In business, facility management (or facilities management) is the management of buildings, physical plant and services. A business (also called firm or an enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise Physical plant or mechanical plant (and where context is given often just plant) refers to the necessary Infrastructure used in support and maintenance The services are sometimes considered to be divided into "hard services" and "soft services. " Hard services includes such things as ensuring that a building's air conditioning is operating efficiently, reliably, safely and legally. Soft services includes such things as ensuring that the building is cleaned properly and regularly or monitoring the performance of contractors (e. g. builders, electricians). The term "facility management" is similar to "property management" but often applied only to larger and/or commercial properties where the management and operation is more complex. Property management is the operation of commercial industrial and/or residential Real estate. Some or all of these aspects can be maintained by data-rich computer programs. Computer Aided Facility Management ( CAFM) is the support of facilities management by Information technology.
Contents |
Role
It is the role of facility management to ensure that everything is available and operating properly for building occupants to do their work. The facility manager generally has the most influence upon the quality of life within a facility. Facility management may range from the small scale (e. g. single small building custodial services) to the large scale (such as Johnson Controls' operation of Chrysler manufacturing) or even on an international scale (e. Johnson Controls Inc is an United States company based in Milwaukee Wisconsin. Chrysler LLC is an American Automobile manufacturer that has been producing Automobiles since 1925 g. global service provision to a multinational corporation). Multinational corporation ( MNC) or transnational corporation ( TNC) is a Corporation or enterprise that manages Production or delivers Some facility management companies (e. g. Regus) have grown to simply provide environments which other organisations may rent Office space on demand in order to do business in a "hotel" environment. Regus Group plc ( LSE: RGU is a Multinational corporation based in Chertsey, Surrey, England and Dallas, Regus Group plc ( LSE: RGU is a Multinational corporation based in Chertsey, Surrey, England and Dallas, Facilties Management is also provided by larger property managers such as DTZ who act on behalf of their Landlord/Owner Clients.
Definitions
One definition provided by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) is:
- "A profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology. The International Facility Management Association (IFMA is the largest recognized Professional association for facility managers in the world "
Another broader definition provided by IFMA is: "The practice or coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of the organization; integrates the principles of business administration, architecture, and the behavioral and engineering sciences. "
In the UK and other European countries facilities management has a wider definition than simply the management of buildings and services. The definition of FM provided by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN) and ratified by BSI British Standards is:
- “Facilities management 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”. British Standards are produced by BSI British Standards, a division of BSI Group that is incorporated under a Royal Charter and is formally designated
The British Institute of Facilities Management has formally adopted the CEN definition but also offers a slightly simpler description:
- "Facilities management is the integration of multi-disciplinary activities within the built environment and the management of their impact upon people and the workplace".
In Australia, the term Commercial Services has replaced facilities management in some organisations. Commercial services can also define services other than just looking after facilities, such as security, parking, waste disposal, facility services and strategic planning.
Technology of building automation
Administrative vs. Technical Management
The support of administrative facility management through information technology is identified as Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM). Computer Aided Facility Management ( CAFM) is the support of facilities management by Information technology. Computer Aided Facility Management ( CAFM) is the support of facilities management by Information technology.
The collection of monitoring and supervising devices, control and regulation systems, management- and optimisation facilities/mechanisms in buildings within technical facility management are identified as Building Automation (BA). "Building automation" can also refer to Build automation, the practice of programmatically Compiling Software programs The goal is to accomplish functional processes in the overall industry independently (automatically), according to pre-adjusted values (parameters) or to simplify their operation and monitoring. All sensors, actuators, control elements, users and other technical devices in the building are interconnected in a network. Workflows/sequences can be summarized in scenarios. Characteristic feature is the decentralized structure of control units (DDC) as well as the integrated networking via a bus system (usually EIB/KNX or illumination (DALI))
Orthography
In the United States both 'facility management' and 'facilities management' are widely used, while 'facilities management' is preferred in the UK, Canada, Australia and English-medium businesses in several European countries. In the US the 'facility management' department of public or government origin are called '(State/County/Cities Name) Department of Facilities Management', while if the 'facilities management' is part of private entity it might be called 'Facilities Management Department/Division of (ABC Corporation/Company/LLC/etc. )
See also
External links
- International Facility Management Association
- British Institute of Facilities Management
- The Building Owners and Managers Association
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic