FM World 20/11/14

THE MAGAZINE FOR THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT | 20 NOVEMBER 2014

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VOL 11 ISSUE 21 20 NOVEMBER 2014

CONTENTS

13| MoJ selects bidders

16 | Workplace Week

20| A good start at uni

NEWS

OPINION

FEATURES

06 Boris welcomes BIFM bid to maintain Paralympics legacy 07 UK and London Living Wage rises 08 Project of the Fortnight: International Commerce Centre, Hong Kong 09 Think Tank: Could all FM employers be offering the Living Wage by 2018?

10 News analysis: Cognitive tests for workplaces 11 News analysis: Local councils could be key in delivering Living Wage 12 Business news: Graeme Davies: Child services could be next on outsourcing list 13 Sodexo and Interserve selected to bid on Ministry of Justice contracts 14 In Focus: Thornton Tasker, managing director of Nationwide Window Cleaning

18 John Bowen on learning from our mistakes 19 Five minutes with Alex Botha, chief executive of the British Safety Council 46 No Two Days

24| Delivering soft landings

16

WW2014: a healthy debate: Workplace Week gathered experts to discuss the impact worker wellbeing has on performance in the workplace

20

Having an edge: How Edge Hill University’s customer-centric team won its second BIFM award for its Welcome Sunday initiative

24

The soft sell: Are the principles of soft landings and a ‘graduated handover’ of a building project to its occupiers fully accepted – and is FM ready for its recast role?

MONITOR 32 Legal Update: Waste legislation update 34 How to: Key management 36 Technical: Improving energy performance

REGULARS 38 41 42 43 44

BIFM news Diary of events Products Behind the job Appointments

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Redactive Publishing Ltd 17 Britton Street, London EC1M 5TP 020 7880 6200 www.fm-world.co.uk EDITORIAL Tel: 020 7880 6229 email: editorial@fm-world.co.uk editor: Martin Read ⁄ news editor: Herpreet Kaur Grewal ⁄ reporter: James Harris ⁄ sub editor: Deborah Shrewsbury ⁄ digital content executive: Hannah Whittaker ⁄ consultant art director: Mark Parry ⁄ art editor: Daniel Swainsbury

MARTIN READ EDITOR COMMENT

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ADVERTISING AND MARKETING email: sales@fm-world.co.uk senior display sales executive: Norbert Camenzuli (020 7880 7551) ⁄ display sales executive: Jack Shuard (020 7880 8543) / recruitment sales: Call 020 7324 2755

PRODUCTION production manager: Jane Easterman senior production executive: Aysha Miah PUBLISHING publishing director: Joanna Marsh Forward features lists and media pack available at www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us

SUBSCRIPTIONS BIFM members with FM World subscription or delivery queries should call the BIFM’s membership department on 0845 0581358 FM World is sent to all members of the British Institute of Facilities Management and is available on subscription to nonmembers. Annual subscription rates are UK £110, Europe £120 and rest of world £130.

To subscribe call 020 8950 9117 or email fm@alliance-media.co.uk – alternatively, you can subscribe online at www.fm-world.co.uk/about-us/subscribe/ To order the BIFM good practice guides or the FM World Buyers’ Guide to FM Services call James Harris on 020 7880 6229.

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Simon Ball, business development director, Mitie ⁄ Martin Bell, independent consultant / Lucy Jeynes, Larch Consulting / Nick Cook, managing director, Avison Young ⁄ Rob Greenfield, health & safety business unit director, myfm ⁄ Ian Jones, director of facilities, ITV ⁄ Liz Kentish, managing director, Kentish and Co. ⁄ Josh Kirk, facilities manager, JLL ⁄ Anne Lennox Martin, FM consultant ⁄ Peter McLennan, joint course director, MSc Facility Environment and Management, University College London ⁄ Geoff Prudence, chair, CIBSE FM Group ⁄ Jeremy Waud, chairman, Incentive FM group⁄ Jane Wiggins, FM tutor and author Average net circulation 12,744 (Jul 13 – Jun 14) FM World magazine is produced using paper derived from sustainable sources; the ink used is vegetable based; 85 per cent of other solvents used in the production process are recycled © FM World is published on behalf of the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM)

by Redactive Publishing Ltd (RPL), 17 Britton St, London EC1M 5TP. This magazine aims to include a broad range of opinion about FM business and professional issues and articles do not necessarily reflect the views of the BIFM nor should such opinions be relied upon as statements of fact. All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, transmitted or stored in any print or electronic format, including but not limited to any online service, any database or any part of the internet, or in any other format in whole or in part in any media whatsoever, without the prior written permission of the publisher. While all due care is taken in writing and producing this magazine, neither BIFM nor RPL accept any liability for the accuracy of the contents or any opinions expressed herein. Printed by Polestar Stones ISSN 1743 8845

BIFM ENQUIRIES

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hen we get look back at what 2014 meant to the further development of the facilities management sector in the UK, it could well be that the word ‘framework’ will feature prominently. For example, the framework defining the BIFM’s professional standards is a major piece of work that will doubtless grow in importance in the months and years ahead. First published in February, this framework seeks to become an international structure for the dissemination of FM training at all levels. Then there’s the recently announced workplace management framework, developed by Graham Jervis and Andrew Mawson of consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates – which has as its aim the determination of “how well an organisation achieves best practice in the management of its workplace”.

This particular piece of work has come together over the past year with the involvement of clients, service providers, and other senior facilities management consultants. It’s intended as an open framework, owned by a charity, to which others can contribute in the years ahead. The involvement of some very high-profile people and organisations suggest that there’s considerable interest in the idea, so it’s one we’ll be keeping an eye on.

Then there’s the much-heralded soft landings. Initially designed by BSRIA, you’ll have read before about how this framework seeks to help secure better ‘building outcomes’ through the use of operational performance data to influence future building projects that have similar aims. The government’s own version of soft landings commits organisations to including FM teams in the construction process for central government projects from 2016 – and what’s that, 14 months away?

This particular framework has the potential to have the most impact on how the FM profession is viewed.

You can read more about both soft landings and the workplace management framework elsewhere in this edition. AWA’s Andrew Mawson believes that the latter has the potential to help shift the perception of workplace management being the domain of real estates and facilities to used by occupier organisations as a standard to run alongside those organisation’s outsourced service provision, providing tramlines for specifications and service levels that outsourced providers must stick to. Of course, these exist in contractual agreements already. Perhaps what’s new in this fashion for frameworks is their potential to demonstrate to a wider range of third parties the standard of work conducted, playing their own part in enhancing the standing of FM within organisations and the wider business world.

When someone in 2050 traces back the trajectory of FM’s development in the early years of the 21st century, the various moves to develop these framework initiatives is likely to loom large. Understandably, because they typically involve the codification of minimum standards of communication, collaboration and reporting.

Theoretically, those who contribute to their development - by deploying them in their own organisations – help ‘raise the bar’ in performance terms.

So then, 2014 as the year of the framework? Makes you wonder what 2015 will bring.

W

“Of all the frameworks, soft landings has the potential to have the most impact on the way FM is viewed from outside”

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DISABILITY ACCESS

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Boris welcomes BIFM bid to maintain Paralympics legacy The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson (right), has welcomed a new standard released by the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) to improve and maintain accessibility and inclusion for disabled people in the built environment.

The standard, released earlier this month, arose from an initiative announced by the government and the mayor to improve accessibility in the wake of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Built Environment Professional Education Project (BEPE), funded by Department for Work and Pensions, the Greater London Authority and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, is a fiveyear project and forms part of the 10-year Olympic legacy scheme to realise lasting change, which includes championing inclusive design – considered a gold standard for accessibility.

