A facilites management company is hired to manage the facilities of the owner's occupied property such as a block of flats, a small hotel or a block or office business park. Many business parks and high rise office blocks are bought by property companies who then lease the business as a fully serviced office. Fully serviced office blocks and business parks are becoming standard in most major cities in the UK and even in some rural areas. Managed office space leases give business owners more time to run their business rather than worrying about the day-to-day management of their office space.
A facility management company that service offices typically provide cleaning and maintenance services for offices and work with waste disposal. Depending on what kind of contract the management company has with the property owner, the company may provide office equipment such as telephone systems and computer networks. An increasing number of facility management companies may also offer full reception services where calls are answered and sent to the right people and business associates and other visitors may be greeted at the door and shown the specific office they are looking for.
Facilities management company may choose to include office furniture in its list of services offered, and the company may be involved in collecting rent from tenants and sending it to the property owner. Some companies will be responsible for cleaning and maintenance both indoors and outdoors where others will do one or the other. Not all management companies will offer things like doorman services and reception services; Much depends on how big the facility management company is and how long they have been in business. More established companies will offer a greater level of managed benefits than new businesses.
In some office blocks and business parks the facility management company may subcontract building security to another firm or they may take over the security aspect themselves. An increasing number of managed offices now have 24/7 access and 24/7 security for occupant businesses. Most office blocks will have CCTV and alarms and certain areas will have 24-hour security.
Where a property company buys office blocks and immediately transfers them to a facility management company, they often leave the entire management of the property to that company, including IT and telecommunications. Sometimes the management company will outsource the telecommunication installation and computer network management and sometimes they will deal with it from home. Business owners who relocate their businesses to managed offices will often expect that those offices will have telecommunications and internet ready, they will also expect ongoing IT and telecommunications support from the management company.
Some managed offices can be rented with fully equipped desks, workstations and storage facilities, making it easier for businesses to get in and out of the office. A good facilities management company will ensure that everything is going smoothly, earning them more contracts to manage the office space.
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ISO 41001:2018 Facility Management System — Three years on — Problem solved or just another standard?In late 2018, the long-awaited International Standard Organization published ISO 41001:2018 — Facility Management system — Requirements with guidance for use.
Some two and a half years later, we look at whether it has been a success story or whether it has failed to live up to its pre-launch expectation.IntroductionThe questions I will answer are:Should we pursue ISO 41001 and become certified?What is the certification process and the stages involved?What are the benefits of certification and will it add value?
In Part 1, dated June 2019, I looked at early indicators of how the standard was received by the profession and industry, less than a year after it was launched.
At the time, I experienced varying opinions from around the Globe.
It was evident however that the ‘FM Mature’ countries were not adopting the standard as quickly as its pre-launch expectation suggested.
There were numerous reasons for this, mainly due to a) a lack of awareness of the standard; or b) organisations were already certified to any one of several other associated ISO Management System Standards (MSS), notably ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 and that until they felt a need or were being persuaded that ISO 41001 was a must, they would refrain for the time being.
