for a seamless process for them to achieve their bottom lines.

In view of the above and regards to the banking industry, the CBN policy on no COT will open more doors for Banks to outsource more of their services to professionals and thus facilities management firms will benefit more from this. I see more Banks merging before the end of the year to reduce operational cost and synergize to meet statutory demands.  Currently, some Banks have engaged consultants to help harmonize a good procurement process to help identify world class FM’s which will manage all their assets and in turn build more capacity in their own core area of business. Following this thoughts, more banks will close their branches due to inflow of technologies for consumers operations because it will be more expensive to maintain those branches in terms of operational cost especially the provision of power and security. I think there will come a time where professional and not just the financial institutions will have to share resources in order to stay competitive in business.

Small scale businesses will be on the increase with unique offerings that will meet consumers demand. The established FM’s companies will be too expensive for client to buy in because of their high overhead cost mainly because they have not integrated FM technology to help improve their processes and influence the speed and quality services deployed. I see more big FM companies losing more of their portfolios to these new companies because they will be more solution focused rather than just doing the FM business in the usual manner.

More international FM companies will be attracted to come to Nigeria to do business                          if our institutions are strengthened for them to be able to repatriate their profits. This will increase a lot of foreign direct investments which will gradually build our GDP and reduce the level of unemployment in the country. It will be a case of talent retention and management competition and poaching of good hands here and there. This is already happening and the old ways of using salaries to attract talent will not really work because knowledge has increased and even the young Facilities Managers understands sustainability in relation to their future wherever they work. The few places I have worked, I have seen top management make same mistake over and over again in terms of treating their employees as if they are doing them a favour rather than seeing them as key elements in their business and forming a symbolic relationship with them.

To my colleagues around the world, this is the time to plan, prepare and remain focused to develop capabilities that are rare and imitable. Next year will have so many opportunities for those that have unique solutions that comes with the ever changing needs of the customers and only the prepare will see it and translate it to individual expectations. Enough of just studying for certificates and not actually studying to grow in the right knowledge of a professional facilities manager with keen understanding of the FM market and its economics. This is an opportunity for us to share ideas and knowledge in our different localities especially during our BIFM and IFMA meetings through research and networking to solve problems that are imminent in 2016. These challenges are ubiquitous, having heaps of certification cannot solve the problem but putting into practice all we have learnt for the year may do the magic. Therefore, we need to set continuous personal and profession development goals for ourselves to remain resourceful, make a great mark and write our names in gold come 2016.    

Kindly drop a comment on my blog www.facilitiesideas.blogspot.com. I wish you a merry Christmas and a resounding new year. Remember, it always start with an idea to be great.

LEVEL 5 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE: A VIEW FROM THE SUMMIT

This article is mainly to look at some of the attributes of level 5 facilities management performance and not performance management. It also offers insight into the required abilities and skills for a Facilities Management firm to deliver world class FM services and view other competitors at their summit to see how they struggle at the parity level. Also, quick steps to what a Facility Manager to become seasoned can do will be highlighted, for them to build a personal reputation while meeting customers' ever changing needs.

Here, a level 5 facilities management performance is described as relevant inputs from organisations with appropriate processes that results into outputs that meets and exceeds the consumers or end user’s expectations. It is about adding value and raising the bar in the workplace and moving above the parity space in the support of the core business activities of an organisation. This performance describes the provision of high performance with focus on the built environment with low cost and increased value within the value chain of an organisation.

In order to attain this kind of performance from an organizational perspective, it requires that facilities service providers excel through the appropriation of certain skills and strategies to overcome the external forces to the built environment. These forces range from poor infrastructures such as unavailable power supply, poor road networks, inadequate communication system, collapsed supply chain management, unsustainable supply relationship management and Generation Y attributes. Others are failed government policies and development of a sound judiciary system. For there to be a clear understanding of what a level 5 performance connotes, it is important to note that there are basic strategies a firm must imbibe and execute.

Based on this premise, I quite agree with Whittaker and Shouse (2013: 9) that "high performance organizations are those that are skilled at developing a strategy, implementing a plan to follow that strategy, operating with an effective performance management system, and constantly reassessing and adjusting their plan to meet an operating and regulatory changing environment’’. This reminded me of a discussion I had with a colleague during a recent professional engagement in Accra where I inquired about what strategic inputs they plan to offer in the coming year. To my surprise, he said they only have operating procedures and they do not do strategies. It became obvious that the firm was only focused on reactive system of operations and obviously will not be adding value and attracting high net worth customers.