Following the development of the standards, the mayor said: “I welcome the BIFM’s work to change its professional standards to explicitly address the access needs of disabled people. This will embed access and inclusion into the thinking of facilities management professionals in order to make a real difference to disabled people’s lives.

“This is a direct legacy of the trailblazing work undertaken throughout the delivery of the London Olympic and Paralympic Games to ensure that venues and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park were designed to be fully accessible,” he added.

Mark Harper MP, minister of state for disabled people,

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said: “London’s Paralympics have undoubtedly helped shift attitudes and perceptions towards disabled people. That also included recognising that disabled people should be able to have the same access to buildings and sporting stadiums as everyone else – which we saw with the award-winning Olympic Stadium where so many memories were made.

“I am delighted the British Institute of Facilities Management has put inclusive design in its professional standards. I want to see the architects and planners of the future be able to put accessibility at the heart of their designs – and I’ll be working with professional bodies and academics

to make that happen,” he added.

The standard will form part of BIFM’s FM Professional Standards Framework with new units on the topic in the BIFM Qualifications in Facilities Management. It will drive an improvement in environments so that they become fully inclusive and enabling for all users.

Gareth Tancred, CEO of BIFM and member of the BEPE board,

said “The BEPE initiative is all about going beyond legislation, to really inclusive and accessible work and leisure environments, so that disabled and elderly people can fully participate in our society.

FM is fundamental to that and we are proud to be leading the way by setting out the professional standard to drive adoption and delivery in this area.”

HEALTHCARE

Long-term PFI debt is hobbling NHS trusts Historic private finance initiative (PFI) debt within the NHS can make it more difficult to change the way estates and buildings are used, says a National Audit Office report.

The report about financial sustainability within the NHS states that among NHS organisations with PFI commitments those with the highest capital charges, as a proportion of their income, were the most likely to report weak financial results in 2013-14.

It says four out of six trusts (67 per cent) with a deficit greater than £25 million had a PFI scheme.

The NAO previously reported that over-optimistic forecasts in the business case for a PFI scheme at one trust, Peterborough and

PFI debt can make it tough for trusts to maximise use of their estates

Stamford NHS Foundation Trust, contributed to a £45.8 million deficit in 2011-12. In 2013-14, the trust had a deficit of £36.8 million.

“Long-term PFI commitments can create a lack of flexibility that makes it harder for trusts to achieve new efficiencies,” says the report.

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, a large acute trust, is an example of how a trust can refinance its PFI scheme to help improve future sustainability, the NAO report points out.

The trust arranged a loan with Northumberland County Council to buy out its PFI scheme.

Although the buyout caused the trust to post an exceptional deficit in 2013-14, it does expect to save £3.5 million in borrowing costs for the remaining 19 years of the loan.

The trust plans to deliver a £21.5 million surplus in 2014-15.

The report adds: “The changes to PFI funding arrangements depend on the local authority’s financial position, so may not be possible or appropriate for other trusts.” www.fm-world.co.uk

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UK and London Living Wage rises The UK Living Wage rate has been set at £7.85 an hour, an increase of 2.6 per cent on the 2013 rate and 21 per cent higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 an hour.

This improves the pay of 35,000 low-paid workers across the country who are employed by more than 1,000 Living Wage accredited organisations.

The London Living Wage rate has been set at £9.15.

Rhys Moore, director of the Living Wage Foundation, said: “As the recovery continues it’s vital that the proceeds of growth are properly shared. It’s not enough to hope for the best. It will take concerted action by employers, government and civil society to raise the wages of the five million workers who earn less than the Living Wage.

“The good news is that the number of accredited Living Wage employers has more than doubled

NEWS

BRIEFS IoH SME allergen guidance this year – over 1,000 employers across the UK have signed up. In the last 12 months the number of Living Wage employers in the FTSE 100 has risen from four to 18 including Canary Wharf Group and Standard Life.”

One of the recommendations made in Invisible Workforce, a report published in the summer by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was for more employers to implement the Living Wage to improve conditions for workers.

Gareth Tancred, chief executive at BIFM, said: “Today we heard about the impact that Living Wage can make on real individuals. FM as an industry can play a crucial part in ensuring that more people are

receiving fair pay for fair work, but there are some hurdles we still need to overcome. The difference between minimum wage and Living Wage, across vast workforces, represents a significant amount of money so it will take time.

“A number of people have a role to play; procurement teams, business leaders, HR departments and service providers. We all must continue to make the case for Living Wage and highlight the business benefits it brings so that we can encourage more organisations to build it into their business models. We look forward to supporting this important debate as we aim to move towards reducing the number of people paid less than Living Wage.”

WORKER WELLBEING

ISTOCK/SHUTTERSTOCK

Disengaged employees ‘cost UK £15 billion’ UK businesses are suffering huge losses in company performance because disengaged employees work in conditions that lead to constant distraction and disruption and a lack of privacy.

Independent charity the Centre for Mental Health found that presenteeism (at work physically, but unproductive mentally) costs UK businesses £15 billion a year.

A recent IPSOS survey commissioned by Steelcase also highlights this issue. The global office furniture firm surveyed 10,500 workers in open-plan offices across 14 countries and found that only 11 per cent of workers in open-plan offices are engaged and inspired at work, 63 per cent are disengaged and unmotivated, and 37 per cent describe their workplace as “stressful”.

Lack of privacy and unwanted distractions were workers’ top complaints, with the average www.fm-world.co.uk

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Forty-nine per cent of UK offices are openplan, meaning workers could lack privacy

worker being interrupted every three minutes and taking up to 23 minutes to return to the task at hand. In the UK only 57 per cent of the people surveyed said they could concentrate easily, and only 50 per cent are able to work without interruption.

Forty-nine per cent of all offices in the UK are open-plan, the highest figure of the countries surveyed, and although most

workers felt that open-plan spaces were fit for their lifestyle and an appropriate space to work, many still reported being stressed.

Bostjan Ljubic, vice-president of Steelcase UK and Ireland, said: “This research shows that although there are positives to working in an open-plan office, including the ease of communicating with colleagues and collaboration, it also shows that workers need privacy to fulfil more demanding tasks.

“By catering for different work styles in the office, and providing employees with a choice of space, UK businesses can ensure that workers are supported, reducing the impact of distraction on workers’ wellbeing and productivity.”

He added: “There needs to be a balance between the isolated, cage-like office cubicles of the past and today’s noisy, public and distracting spaces.”

The Institute of Hospitality has produced allergen guidance aimed at small and medium-sized businesses.

The ‘food information regulation’ toolbox (FIR Toolbox) contains templates that operators can print off and use as part of their everyday operations in order to comply with the FIR. The guidance is designed for those who are hospitality managers and chefs.

In addition, the hospitality team at law firm Pitmans has answered a wide range of questions about the new regulation. This Q&A document is a resource that clarifies the current interpretation and application of the regulation.

Barriers to agile working Organisations see value in workforce agility – but concerns over the short-term costs of practices that would encourage it and the potential risks of the implementation act as key barriers to it, according to a report.

The study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development states that another key obstacle associated in particular with the flexibility of where and when people work is the negative attitudes of senior and line managers.

Among the tactics that HR directors are using to improve responsiveness to change include more focus on the organisational environment and culture as well as better workforce planning and training and development.

Lack of FM ‘costs billions’ The failure of UK businesses to adopt a more effective approach to facilities management could be could be costing them up to £1 billion a year.

