The Algebra of FM

Facilities Management (FM) is going to have its 15 minutes of fame.?

Demand for safe, healthy, optimized buildings is starting to come to the attention of politicians due to combination of:

• Tragedies such as the Grenfell Tower fire in the UK.
• Environmental degradation.
• Increasing awareness of just how bad IAQ and IEQ in our buildings actually is (see Twitter for people posting photos of CO2 levels in various buildings).
• Increasing industry skill shortages.?

FM is a professional management discipline focused on the efficient and effective delivery of logistics and other support services related to property. Historically, there has been little legal liability to FM providers. However, I think that will change in the future with evidence of building performance and compliance with regulations becoming a "risk on" issue. FM providers in the future will need to be:

• Highly skilled in building optimization.
• Accountable for building performance via real time systems and building monitoring.
• Digital and data first in approach.?

Good FM delivers:?

1. Compliance, including evidence, with AHJ codes and regulations (protecting building owners from prosecution).
2. Building operational efficiency.
3. Happy and safe occupants.

High performance FM delivers 1 thru 3 above, plus:

1. Progressively lower energy consumption and carbon emissions
2. Improved indoor environmental quality (IEQ)
3. Open source operational data to enhance national benchmarking. Yes, sharing operational metrics no matter if they are good or bad!

What type of Facility Manager are you?

• Good enough?
• High performance?

The future of FM is, IMHO:

1. IOT + 5G
2. BIM + Building digital twins
3. Evidence based
4. About lifestyle experiences in the work place

The algebra of FM is not about buying toilet rolls and generator deiseal cheaply, it is:

Operational Expertise?+?Engineering Knowledge? +?Technology? +?Information Asset Management?=?Facilities Managed

With all necessary changes in life, there is a choice:

1. Ignore it and hope it goes away, or;
2. Embrace the change, plan, prepare and deal with it.

Personally, I try to live in the world of "embrace the change, plan, prepare and deal with it".

What is the first step to high performance FM? IMHO, it is establishing a base line of performance and evidentiary information assets (facility As Built and operational drawings).?

These information assets form a "single source of truth" from which data driven decisions can be made.?

The good news is that there are technology solutions to digitize existing and paper information assets to help create a single source of truth. DCM, The Drawing Specialists can handle this with ease.??

Recognize the high value of facility drawings and work with EASE. With DCM, layer your master drawings into one operational baseline drawing per discipline, then reap the benefits of finding the correct drawings and information in seconds.?

Download a free eBook and discover why baselines are a better way to manage your drawings.

Get a digital drawing management strategy from DCM.

#drawings #drawingsfound #echoknowsyourbuilding #DCM?#FM #singlesourceoftruth