In order to address the aforementioned scenario, and some other relative concerns to FM's, I will be discussing a model that can be used to evaluate and develop a simple but effective high performance facilities and in turn achieve a level 5 facilities performance.  Before this is explained I think it is instructive to identify the key attributes of a high performance organisation. Although Whittaker and Shouse (2013) identified six (6) important characteristics of a performing organisation, I will like to include the use of technology to add value through sustainable means. Please see the list below inclusive of my suggestion which makes it the seventh attribute for clarity. These are;

• Strategic approach to the future of the organisation.
• High level strategy and planning skills.
• An in-depth knowledge of their stakeholders/customers.
• Sound process for accomplishing work.
• Process for continual improvement.
• Commitment to the development of the workforce
• Use of appropriate Technology (CMMS, IWMS, CAFM, BIM)

Still in line with the use of technology, I agree with Teicholz (2013) that appropriate technology use empowers problem solving and enables new opportunities and approaches that expand the role and capabilities of facilities management. Hence, it will make a lot sense to use the above attributes to scan a facilities management firm and address all concerns. He further explained that an organisation can meet its market leadership quest and differentiation goals through proper selection and implementation to achieve future values. I have had the opportunity to use three (3) different softwares for process integration and I really find one of it which is Essets (www.essets.com) to be a simple, cost effective and a veritable tool. There are hundreds of such, but care should be taken to select an appropriate one for specific purposes. Engaging a consultant in this instance will really go a long way to meet the organisations needs.

Now, let us look closely at the role of an FM will have to play in order to achieve good organisational effectiveness. To achieve a level 5 performance in the built environment, knowledge is required as well as unique abilities, an optimum level and a well maintained physical infrastructure to deliver top notch services in a sustainable manner. In congruent to this, Whittaker and Shouse (2013:11) added that "the Facility Manager must carefully balance inputs such as energy, labour, materials and capital (both political and financial), to deliver quality services to the organisation. They further argued that this is achieved by the Facility Manager through the development and implementation of processes such as real estate portfolio planning, work management, space management, continually monitoring customer feedback, and managing operating and capital budgets.

As identified earlier, one of the proposed models is the high performance facilities model which is a three-fold stance; organisational effectiveness, facility life-cycle performance and business practices. Pedraza (2014), an independent Consultant explained organizational effectiveness as "the efficiency with which an association is able to meet its objectives". He explained further that "an organization that produces a desired effect or an organization that is productive without waste". Hence, looking closely at his definition of an effective organisation runs itself without waste, we can argue that such firms has the in-built capacity and effective processes to deliver high level result with minimum energy, time, materials and money while still meeting their bottom-lines which is to make profit. Consequently, the main measure of organizational effectiveness for a business will generally be expressed in terms of how well its net profitability compares with its target profitability.

The figure below shows the three basic areas that determines the achievement of a high performance FM services.

Still in line with these thoughts, Dattagupta (2014) added that additional measures might include growth data and the results of customer satisfaction surveys. In addition to this, he explained that highly effective organizations exhibit strengths across five areas: leadership, decision making and structure, people, work processes and systems, and culture. For an organization to achieve and sustain success, it needs to adapt to its dynamic environment. organisation to be an icon of model in the built environment.

The second stance of the high performance facilities model is ability to measure facility life-cycle performance. Hodges & Sekula (2013:275) explained that "one of the facility manager's greatest contributions to their organisation is the ability to look at the entire life-cycle of its physical assets and make capital purchasing decisions that provide the greatest economic benefits". I agree with their suggestion that having a full grasp of the total cost of ownership (TCO) of purchases made will help achieve a high facility performance. The TCO hinges on the cradle to grave of a facility in terms of all-in-all cost, which is also defined as the total expenditures an owner will make over the course of the service life of the building or system under construction.

Hodges & Sekula (2013) provided strategies on managing building life-cycle and in turns promotes the facility performance. This involves the following;

• Strategy: Extension of service life, gain in efficiency, reduction in space demand.
• Tactics: Proper O&M and timing of capital repairs, equipment replacement, consolidation and space management.
• Results: Longer service life, lower life cycle cost, lower occupancy cost.