Research by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggests that about 26 per cent of UK organisations are still not taking a strategic approach when it comes to FM – a business discipline that involves the co-ordination of space, people, resources and property within an organisation.

RICS says organisations using FM in a strategic capacity could be saving themselves as much as £120,000 annually on average.

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PROJECT OF THE

FORTNIGHT NEWS BULLETIN

Food and services sector doubles over 20 years

INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE CENTRE, HONG KONG PROJECT MANAGER: Harbour Vantage CONTRACTOR: Sanfield Building Contractors ARCHITECT: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates

KOHN PEDERSEN FOX ASSOCIATES

ICC lands performance award The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Awards recognise excellence in design and construction. A new award for 2014 was its Performance Award, won by the International Commerce Centre (ICC), a 484 metre-high office tower in Hong Kong.

Data collection and sharing is one of the key reasons ICC was this year’s winner. Completed in 2010, the ICC is Hong Kong’s tallest building, but it was cited for its management team’s devotion to managing the facility from an environmental and community standpoint.

ICC’s energy performance in 2013 placed it among the top 90th percentile of energy-efficient tall commercial buildings.

The ICC uses a combination of a computerised building management system, a policy of replacing under performing mechanical equipment, and incorporating measurement and reporting into its high-service business model.

Each tenant is assigned its own account manager, who provides responsive service, but also encourages tenants to participate in and undertake their own energy-saving initiatives.

David Scott, technical awards jury chair and lead structural director of the Engineering Excellence Group at Laing O’Rourke, said: “They have clearly articulated to the tenants and to the public how the building works and how their tenants can live in a more sustainable way.”

The tower’s external envelope is constructed of silver, low-emissivity insulating glass. The silver coating reflects the heat-generating spectrum of sunlight (infrared, ultraviolet) while allowing the desirable visible light spectrum to transmit through the façade. The optical properties of the glass include an emissivity rating of 0.15, a visible light transmission of 4 per cent, and a shading coefficient of 0.27 – more than three times the protection of uncoated glass.

Integrated sensors and energy consumption monitors analyse data for day-and-night and seasonal variations to provide a baseline for adjusting the HVAC system to cut energy use. It is expected to reduce energy consumption by 15 per cent compared with the average office building.

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The food and service management sector has doubled its turnover since 1993, says a report from the British Hospitality Association.

The report shows that as well as doubling in size, over the past 20 years the sector has “increasingly broadened its range of services to clients across commerce and communities”.

Although catering is still at the heart of food and services management (FSM), the business has also evolved to become “a diverse multiple services sector where catering is one of hundreds of different services provided – from reception to print management, cleaning to grounds maintenance and engineering”, says the report.

The industry employs nearly 132,000 people and generates at least £4.25 billion in turnover in the UK. The report highlights how food and service management companies play “a part in the efficient running of many of the UK’s major companies, organisations, government bodies and communities, involved in a vast range of issues which affect the UK economy, spanning job creation, influencing legislation, regulations and corporate and social responsibility issues”.

Annual statistics denote “rise in work ill health” There has been a rise in work-related ill health, according to statistics for 2013/14 released by the Health and Safety Executive this week.

Stress, anxiety and depression and musculoskeletal disorders continue to be the biggest causes of work-related ill health and account for almost 20 million working days lost each year – costing society an estimated £8.6 billion.

Around a quarter of non-fatal injuries have resulted in “over-7-days absence” from work and around a third in “over-3-days”, say HSE figures.

Alex Botha, chief executive of the British Safety Council, commenting on the report, said: “While we welcome the continuing improvement taking place in preventing injuries in our workplaces we are concerned that the 2013/14 report shows no improvement in reducing work-related ill-health occurrences.

He added: “The social and economic consequence of neglecting the health and wellbeing of the workforce is grave. HSE estimates that workplace illness costs British society some £8.6 billion each year. The average number of days lost per case of work-related stress, depression or anxiety is 23 and 16 for musculoskeletal disorders.”

FMs “vital” to curbing climate change Facilities managers have a vital role to play in enhancing the energy performance of buildings in operation, says the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA).

According to BSRIA, non-domestic buildings in the UK are responsible for about a fifth of the country’s total carbon emissions.

BSRIA made the remarks following the release of the Synthesis Report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which stated: “Human influence on the climate system is clear and growing, with impacts observed on all continents. If left unchecked, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems.”

It added: “As the majority of existing buildings will still be in use by 2050, improving energy performance of existing buildings is important to help the country to meet emission reduction targets.”

Energy can be saved by better control and management of the systems with large energy consumption associated with them to eliminate the waste, according to BSRIA. In non-domestic buildings the installed Heating, Ventilation and Cooling system (HVAC) is normally the highest energy consumer; lighting is the second biggest load and a major source of internal heat.

Small power loads are not only a considerable energy consumer, but also contribute significantly to internal heat gains. FMs can have a critical control in managing these systems and hence controlling energy outputs, said BSRIA. www.fm-world.co.uk

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THINK TANK

OUR READERS SAID…

No: 38%

Yes: 62%

We asked our LinkedIn and mailing list members – could all FM employers be offering the Living Wage by 2018?

Earlier this month the UK Living Wage rate was set at £7.85 an hour, an increase of 2.6 per cent that makes it 21 per cent higher than the national minimum wage of £6.50 an hour. The London Living Wage rate has been set at £9.15 (see story on page 6).

The week of the announcement was also Living Wage week, the aim of which was to encourage more employers to build these rates into their business models.

A report conducted by financial information firm Markit for KPMG suggests that 5.28 million people are being paid less than the Living Wage, or 22 per cent of employees (up from 21 per cent last year). Although the rise sounds modest, in real terms it equates to about 147,000 people.

The data also indicates a worrying trend that sees parttime, female and young workers as the most likely to earn a wage that fails to provide a basic but decent standard of living.

Among measures to ensure that employers implement the Living Wage is for firms to sign up to become a Living Wage employer or registered Living Wage service provider.

As Chris Moriarty, head of insight and corporate affairs at BIFM, says: “It would be great to set an aspiration for the FM industry to be 100 per cent Living Wage by 2018.

“However, we can’t do it alone and there are no silver bullets.

But I’m confident that we will continue to take positive strides

towards this vision each year.”

How realistic is this aspiration?

How much does facing up to the Living Wage issue go to the heart of the issues surrounding FM’s perceived value to an organisation?

We asked you whether the FM industry will be 100 per cent Living Wage by 2018?

Sixty two per cent of you said ‘yes’. One hopeful respondent said: “However, it needs HM Government and the 493 [or so] local unitary, county and district/ London borough local authorities to set the example.”

Another respondent added: “The other area where leadership is needed is from FTSE 100 and

250 companies. However, the most resistance is likely to be from companies in the Federation of Small Businesses. In practice, I suspect it will not be achieved.”

Thirty-eight per cent of you said ‘no’. One respondent said: “There are too many employers who do not want to pay it (or will not pay it).”

One respondent added: “While from an aspiration perspective it would be fantastic to achieve, the reality on the ground is something quite different; even now too many tenders are focused on cost rather than quality.”

Join the FM World Think Tank: www.tinyurl.com/fmwthinktank

JOHN SANDERS

BIFM and ITN to produce new FM programme in 2015 The BIFM and ITN Productions are producing a news and feature programme about facilities management to be shown at next year’s ThinkFM conference.

Competitive Advantage Through The Workplace – exploring the latest innovations and best practice in the industry – will be presented

by Natasha Kaplinsky from the studios at ITN in Central London and presented at the conference on 13 May in London.

