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Encyclopedia > Facility management

In business, facility management (or facilities management) is the management of buildings, physical plant and services. 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. Some or all of these aspects can be maintained by data-rich computer programs. In economics, a business (also called firm or enterprise) is a legally recognized organizational entity designed to provide goods and/or services to consumers or corporate entities such as governments, charities or other businesses. ... For other uses, see Management (disambiguation). ... A physical plant or mechanical plant refers to the necessary infrastructure used in support of a given facility. ... Property management is the operation of commercial, industrial and/or residential real estate. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

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.g. global service provision to a multinational corporation). 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. Facilties Management is also provided by larger property managers such as DTZ who act on behalf of their Landlord/Owner Clients. Johnson Controls, Inc. ... For other uses, including the Chrysler Brand, see Chrysler (disambiguation). ... multinational corporation (or transnational corporation) (MNC/TNC) is a corporation or enterprise that manages production establishments or delivers services in at least two countries. ... The Regus Group plc (LSE: RGU) is a multinational corporation based in Chertsey, England and Dallas, Texas. ... The Regus Group plc (LSE: RGU) is a multinational corporation based in Chertsey, England and Dallas, Texas. ...


Definitions

One definition provided by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) is: The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) is the largest recognized professional association for facility management in the world. ...

"A profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology."

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: CEN, the European Committee for Standardization, is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to foster the European economy in global trading, the welfare of European citizens and the environment by providing an efficient infrastructure to interested parties for the development, maintenance and distribution of coherent sets of standards... BSI Kite Mark Logo - Made up of the letters B & S British Standards are produced by BSI British Standards, a division of BSI Group. ...

“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”.

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). There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...


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). 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)) This article does not cite any references or sources. ...


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

There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is also known as Enterprise Asset Management. ...

External links


  Results from FactBites:
 
Compass Facility Management, Inc. Home Page (334 words)
Compass Facility Management, Inc. is a special company created to serve the unique management needs of smaller market public assembly facilities, including arenas, theaters, amphitheaters and convention centers, which are primarily under the governance of municipalities, counties, colleges, and universities.
Because we manage buildings day in and day out, we bring a solid and resourceful operator's approach to the business of consulting.
Made by PC Technology in cooperation with Compass Facility Management.
GEFMA German Facility Management: Facility Management (329 words)
Mit der Gründung des Facility Management Institute (FMI) in Michigan in den 70er Jahren begann sich die Wissenschaft mit dem Thema FM zu beschäftigen.
Ab Mitte der 80er taucht in Europa und damit auch in Deutschland der Begriff FM auf und er verspricht Qualitätsverbesserung und Einsparung bei allem, was nicht dem Kerngeschäft zu tun hat.
Facilities und FM sind anspruchvoller geworden und damit die Ansprüche an den Verband gewachsen.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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