The third stance is the business practices, and is defined as the method, procedure, process, or rule employed or followed by a company in the pursuit of its objectives, (www.businessdictionary.com, 2015).  Owing by this simple definition, it involves the organisations corporate governance, culture and values geared up to meet their relative vision via strategies for growth and profitability. It also involves employees capability build-up to meet customers' needs and for necessary market differentiation. Although there are concerns that some employers do not really invest in their team because they fear they will leave soon. The level of risk the employer is working to avoid cannot be compared to the liabilities accepted by not providing adequate and strategic training for their team.

According to the business confidence (2015) report by BIFM for UK & the UAE, I discovered that a lot of Facilities Management firms may go bankrupt because of no specialized skills and thus new entrant firms come to squeeze their margin because of no barrier to entry. Therefore, I agree with the common saying that a trained staff is an asset and an untrained staff is a liability to his employers. Therefore, it is expedient to develop rare skills in the eleven competencies identified by IFMA bothering on the current Facilities management needs. This can be achieved via continuous professional development training and deliberate association with first class professional FM professionals globally.

References

Business Dictionary (2014),'Business Practice', http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/business-practice.html#ixzz3pUrPXGU7 (Accessed:22/10/2015)

Chris Hodges & Mark Sekula (2013),'Sustainable Facility Management-The Facilities Management Guide to Optimizing Building Performance', USA

Dattagupta (2014),'What is Organisational Effectiveness', http://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_organisational_effectiveness_How_an_organisation_could_achieve_it (Accessed: 15/10/2015)

Eric Teicholz (2013),'Technology for Facility Managers-The Impact of Cutting-Edge Technology on Facility Management', John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Jim Whittaker & Teena Shouse, (2013),'High Performance As a Goal-Achieving Excellence in Facilities Management', Vision spot publishing, USA.

Jorge Pedraza (2014),'What is Organisational Effectiveness', http://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_organisational_effectiveness_How_an_organisation_could_achieve_it (Accessed: 22/09/2015)

USING FACILITIES MANAGEMENT AS A STRATEGIC TOOL FOR BUSINESS EXCELLENCE

The origin of Facilities Management can be traced to the Era of scientific management and explosion in office administration, the introduction of computers in workplaces in 1960s and the energy crises highlighted the importance of cost of space (bifm.org.uk, 2011). Following these catalytic events, Since late 1980s, FM has gradually gained a foothold as discipline and profession within the property and construction industry with evidences of the establishment of the following professional facilities Management Institutions globally; IFMA in the USA, JFMA in Japan, BIFM in UK, FMA in Australia, etc. This shows clearly how important the profession is to the built environment (Linda et. al., 2001).

Though the popularity of this subject has been on a steady upward trend, to date there are still people who don’t really appreciate and to certain extent are misguided on the roles and responsibility of FM. It is therefore pertinent for FM practitioners to understand the evolution of FM, which has developed from just looking at “hardware” such as buildings, furniture, which is reflected by Becker (1990) and equipment to looking at “software” such as people, process, environment, health and safety which is depicted by Alexander (1999). The term FM coined in 1964 by Ross Perot. Herman Miller and his group established FMI in 1979 in Ann Arbor Michigan. In 1980 National Facility Management Association was formed. Later 1980, evolved into IFMA International Facility Management Association. In 1993, British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) was formed. Spread to Europe, far East and Nigeria in mid 1990s via IFMA.

Cultivating an accurate understanding of the evolution of FM is important, so that when the FM subject is diversified the essence of the subject remains consistent in order for the later outcome to not stay undiluted with newer components and elements of FM knowledge that could cloud the core subject areas. In Nigeria for instance, many actors use the term facilities management to impress clients, but do not provide professional FM services (David, 2000). Such usage can only be understood if we try to understand the evolution of FM from its point of origin. The phrase “facilities management” is somewhat at the growth stage in Nigeria, and some subcontractors or service providers use the term without thinking about what it means. There is a trend among service companies to add the two letters FM in order to look professional. This phenomenon even led Sodexho Alliance to avoid using the term facilities management, opting instead for terms like “multi-services”, even though they offer facilities management (David, 2000).

FM Structure helps to support the core business process helping the business to naturally prioritize its operations. Here Facilities Management and business strategy are joined and are complimentary. This is Facilities Management at a strategic level. Thus, we can define Facilities Management as an integrated approach to operating, maintaining, improving and adapting the buildings and infrastructure of an organisation in order to create an environment that strongly supports the primary objectives of the Organization (Atkin & Brooks, 2009)

Other Definitions of FM
Becker (1990)
FM is responsible for coordinating all efforts related to planning, designing and managing buildings and their systems, equipment and furniture to enhance the organization’s ability to compete successfully in a rapidly changing world.

Nourse (1990)
FM unit is seldom aware of the overall corporate strategic planning, and does not have bottom line emphasis.

NHS Estates (1996)
The practice of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of an organization; integrates the principles of business administration, architecture, and the behavioral and engineering science.

Alexander (1999)
The scope of the discipline covers all aspects of property, space and environmental control, health and safety, and support services. The practice of FM is concerned with delivery of the enabling workplace environment – the optimum functional space that supports the business process and human resources.

Hinks and McNay (1999)
… Common interpretations of FM remit: maintenance management; space management and accommodation standards; project management for new-builds and alterations; the general premises management of the building stock; and the administration of associated support services.

Varcoe (2000)
… a focus on the management and delivery of the business “outputs” of both these entities (the real estate and construction industry); namely the productive use of building assets as workplace.

Nutt (2000)
The primary function of FM is resource management, at strategic and operational levels of support. Generic types of resource management central to the FM function are the management of resources, physical resources, human resources, and the management of resources of information and knowledge.

IFMA (2010)
Facility management is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.

BIFM (2006)
“Facilities management 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”.

Following these definitions by professionals around the world, Theriault (2010) explained that Facilities Management is a complex profession made up of many different titles with varying scope and responsibility. He added that it is also about ensuring the company gets the best value for its investment in the building, whether it’s the rent it pays or the returns on investment it receives as an owner. We can therefore say that Facilities Management while supporting an organisation to achieve their cooperate objective, it can also be a verifiable tool for investment through the offering of best value with a resultant effect on the organisations return on investment and any other associated bottom lines.

It is therefore important to stress the efficacy of integrative interdependent disciplines whose overall purpose is to support an organisation in the pursuit of its (business) objectives. The proper application of facilities management techniques enables organisations to provide the right environment for conducting their core business on a cost – effective and best value. Atkin & Brooks (2009) also suggested that if buildings and other facilities are not managed, they can begin to impact upon an organization’s performance. Further to this, buildings and facilities have the potential to enhance performance by tilting towards the provision of the optimum working and business environment. They also opined that in practice, Facilities Management can cover a wide range of services including real estate management financial management, change management, human resource management health and safety and contract management, in addition to building maintenance, domestic services (such as cleaning and catering) and utilities supplies.
In addition to this, Atkin & Brooks (2009) suggested that there is no universal approach to managing facilities; each organisation – even within the same sector – will have different needs. Understanding these needs is the key to effective facilities management measured in terms of providing best value. We can therefore say that the first approach to ensure a client focus on its business is to understand their needs.

It is very key to discuss the importance of facilities to an Organisation (acting as client) and how approaches to facilities management can differ between organisations, even within the same sector. It is also instructive to note that most buildings represent substantial investment for reorganization and usually have to accommodate and support a range of activities taking into account competing needs (Atkin & Brooks, 2009). They further explained that within these activities is the organisation, core business, for which an appropriate environment must be created in buildings that may not have been designed for the purpose for which they are now used. It is also important to know that the reason for clients to be in business is to make profit through the delivery of customer’s satisfaction and achieve best value.

I agree with Atkins & Brooks (2009:2) who suggested that “since running cost account for a significant part of annual expenditure, there is bound to be pressure to look for savings in non–core business areas”. This now requires the need to strategically consider a more professional approach that can identify possible ways of cost reduction and cost avoidance while not deflagrating quality and good service experience by the end. This in tandem to Atkins & Brooks (2009:5) where there opined that “A piecemeal approach to cutting cost is unlikely to produce the required savings and may impair the organization’s ability to deliver high quality services.
They further explained that facilities management can be seen as a more powerful concept than real estate for property management because it takes a holistic view of the dynamics of the workplace and their environment. In view of this, facilities management can be summarized as creating an environment that is conducive to carrying out the organizations primary operations, taking an integrated view of  the services infrastructure, and using this to deliver customer satisfaction and best value through support for and enhancement of the business (Atkins & Brook,2009:3)

The profession has moved beyond the traditional approach where property managers dealt with the technical aspects of buildings for owners, typically as an investment. However, it is important to distinguish the differences between the property managers and the facilities managers to enable us appreciate the role they both play and the value added for achieving an expected objective.
Theriault (2010) gave the definition of a property manager as the one responsible for the property management function for the day to day operations of the building, including managing service providers for preventive maintenance, life safety and other asset – related requirements. He added that they are the ones interfacing with occupants and tenants about technical service and conflict issues. He further explained that Facilities Managers on the other hand represents the occupants, dealing with moves, furniture’s, office functions and other logistical issues. Also, the property manager traditionally works for the building owner while the Facilities Managers work for the tenants. I quite agree with this thought because it is meant to support an organisation or Individuals objectives (Barret & Baldry, 2003)

The facilities Managers have a more strategic role in managing the built environment with the management of the people. IFMA’S definition captures the four key areas of facilities management which are; people, process, place and technology. Therefore the facilities managers role is to ensure that these four key areas are knitted together to provide best value with international best practice to the organization or individual they serve.

Although the name Facilities Manager has been literarily misused and turned to a buzz word without a lot of professionals appreciating the key role they play in ensuring that a firm achieve its Vision and Mission over a given period of time. Theriault (2010) gave a caution about the title (Facilities Manager) that it is not always clear indication of responsibilities. He gave example that asset management can be performed by the facilities manager, property manager or increasingly by another individual with the asset management title. In the same vein, Adewunmi & Adejumo (2012) explained that Facilities Management suffers identity crisis because it is relatively a new discipline and is still in the process of development. They explained that it has led to every professional wanting to associate themselves with Facilities Management without actually understanding its rudiments and potential use as a strategic tool for business excellence and workplace productivity.

For further understanding of the importance of facilities management in terms of adding value and promoting the business of an organisation, it is good to give a pictorial view of the skills required in this profession by the service providers in order to meet with the demands of the ever changing needs of the client. Although IFMA considered eleven competencies in Facilities Management (Leadership, Business & finance Technology, Project management, Operations management, Real Estate, Quality Environmental Stewardship and sustainability, Human Factors, Communication, Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity, we can summarize FM skill requirements in the FM pie as suggested by Theriault (2010). Following these explanations about the strategic role facilities management play in the core business of an organisation and the requirements of the uses of the facilities in the built environment, it is expedient that we also look closely at the functions involved in facilities management. Please see http://thebuiltenvironment.ca/member-resources/the-facility-management-pie-scope-responsibility

Based on this premise, we need to consider quality of service or performance while defining the value required by the client and in turn the required strategy for business excellence. Therefore, the relationship between quality and cost of price has to be properly understood. Following these thoughts, Atkin & Brooks (2009) suggested that cost savings cannot be isolated from value proposition. Organisation must therefore be able to demonstrate the value they are getting for their money and should not assume that paying less today is proof of better value for money. For a client to perform core business using facilities management as a tool, the associated risk involved in the search for best value should be recognized and transferred to those who are able to manage them effectively.

According to Imaad (2014), business excellence is a set of systematic activities carried out by the entire organization to effectively and efficiently achieve company objectives so as to provide products and services with a level of quality that satisfies customers at the appropriate time and price. I strongly believe based on my experience as a Facilities Manager that Facilities Management can be used as a strategic tool for business excellence through appropriate programmes, strategies and resource allocation. Further to this, if the aforementioned skills in FM are applied it can bring about the following in an organisation;

• Good value offering to the customers.
• It will create sustainable future.
• Develop Organisational Capability.
• Harnessing creativity and innovation.
• Leading with vision, inspiration & integrity.
• Managing with Agility.
• Good Talent Management.
• Sustaining outstanding results.

However, FM comes with some challenges which professionals are seeking to find lasting solutions that can sustain the future needs of the people. This is important because I believe FM can also be seen as an intangible service provision. Some of the identified challenges are;

• Intangibility: FM services are based on customer experiences and not tangible good.
• Customer Integration: Co-creation/Co-provision.
• Heterogeneity of services: Multiple service/changing requirements according to time place and circumstances.

It is therefore instructive to conclude that Facilities Management draws knowledge, experience and energy from multi-disciplined professions to meet the end-users expectations and exceed it with appropriate value proposition and fulfilling the corporate objectives.

References
Adewunmi Yewande & Adejumo Femi (2012), ’The Practice of Facilities Management in Nigeria’, University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. 11th EuroFM Research Symposium EFMC 2012.