The programme will aim to “demonstrate the impact that high-level professional FM has in building competitive advantage in the public and private sector”, says the BIFM. It will show how organisations can achieve “maximum www.fm-world.co.uk

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productivity, provide the best possible customer experience, or make an organisation more energy efficient ahead of an uncertain energy future”.

The programme will follow up on the partnership’s first programme, which was premiered to delegates

at ThinkFM in 2014.

Gareth Tancred, CEO of BIFM, said: “Working with ITN Productions allows us to build on the work already carried out to raise the profile of FM, celebrate the successes and demonstrate to a much wider audience the importance and scope of the profession. It’s a unique opportunity for the industry as whole to work collaboratively to bring to life the high professional standards of FM.” The programme will premiere to delegates at 2015’s ThinkFM event. The ThinkFM conference will showcase the latest thinking with leading examples from the workplace, together with an update on the continuing collaboration

involving business organisations to rethink the world of work and the spaces created to inspire, build and deliver success at work.

The programme will then be distributed to all BIFM stakeholders and members worldwide and through ITN’s extensive network of journalists, bloggers and writers.

In addition to news, views, comment and interviews with the leading figures in the sector, the programme will feature select case studies with organisations that are innovating in the sector.

For more information, or to participate in the programme, please contact ITN Productions’ corporate programming director at adam.harrod@itn.co.uk.

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 09

13/11/2014 17:15

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EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

Cognitive tests for workplaces

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HERPREET GREWAL newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

Could a series of cognitive assessments really determine an employee’s wellbeing? The built environment and the design of a workplace are vital factors in improving the quality of where an employee works.

A series of reports and studies seem to indicate this. In July a report by office furniture company Steelcase suggested that serving the needs of introverts at work is becoming a key issue for employers (FM World, 14 August, 2014).

In September a report by Lancaster University’s Work Foundation and the Fit for Work UK Coalition said employers were failing to support people with chronic musculoskeletal disorders.

Other recent studies suggest that workers in Europe are disproportionately stressed, are disengaged and many are unsatisfied with hygiene in their workplace. Others want more

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natural light and features like plants to improve their experience.

With all these concerns, being able to measure how an office affects a worker’s experiences in a reliable way would seem to be a valuable tool for creating remedies.

My Cognition, a company that works to understand and improve cognitive health. It believes that “cognition can be trained to function more effectively at any stage of life because the brain is neuroplastic.

Neuronal pathways can be trained to grow and strengthen using cognitive training”.

Earlier this month its chairman, Keiron Sparrowhawk, spoke about how measuring cognition can help a worker’s wellbeing at the Workplace Week convention (see page 16).

My Cognition was set up in 2011.

Sparrowhawk told FM World that it is still building up evidence of the benefits of these assessments on measuring workers’ cognition.

The company will carry out trials with two multinational companies,

but it has recently started working with the UK base of the Bank of New York Mellon. Sparrowhawk says they are “relaxed and curious” about using the cognition tool.

It has made cognitive assessments available to 5,000 of the bank’s staff, says Sparrowhawk.

“We want to give staff a chance to consider not just their physical health, but also their cognitive health. At the moment the staff members are showing good cognition. Their means are significantly higher compared with the general population,” In December, My Cognition will collate all the results. The results will be compared with My Cognition’s database of more than 1,000 people based on a random sample of the population. “We’re constantly updating the system so that we have a bigger and bigger sample… [doing this] creates an equilibrium,” says Sparrowhawk.

The information can be used to look at “what kinds of things [staff and managers] can then do to maintain cognitive health”.

Assessment tool The simple assessment measures cognitive health based on a set of established psychometric tests.

The tests have been “developed and optimised with extensive research” and measure five key cognitive health domains. These are: your attention, your working memory, your episodic memory, your executive function, and your psychomotor speed.

The questions on attention measure how well a participant is able to selectively concentrate on one thing in the environment while filtering or ignoring other information. Poor attention means other cognitive domains cannot be employed effectively.

Working memory is a person’s ability to carry out calculations and solve linguistic problems using short-term memory to recall multiple pieces of information in

quick succession.

My Cognition says people often use working memory functions with numeracy and literacy. Low working memory can indicate problems such as dyslexia, dyscalculia and autism spectrum disorder.

Episodic memory entails measuring recall of events. My Cognition says evoking relevant experience enables a person “to complete work more effectively and through iteration improve upon previous outcomes”. The ability to recall and use episodic memories that have no direct association with a person’s work, such as social gatherings or sports events, could even be used effectively as experience in the workplace.

Executive function uses multiple thought processes to help a person with planning and strategy and is the foundation for problem solving, according to My Cognition.

Many work behaviours requiring planning are directly related to a person’s executive function capacity.

Improved executive function can enable you “to make more effective work plans, track several tasks at once, engage in and lead group discussions and team tasks, evaluate ideas and positively challenge your own thinking, and that of team members or other leaders”.

Psychomotor speed is the measurement of a person’s ability to carry out tasks quickly and with precision, and relates to a response that includes both a cognitive and motor activity. If someone has good psychomotor speed they are more likely to complete work on time.

Sparrowhawk thinks such testing could create a space where people talk about their health with no fear of stigma. Once a person’s cognitive health is assessed, dietary and nutrition tips and anti-stress techniques could be used to help workers. “Cognition is not fixed. It can move up or down,” says Sparrowhawk. “The test is a snapshot… it asks where do I fit?

Can I improve myself?” www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 17:21

WORKER REMUNERATION

Local councils could be key in delivering Living Wage

HERPREET GREWAL newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

As the Living Wage was increased this month (see News, page 7) the outrage around unjust pay in the facilities management industry continues to grow. But what exactly is being done about it?

One of the recommendations made in Invisible Workforce, a report published in the summer by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, was for more employers to implement the Living Wage to improve conditions for workers.

Many feel that expecting all employers to offer the Living Wage is an unrealistic goal while others are hopeful enough to consider that this could be the norm by 2018 (see Think Tank, page 9).

Michael Travers, campus services manager at University of Southampton, said: “Hopefully, the fact that universities and www.fm-world.co.uk

10-11_News analysis.indd 011

other educational institutions are already setting the example will help to get others to join in. Conversely, if they don’t get on board it could lead to the movement of staff away from the private sector and into the public.”

Brent Council in London is one local authority that announced a package of proposals this month to create a further incentive for businesses in the borough to take steps towards paying their staff the Living Wage. It will offer discounts on business rates to employers who pay the Living Wage. It could be the first council in the country to offer such an incentive.

A council statement said: “Some of our lowest-paid workers in the borough could get pay rises of around £2.50 an hour as a result of our offering firms in the borough up to £5,000 off their business rates – if they become Living Wageaccredited employers.”

A Brent Council spokesman told FM World: “It is an incentive for businesses in Brent to pay the Living Wage so they receive discounts on business rates if they become accredited Living Wage Employers.”

He added: “We already pay all of our directly employed staff the living wage and we are now considering [this] idea to offer businesses a one-off discount on their business rate equivalent to five times the cost of being accredited as a Living Wage Employer by the Living Wage Foundation. The cost of being accredited with the Living Wage Foundation varies depending on the size of workforce and the type of organisation but the maximum discount could be up to £5,000.”

In addition, Living Wageaccredited businesses will be championed on the council’s website and will receive a personal visit from a senior member of the council to officially recognise their accreditation. It is expected that up to 200 businesses in Brent could benefit from the idea.

Taking the pledge The cost of awarding any discount would be shared between “central government, 50 per cent, GLA 20 per cent, and Brent Council 30 per cent and the proposals will see costs met by existing budgets”.

