Combining the expertise of building designers and facilities managers
Probing the benefits of designers and facilities managers co-operating — Geoff Prudence.
There is much to be gained when those responsible for designing buildings and those who will subsequently manage them, facilities managers, work together from concept stage. GEOFF PRUDENCE how an initiative by two industry bodies will encourage this.Facilities management has traditionally been about operating buildings, whereas building-services engineering has been mainly concerned with the design of new or refurbished buildings. Traditionally once the building was handed over, the professional design team would move on to the next project — leaving the facilities manager (or equivalent) to ensure that the building and its plant operated correctly.
Work Better However, as the Probe (Post-Occupancy Review of Buildings and their Engineering) post-occupancy studies carried out over the last few years show, buildings work better when the two disciplines talk to each other. Acknowledging this experience, CIBSE is partnering the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) to develop and promote excellence in facilities management practice. Probe was a research project which ran from 1995 to 2002 and encompasses over 20 case studies. The case studies are included in the CIBSE members’ CD-ROM (now available to BIFM members). Many new building projects come under the Government-initiated PPP (Public Private Partnership) and PFI (Private Finance Initiative). Such projects involve considering the whole-life performance of the building so that the building designers are intimately concerned with how the building operates — not just at handover but for the duration of its working life. Regulatory factors are also making building designers take a greater interest in building operation. The forthcoming changes to Part L of Building Regulations and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive increase the need for building design to take greater account of how buildings operate in practice.
Building log book Under current regulations there is a requirement for a building log book to be provided for the building operator to help log, analyse and improve energy usage within the building. A good analogy to the building log book is the owner’s manual supplied with a new car. Drivers need a simple day-to-day guide on how to drive and look after their car, whilst facilities managers need a similar user guide for their buildings. The more accessible information is, the more likely it will be used and acted upon. Many CIBSE members work in FM, and the Facilities Management Group has an active programme of events during the year, but a much wider section of the membership will benefit from the recent link with the BIFM.
Agreement The main points of the agreement are the following. • A joint commitment to work together to develop and promote excellent FM standards. • Shared access for members of both bodies to events, training and other sources of information. • Collaboration on development issues, including: research; standards development; accreditation and assessment schemes; professional development; qualifications; CPD; conferences and other relevant activities. Whilst each body will retain its independence, the agreement will enable members of CIBSE to register as a ‘partner’ with the BIFM, and vice versa. Partners will thereby benefit from the services, events and other activities provided by the other professional body as specified in the agreement. Partners will gain access to the member areas of the BIFM web site and enjoy the same access to journals and reports as via the normal BIFM member access. There will also be an open invitation to attend national and regional BIFM events and networking sessions at the same terms as BIFM members. The BIFM runs an extensive programme of training courses, workshops and conferences. Partners will benefit from the same rates as payable by BIFM members. There will also be access to the BIFM’s library, information and helpdesk services as these are developed by the institute.
Strategic On a strategic level, the two organisations will collaborate in areas of common interest, such as research, publications and accreditation and assessment schemes. Not only will such collaboration avoid wasteful duplication of efforts, but there should also be a financial dividend in terms of sharing of costs. CIBSE has already collaborated with the BIFM in relevant events, but this agreement takes the relationship onto a higher level and should help improve the way buildings work. Like all agreements, this one will depend on the goodwill and efforts by members from both bodies to succeed. We know that too many buildings do not work. They are too hot in the summer and often too hot in the winter, poorly ventilated and wasteful of energy. If the BIFM and CIBSE can work together, we can make a real difference by making buildings more comfortable to work in and more energy efficient.
Geoff Prudence is chairman of the Facilities management Group of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, 222 Balham High Road, London SW12 9BS. He is also a member of the British Institute of Facilities Management.
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