Anna-Liisa Lindholm (2005), Public Facilities Management Services in Local Government, International Experience, Master Thesis, Department of Surveying, Institute of Real Estate Studies, Helsinki University of Technology

Atkin Brian & Brooks Adrian (2009), ‘Total Facilities Management’, 3 rd Edition Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong

Bifm.org.uk (2011) Available at: http://www.fm-world.co.uk/news/fm-industry-news/fm-sector-leads-way-on-job-creation/#sthash.1DBNggFy.dpuf (Assessed 20/05/2015)

David G. Cotts (1999), The Facility Management Handbook, 2nd ed., American Management Association, New York.

Bernard William Associates, Facilities Economics, Incorporating Premises Audits’, 1994
Linda Tay & Joseph T.L. Ooi, Facilities Management: “Jack of all trades”, Facilities Journal, Vol.19, Number 10, 2001, pp.357-362

Martin Kelly, (2008) ‘The UK Facilities Management Sector’, Director, KPMG LLP, London, UK
Theriault Michel (2010), ‘Managing Facilities & Real Estate’- 50 Strategies, approaches and leading practices, Woodstone Press.

KNOW YOUR BUILDING (KYB)

I will like to share with you some of the key reasons why we need to know our buildings in terms of the available critical systems that underpins the provision of world class Facilities Management services in the built environment . The phrase "Know Your Building" (KYB) is analogous to the popular phrase "Know Your Customer" (KYC) which is mainly used in the service industry such as Facilities Management/Building Maintenance services to ensure that we have full knowledge of these systems we are managing. Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) can help Facilities Managers  know about their building systems as well as its performance relative to their expected use. This can be achieved with the use of appropriate technologies such as BIM, BMS, RFID, CMMS, CAFM, etc.

Based on this premise, and identification of some of the critical systems in a building such as; Lifts, Escalators, Power Generators, Water Treatment Plant, lighting Systems, HVAC-R, Pumps,etc and the need to ensure they live their useful service life; FMs should focus on this with respect to adding value and reducing operational cost. According to the National Research Council of National Academies (2004), in the life cycle of building, only about 5 to 10% of the total cost of ownership (TCO) relates to planning, design and construction. The remaining cost is attributed to operations, maintenance and on-going renovations and capital improvements. This means that 90 to 95% cost is expended on maintenance (preventive, corrective, predictive,etc) of the building and its systems. Following these revelation and reality, we have a major role to play in order to ensure that the 90 to 95% of cost used in running our buildings is well managed and possibly reduced to about 45 to 45% (This is subject to variables such as micro & macro-economic factors, operational strategies, human capital development, etc) thereby making a huge savings for the customers and also creating value for money while ensuring the FM organisation meet its bottom-line.

The question that arise from this argument is "how do we achieve this?" We can achieve the aforementioned target by thinking sustainability, carrying out daily work around inspection, adhering to a concise Planned Preventive Maintenance (PPM) schedule of all the components of a building system, train & re-train our people in rare and unique skills as related to the built environment and providing necessary feedback for continuous improvements. This also includes the sub-structures (Foundation) and super-structures (Doors, Frames, Locks Building envelopes and membranes, ramps, etc). When all the two main structures of the building are well maintained, it can save the building owners a lot of operational cost. This is because all possible defects may have been identified during programmed activities such as; Building condition survey, Building Energy Audit, Facilities Condition Assessment, Facilities Inspection, etc and possibly reduce or eliminate breakdown of such key systems which has serious cost implication. I quite agree with Withaker & Shouse (2014) that maintenance do not necessarily extend the useful life of an equipment/asset, but it can preserve the equipment to meet its purchase purpose and in turn a reasonable ROI. This is because every building components has a useful life which is the duration (in years) an item will be useful to the building not really how long the entire building will last.

Following these thoughts, there is need to critically consider how our activities affects the triple bottom-line; Economy (Profit), Environment (Planet) and our social lives (People). The reality about this is that our daily activities in the built environment affects the organisations economy in terms of demand and supply principles based on its value offerings and return on investment (ROI). In addition to this, the impact of our daily activities also affects the environment through running of Power Generators, effluents from liquid & solid waste from our buildings and our ability to manage other building waste effectively and efficiently. The third factor is our social lives which if properly managed can improve the way our customers live, work and play and thus increase their level of satisfaction in order to promote the FM profession.

References
Jim Whitteker & Teena Shouse (2014), ‘High Performance as a Goal: Achieving Excellence in Facilities Management" Facilities Engineering Associates, USA.