Research also released this month by the Centre for Local Economic

“Hopefully, the fact that universities and other educational institutions are already setting the example will help to get others to join in”

Strategies (CLES) suggested that what Brent is doing is a way for employers to take up the Living Wage pledge.

The study by the Manchesterbased think tank, found that twothirds of councils across the UK are paying their staff the Living Wage.

Sixty per cent of these councils had some form of mechanism to encourage their suppliers and contractors to pay the Living Wage through procurement. Embedding incentives into procurement and the supply chain was also one of the recommendations in the Invisible Workforce report. The report recognised that procurement and contracting of services is a “significant feature” of the commercial cleaning industry and “appears to have contributed to the prevalence of low pay, high levels of labour turnover, and the challenges for successful organisation by unions within the industry”.

CLES’s study, which it undertook with Manchester City Council, sought to explore the extent to which councils in the UK are paying their direct labour forces the Living Wage and the mechanisms being used to embed such principles into procurement – and subsequently suppliers.

Researchers found that “detailing low pay as one of a suite of priorities in invitation to tender documentation can encourage suppliers and contractors to pay the Living Wage as part of tender submissions and contract delivery”.

The study points out that “there is a difference between being a Living Wage-paying authority and an accredited’ Living Wage authority”.

It noted that there are currently 11 accredited Living Wage authorities in England, but pushing forward with plans to encourage businesses to pay this rate would mean “becoming an accredited Living Wage Employer is therefore a key role of local government in the low-pay agenda” FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 11

13/11/2014 17:22

FM BUSINESS SIGN UP FOR FM WORLD DAILY AT FM-WORLD.CO.UK

ANALYSIS

Child services could be next on outsourcing list GRAEME DAVIES newsdesk@fm-world.co.uk

The latest wave of government outsourcing contracts has flowed through in recent weeks with the Ministry of Justice’s long-mooted outsourcing of probation services attracting some sharp criticism.

Meanwhile, a further step in outsourcing of the government’s social welfare provision, which could see child protection outsourced, suggests that this

government’s enthusiasm for outsourcing is likely to take it into some very contentious places before its time is up.

After significant criticism of the government and the dominant private sector players in this field over the past couple of years, the government has been at pains to emphasise its commitment to widening the pool of outsourced service providers, a pledge it first

made several years ago. But fulfilling this pledge has proved difficult despite the growth in the number of charities, mutuals and co-operative-type operators able to bid for such contracts.

In the case of the probation contracts, justice secretary Chris Grayling made a great deal of the fact that 75 per cent of 300 named subcontractors within the major contract awards are charities or mutuals. But the big winners were Sodexo and Interserve, which between them were named preferred bidders on 11 of the 21 main regional contracts. This has led to criticism that the inclusion of charities and mutuals in the bid teams is just window-dressing.

The charities and mutuals involved would argue otherwise, and would also say that they do not have the resources to bid for the high-level contracts and do better to focus their resources

Contract wins

NEW BUSINESS Bilfinger Europa has secured three deals with UK and Ireland universities together worth in excess of £15 million.

A four plus two-year deal with London Metropolitan University will see the company providing cleaning, security, pest control and waste services at 15 buildings across three hubs. At National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, it will deliver mechanical and electrical works, cleaning, security, pest control and waste services at existing and new research complexes for five years.

The Goring hotel in Belgravia, London, has awarded Shield Pest Control UK Ltd a contract for pest control services.

Shield’s portfolio already includes buildings such as the Royal Households and the Houses of Parliament.

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Property and FM provider Bellrock will work with NHS Property Services to manage planned and reactive maintenance for 18 properties in Mid Essex, including primary care centres and a maternity unit. The main tenants are NHS England, NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Provide and Mid Essex Hospital Services Trust, which deliver local, elective and emergency services in Chelmsford, Maldon and Braintree.

Premier Workplace Services has been awarded a three-year contract by the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime on behalf of the Metropolitan Police Service. Premier is responsible for relocation, storage, furniture reuse and recycling across the Met’s estate in

Greater London. The deal covers daily servicing of the Met’s 600 properties, as well as building clearances resulting from the Met’s estate consolidation.

Global real estate adviser CBRE has been chosen to provide FM services to Airbus at Filton in Bristol, and Broughton in Wales. CBRE won the contract through its technical engineering services arm, Norland Managed Services. It will deliver M&E, building fabric, commercial and industrial cleaning, waste management, transport and mailroom services, plus grounds maintenance.

Commercial cleaning company Office Care has won the contract for Derby County’s iPro Stadium. It had serviced the former Pride Park Stadium between 2002 and 2013 and has been re-awarded the contract for 2014.

Care provider MiHomecare has secured a five-year deal to provide home and community care support and healthcare services for 700 people in East Sussex. The contract covers High Weald, Lewes, Havens, Eastbourne, Hailsham, and Seaford.

on the subcontracted delivery of services on the ground. But this did not stop the probation union Napo from launching a legal challenge against the contract awards, saying a lack of competition at the bidding stage could compromise the quality of service delivery and arguing that, ‘the fact so few organisations have won contracts suggests that this has been a flawed competition with little or no real interest from providers in taking these contracts on’.

It remains to be seen whether Napo succeeds, but it does emphasise how emotive the issue of outsourcing remains decades after its first use here and how the government and its contractors have to operate in the public spotlight. When it comes to probation and rehabilitation, and possibly children’s services, the government is moving into controversial areas, where scrutiny is likely to intensify.

The government is said to have begun laying out its plans for the outsourcing of children’s welfare and safeguarding to the private sector recently after having previously promised to invoke ‘competition and contestability’. It is now believed to be planning the formation of standalone entities, independent of local authorities, for children’s services, which would then be able to invite bids from private firms to provide some of their services. Plans in this area were previously shouted down, and it is a hugely sensitive topic. But councils are under pressure to cut budgets and this could be one way to reduce the burden. The proposals are being kept under the radar for now, but are sure to attract huge attention if and when they are widely publicised.

Graeme Davies writes for Investors Chronicle

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 14:35

Sodexo and Interserve selected to bid on MoJ contracts Support services firms Sodexo and Interserve have been chosen as preferred bidders to run probation and rehabilitation services in the UK, says the Ministry of Justice.

Sodexo is preferred bidder for six community rehabilitation companies in partnership with crime reduction charity Nacro.

The six community rehabilitation companies are: Northumbria Community Rehabilitation Company, Cumbria & Lancashire Community Rehabilitation Company, South Yorkshire Community Rehabilitation Company, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire & Hertfordshire Community Rehabilitation Company, Norfolk & Suffolk Community Rehabilitation Company and Essex Community Rehabilitation Company.

Tony Leech, managing director of Sodexo Justice Services, said: “Sodexo and Nacro bring together

BUSINESS BRIEFS Amey buys Aquatech

The Purple Futures partnership involves the private, voluntary and not-for-profit sectors

experience in rehabilitation and share a mission to reduce crime and reoffending by challenging offender behaviour and providing the skills, training and support offenders require to move into employment.”

Interserve-led partnership Purple Futures will also buy and manage five Community Rehabilitation Companies in Greater Manchester & Cheshire; Merseyside; West Yorkshire; North Yorkshire; Humberside &

Lincolnshire and Hampshire.

Interserve says the collective deals are expected to be worth £600 million over seven years.

The Purple Futures partnership also includes: housing charity Shelter; drug and alcohol treatment charity Addaction; P3, a national charity providing social inclusion services to people with complex needs; and 3SC, a social enterprise to build and run the voluntary sector supply chain on Interserve’s behalf.

SHUTTERSTOCK/PA

Novus and Gosport Council brush up housing stock Property maintenance and refurbishment company Novus Property Solutions has won a seven-year framework contract with Gosport Borough Council to redecorate its housing stock across the coastal town in Hampshire.

The deal to carry out internal and external redecoration work, is worth around £450,000 a year.

The partnership, which began in late October, will see the Novus team work closely with the local authority to establish the condition of its properties, before embarking on necessary internal and external repair and www.fm-world.co.uk

12-13_BusinessNews.indd 13

Novus has won a £450,000-a-year deal to decorate council homes for seven years

maintenance work.

Jeff Tourmentin, strategic operations manager for London and the South-East regions, said that the Gosport contract would build on the company’s

“ongoing successes on both national and regional scales, helping to further cement Novus as the go-to contractor for refurbishment and maintenance services in London and the South-East regions”.

He added: “Our multi-trade team members consistently showcase their ability to deliver the highest-quality work inside strict time frames, and [this contract is] a prime example of this.

“We look forward to continuing our partnerships with our client base and to further successes,” he added.

Engineering consultancy Amey has acquired Aquatech Engineering, a UK water leak detection and cartographic firm.

Aquatech Engineering works with the public and private sector to lower water consumption, identify and minimise potential leakage points before they occur, and deliver cost efficiencies.

Other services include water conservation, microbiological and chemical analysis, rebate identification, water-efficiency audits, flow and pressure monitoring and tariff analysis.

Spotless cleans up Spotless Commercial Cleaning Ltd has announced its annual results with a turnover of £10.1 million and profits of £256,000.

Although the financial performance is broadly at the same level as last year (£10.2 million turnover and £275,000 profits), this year’s figures were delivered “on the back of significant focus and investment in people and staff development measures across the business”.

Mitie supports ex-offenders Mitie has joined forces with Mosaic, the Prince of Wales’s mentoring charity, to create a programme with the intention of supporting ex-offenders.

The programme will provide ex-offenders with transferable skills, experience and mentorship, through a series of workshops and training courses that lead to a work placement within Mitie.

The workshops, taking place at HMP Isis in London, will focus on helping people to improve their skills and abilities in networking, presentation and boost their confidence to communicate.

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 13

13/11/2014 14:35

FM BUSINESS IN FOCUS

The interviewee: Thornton Tasker, managing director, Nationwide Window Cleaning The issue: Contracting on a nationwide scale in collaboration with other FM suppliers

Links in a national chain The drive for increased efficiency and slimmed-down costs has seen the appetite for bundled, integrated and total FM deals increase, with large providers offering one focal point for all facets of the FM received by the client seen as appealing.

Last year, for example, Compass Group launched 14forty as its integrated FM brand, reflecting a change in the way many clients in the market prefer their FM service provision to look.

That still leaves certain specialist requirements, mostly building engineering services such as lift maintenance, to be brought in as and when required.

And then there’s window cleaning. Although selecting specialist subcontractors for one service is relatively straightforward, the difficulty on national contracts has been in finding a sub-contractor capable of servicing a number of sites across the country.

Task force Thornton Tasker, managing director at Nationwide Window Cleaning (NWC), has seen first hand how the subcontracting market has changed. He set up NWC in 2007 as a nationwide independent provider of window cleaning services.

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“Some of our clients have worked with hundreds of window cleaning companies in the past, and they couldn’t track the cost or the health and safety liability,” says Tasker.

“The demand for a national contractor was very much apparent. Clients want to consolidate the supplier base; they want contractors they can have confidence in.”

Fifty per cent of NWC’s current customer base is in retail, with some clients in this sector requiring the cleaning of up to 2,500 sites across the UK. This level of service from a specialist cleaning provider has often proved difficult to sustain. So how does a supplier like NWC maintain quality across the UK? The answer lies in its management structure, explains Tasker. NWC has twelve 12 regional managers in place, each responsible for their team and the quality of both contracted and ad hoc work.

“We carry out over 35,000 separate tasks each month,” says Tasker. The workload and quality is managed through a central

service desk. The team is able to extract data [from the service desk] and use it to streamline the scheduling process.”

Each of the organisation’s 200 full-time cleaners is put through an NVQ level 2 and the organisation has been IRATA (Industrial Rope Access Trade Association) accredited in order to deal with working from height.

There’s also the capacity to operate access platforms.

Catalyst for change “Throughout the more difficult commercial times, clients had wanted to take on more contractors and reduce their own overheads - they wanted the flexibility,” says Tasker.

But, he explains, a desire for more assurance in quality from clients has driven the market towards increased collaboration.

In the past five years, Tasker and NWC have developed working relationships with FM service providers, entering into sole provider agreements.

The shift has been gradual, but Tasker notes that by becoming

“We find ourselves presenting alongside the FM company to add weight to the service”

a partner when tendering for bundled contracts, the service provider is able to demonstrate competence more effectively.

“Increasingly, we find ourselves presenting alongside our client – the FM company – as partners, to add weight to the level of service,” he says.

“It wasn’t a surprise [to be asked to present as the cleaning services partner in a joint bid] because that’s the way we saw the massive hole in the market.”

As well as collaborating throughout the bid process, Tasker is eager to sustain the relationship by providing the client and the contractor detailed management information, feeding back to the in-house client team, as well as the service provider.

“The data goes directly to their clients, and the client is able to use our web portal for their own operational information.”

Shifting dynamics This integration and comprehensive feedback, says Tasker, will becoming increasingly important to organisations in the future.

“In the next few years, I think the industry will respect companies who are not taking short cuts.”

While the organisation’s specialisms remain in window cleaning, NWC’s approach to providing other individual services is likely to be developed in the years ahead.

“There’s an opportunity to diversify into other specialist areas, with the same principles of employment and service delivery.”

The market for cleaning services will continue to evolve, but the need for collaboration between FM service providers is only likely to increase.

JAMIE HARRIS jamie.harris@fm-world.co.uk

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 10:24

Office Furniture Space Planning Office Relocation Watch our office move time-lapse videos www.spacecompany.co.uk

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24/10/2014 12:42 FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 15

11/11/2014 11:52

FM EVENT

WORKPLACE WEEK

HERPREET KAUR GREWAL

WW2014: A HEALTHY DEBATE The Workplace Week convention in London earlier this month drew experts from across the UK to discuss topics surrounding worker wellbeing and the groundbreaking research into measuring performance in the workplace

AKIN FALOPE

N

ot every workplace can offer the quirky environment of a Google or Innocent Drinks, but the debate about what constitutes optimal office design is one followed keenly. The Workplace Week convention, organised by the consultancy Advanced Workplace Associates, proved the variety of this debate by covering such topics as cognitive performance in the workplace and the measurement of knowledge worker productivity.

Facilitator Karen Plum and AWA managing director Andrew Mawson introduced the day as one that would concentrate on “the revolution of knowledge work”. Owen Sharp, chief executice of Prostate Cancer UK, then explained how the charity’s move from the outskirts of Hammersmith to smaller openplan premises near London Bridge improved relationships, trust, and cross-disciplinary working, created more visibility for the charity and improved recruitment and retention.

Now, says Sharp, no one has their own desk; everyone sits with different people every day, thus helping to break down silos and revitalise team interactions.

Now, the variety of different types of space allow people to

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choose the environment to suit their task. Half of the staff say they are more productive as a result of the new environment.

The move has also helped in establishing a ‘new identity’ for the charity.

Keiron Sparrowhawk, chairman of research business My Cognition, spoke next about the trials his firm has set up to measure the impact a workplace’s layout, space, furniture, noise and light have on employees’ cognitive health. My Cognition, which seeks to understand and improve cognitive health, is working with a multinational financial firm and a professional services company (not named on the day) to devise trials for employees using a specialised scientific assessment to measure cognitive health in different environments.

AWA’s Andrew Mawson, who is sponsoring the work, later told

Keiron Sparrowhawk explains to delegates the impact that poor cognitive health in the workplace can have on productivity

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 16:17

The convention’s mix of case studies, insight and research was held at Pricewaterhousecooper’s offices at More London

Future shock

FM World the research would also “explore the impact on cognition of lying down, standing, sitting and other positions”.

My Cognition is working with a bank that has 5,000 employees across the UK. Said Sparrowhawk: “We spend at least 50 per cent of our waking time in the work environment – it has a big impact on our cognitive health. A noisy, open-plan office can reduce your productivity by 66 per cent because of its impact on your cognitive health. If it has that effect on productivity, what effect is it having on our health?”

Causes of poor cognition were listed as poor physical health, nutrition and hydration, genetic predispositions, home and work environments, and life events such as a death in the family.

“If deficits build up they can affect your wellbeing and may trigger serious conditions such www.fm-world.co.uk

16-17 workplace week.indd 017

as neuropsychiatric disorders.

Detecting early signs using regular cognitive health assessments can help,” said Sparrowhawk. “Poor cognitive health is bad for you, bad for your company – it reduces your ability to perform well and your happiness – and leads to absenteeism and early retirement.”

Six of the best Eric Barends of the Centre for Evidence Based Management and professor Rob Briner of Bath University then presented the results of research into the productivity of knowledge workers. The pair based their findings on the distillation of 59 studies and meta-analyses chosen from an original selection of 772 scientific research studies. The six factors thus identified as having the most impact were: social cohesion, perceived supervisory support, information sharing,

vision goal clarity, external communication, and trust.

Here’s how that breaks down: Social cohesion is “a shared linking of team attraction that includes bonds of caring, closeness, and enjoyment of each other’s company”.

Perceived support is “how workers feel their supervisor helps them in time of need, praises them for a job well done or recognises them for extra effort”.

Information sharing is “how teams pool and access their knowledge and expertise, goal clarity “the extent to which team members have a common understanding of their objectives and display high commitment to team goals”, and finally, external communication is “the ability of teams to span boundaries in team and organisation to seek information and resources from others”.

International Workplace’s managing director David Sharp invited the audience to suggest how these six factors could be optimised in knowledge work organisations. Flatter management, the role of HR and board-level involvement in disseminating an organisation’s strategic plan all emerged as areas to focus on, as did the need to consider the perhaps differing needs of the millennial generation.

Misha Gopaul, technical director of consultancy and software developer Workplace Fabric, told delegates that “there are 13 billion devices connected to the internet - and that figure will be 50 billion by 2020.”

Among a torrent of statistics about our digital future, Gopaul discussed the impending impact of proximity sensors, iBeacons, data feeds, card systems, indoor geolocation, wearable thermal sensors, people counters and temperature sensors. “Our desks will soon become connected,” he said. “They will know when they’re being used.”

Discussion post-presentation focused on privacy issues involved in the increasing use of low-level data transmissions within buildings.

In the frame In the final presentation, Andrew Mawson introduced a new framework document, one co-authored with his AWA colleague Dr Graham Jervis, and developed with the help of a variety of key figures in the workplace management world.

To be launched in early 2015, the ‘workplace management framework’ (WMF) provides a structure for the development and subsequently the assessment of best practice in the management of the workplace”.

It aims to bring together FM with corporate real estate, security, risk information management, and HR – acknowledging that buildings of the future will run more efficiently if all these areas are more integrated.

Dr Jervis told FM World: “[The framework outlines] a standard in which other standards can find a home… health and safety, for example, would come under risk management.”

AWA is working with the BIFM, the Building Futures Group and others to develop the WMF. The framework will be run by a charitable foundation that will help license the WMF as a tool. www.wmframework.com FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 17

13/11/2014 16:17

FM OPINION THE DIARY COLUMN JOHN BOWEN

“MAKING MISTAKES IS A FUNDAMENTAL PART OF TEAM BUILDING AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF PEOPLE WITHIN A TEAM”

NHS Trust

University Estates

Local authority

John Bowen is an FM consultant

LEAR N IN G B Y T R I A L A N D ER RO R

etting things wrong can bolster courage and be character building if you ensure that your team learns from its mistakes

G

It is always great to talk about your successes, but for a few months now I have been writing about projects where we have had problems, where we made mistakes, didn’t cover all of the angles, made assumptions or maybe took our eye off the ball types of scenario.

The importance of these situations is how you learn from them and what you do with that knowledge. Teaching someone the theory of doing something is

not that hard and nor is passing on some of the things that you have learnt from doing it, but it is not until the pupil takes over and does it for themselves that they really begin to learn.

Making mistakes is a fundamental part of team building and the development of people within a team, and just as important is how the leader handles those mistakes because of the way that they affect the team and its components. This

is where the idea of managing people shows its flaws; what you need to be doing is involving people so the team is a mutual support group that will work together to ride out individual mistakes and minimise their impact.

No amount of team building days out will give you anywhere near the benefit that involving your team in their job will, and an involved team will ooze synergy. Team members will make light of the odd error, but they make fewer because they look out for each other and head off many potential errors. They don’t need managing because they understand what has to be

done and make that happen.

None of us is perfect and we will always get something wrong from time to time.

Good leaders understand that and create environments where they can push their people to achieve their full potential, but in a no-blame culture where getting it wrong now and again is seen a positive thing.

So next time something goes wrong, work out why, fix it and then celebrate having put it right in the same way that you would celebrate a success. After all, fixing a problem is just that – a success.

BEST OF THE WEB Views and comments from across the web Are there any proven strategies for controlling heat from atriums ? (FM group) Kevin Caron: You could consider, although possibly costly, some motorised shade systems that could be programmed to close during the sunniest times of the day.

Justin Russo: What about a simple 35%-40% window tinting? I believe 3M makes a tinting film designed specifically for heat absorption. I haven’t used it on applications this 18 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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large before, but I have used it on storefronts where we wanted to retain the natural light coming in, but reduce the resulting radiating heat from the glass.

Earl Baker: Think of it as a greenhouse. How do they keep greenhouses cooler? They install fans or blowers that pull the hot air outside. Installing shades and window will lessen the radiant heat but the windows and shades still get hot.

Phil Cooper: All the

atriums I’ve worked on have had automatic opening windows at the top. When the temperature rises, the thermostat closes, windows open and the room cools. You just need a cool air source at low level and it’s a cheap solution.

Portable appliance testing: What officetype equipment are you having tested? (BIFM group) William Roberts: One is

told everything with a plug must be tested, even as a contractor my laptop, lead and power supply must be tested before being allowed on site. But do the regulations really say this?

Paul Huber: It’s guidance, not regulation, that specifically refers to portable appliances. The rules state that as may be necessary to prevent danger, all systems shall be maintained so as to prevent, so far as is reasonably practicable, such danger.

Martyn Jupp: I agree, but as a minimum everything at some stage requires a formal visual inspection if not a full test. Most faults are found by visual inspection.

Office move tips (BIFM group) Paul Huber: Consider how you maintain effective fire exit routes during the move; too often I see hundreds of crates piled into the office space, severely restricting escape routes. www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 14:35

You can follow us at twitter.com/FM_World facebook.com/FMWorldMagazine

BEST OF THE

FMWORLD BLOGS Pay the Living Wage if you mean business Katie Schmuecker, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) “Improving lives by making growth work for everyone” is the strapline for a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) report published this month, which also urges a focus on the lowest-income families whose living standards have been hardest hit. It is good to see one of the UK’s leading business organisations taking seriously the living standards of the UK’s low-paid workers. Two recommendations stole the headlines: 1. Extending free childcare to all one and two-year-olds would help low-income families manage the extra costs of being a working parent. But it is an expensive way of helping the worse off; the tax credit system would be a more targeted approach.

2. Increasing the threshold at which employees start paying National Insurance contributions: But as JRF argues, currently, low-paid workers on Universal Credit only keep around a third of the value of such a tax cut.

The final report recommendations are on how businesses can use fringe benefit packages to support employees to save for a rainy day. Discount and voucher schemes, help with travel and childcare costs, sick pay and flexible working are all areas where employers could do more to support low-income employees. Although the CBI is right to say rising productivity is the primary route to higher pay and improved living standards, it was announced during Living Wage Week that there are now 1,000-plus accredited Living Wage employers. But are we really to believe that’s all the employers that can afford to pay it? I hope the CBI is challenging its members to go further.

Read the article in full at www.tinyurl.com/kwhj4bj

Is the sun setting on the office?

David D’Souza, LinkedIn I was recently asked to join The Guardian roundtable about the future of office working. Nobody actually thought that there was no role for offices any more, but people did think that more fluidity in the way we work and where we work would be beneficial. During a break I spoke to Charlie Green, CEO of The Office Group, which provides flexible, well-designed spaces where a freelancer like me can go and work.

The impression that I got of Charlie’s view was that flexible workspaces are the future and should be part of planning for city and town planning. He painted a vision of a future where homeworking was just an option, but where people would often choose to just want to be around others. A future where flexibility doesn’t mean solitude.

Charlie’s vision made more sense to me in terms of appealing to a mass of people than the potential isolation of homeworking (even allowing for better technological innovation in that space). There is something about sitting down and eating with someone – or sharing a coffee – that no video solution will ever match.

The thought of my town having a coworking space and that being a trigger for more integrated and joined-up communities is an intriguing and attractive one. The usefulness to small business people of being able to draw through a connected community would also be beneficial.

Of course, this is a middle-class future. It doesn’t work for the panel-beater in Solihull, it doesn’t work for those who have bosses who don’t trust them, and it won’t work for the increasing number of people who will have their roles automated. And that’s the tricky thing about the future. The people writing about work are doing the types of job that allow them to embrace new ways of working. For those getting on with making real things and providing concrete services the world is a trickier beast.

Read the article in full at www.tinyurl.com/ludv2ur

www.fm-world.co.uk

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FIVE MINUTES WITH NAME: Alex Botha JOB TITLE: Chief executive, British Safety Council

We welcome the continuing improvement taking place in preventing injuries in our workplaces. But we are concerned that the HSE’s 2013/14 health and safety statistics report shows no improvement in reducing work-related ill-health occurrences.

The focus for many years has been on safety.

However, with two million people suffering from a work-related illness – and with over half-a-million new cases reported in 2013/14 – it’s clear that we need to change our thinking and focus in order to tackle the root cause.

The social and economic consequence of neglecting the health and wellbeing of the workforce is grave. The HSE estimates that workplace illness costs GB society some £8.6 billion each year. The average number of days lost per case of work-related stress, depression or anxiety is 23, and 16 for musculoskeletal disorders.

In tackling occupational health, a lot can be learnt from the ‘safety’ landscape. Clear leadership, effective communication, appropriate training, good measurement and management – in a sense, health can be managed like safety. And the business case is there to support the value of such investments.

Our thinking needs to change about how to comply with the law and keep our employees healthy and safe. For too long compliance has focused on safety. Our attention must turn to identifying what we need to do not only to comply, but also to have a fit and healthy workforce.

Our annual conference brought together a range of experts to explore the full range of occupational health conditions. What was clear is that we have the solutions to tackle work-related illness but are not applying them as we should.

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 19

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FM FEATURE

BIFM AWARDS: EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

SARA BEAN

HAVING AN

EDGE

Edge Hill University has followed up its 2013 BIFM award for in-house client team by winning the 2014 BIFM Excellence in Customer Service award for its Welcome Sunday initiative, and it’s all down to its highly motivated, customer-centric FM team, says Sara Bean 20 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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W

hen Edge Hill University won a BIFM award for the second year running, Bill Hancox, the director of FM at Edge Hill University first thought was about the effect another win would have on the FM team.

“I thought we’d have some momentum after winning last year, but what surprised me was how long it went on for and how often last year’s win was spoken about,” he explains. “So when it

[the latest win] was announced, the first thing that went through my head was how much more motivated our people would be.”

Based in the North-West and close to Liverpool and Manchester, Edge Hill is a 160acre campus university with around 26,000 students studying a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Facilities management at the university is provided by a professional in-house team of more than 300 permanent www.fm-world.co.uk

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Although the 2013 win was in recognition of Edge Hill’s commitment to high standards of service excellence in the very competitive higher education sector, this year the BIFM awards judges were impressed by a key initiative known as ‘Welcome Sunday.’

Described as probably the biggest day of the year for the FM team, this event not only reflects the efforts made to ensure that students and their families are given the best possible introduction to university life, but illustrates the pivotal role FM plays in the overall success of the university, which has been voted the top university in the North-West in terms of student satisfaction for a second year running.

The campus is home to about 26,000 undergraduate and post-grad students

Welcome Sunday

members of staff delivering customer support services within seven integrated operational service teams. These comprise: business support, campus support, catering, customer service, property services, housekeeping and a new department, Edge Hill Sport.

This was incorporated into FM services in April 2014 to manage the university’s sports facilities, which were expanded this year to include a new £30 million sports complex. www.fm-world.co.uk

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Taking place on the last Sunday of September each year, Welcome Sunday aims to welcome the new influx of residential students into their halls of residence, complete their course enrolment and settle them in for the year ahead. In 2014 this involved some 1,950 new residents, with a further 3,950 friends and relatives visiting the campus in just one day. The initiative focuses on three key areas: residential accommodation preparation, event planning and event operations on the day itself.

Unsurprisingly, it’s a complex and challenging process, which Hancox says is six months in the planning and involves both the FM teams and other non-FM departments.

“One of the facilities management department’s responsibilities is to coordinate other non-FM teams such as academic registry, student services, finance and IT, so we have a further coordination role.

Because of the nature of FM we are very good at managing

“BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF FM WE ARE VERY GOOD AT MANAGING EVENTS, WHICH IS WHY WE TAKE THE LEAD ROLE WITH THOSE OTHER AREAS THAT DON’T REPORT IN TO US”

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FM FEATURE

BIFM AWARDS: EXCELLENCE IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

events, which is why we take the lead role with those other areas that don’t report in to us.”

At the first planning meeting held in April, feedback from the previous year – with comments and suggestions from staff who experienced the event ‘on the ground’ – are collated as ‘Learning Outcomes’ and recommendations for improvement are produced and discussed.

Says Hancox: “During this process all the key stakeholders come together and start to map out what the day is going to look and feel like and when we get closer to the day we put those FM leaders in charge. This means the day is treated in a very formal project management way, but still retains that ‘touchy feely’ flexibility because ultimately the day is not about constructing a building, but dealing with people.”

Preparation does, of course, involve managing the estate, so apart from reactive maintenance and repairs, work to prepare the student accommodation begins in May each year as many of the residential students begin to vacate their accommodation, with contracts formally coming to an end in June.

Following feedback from previous years, students are requested to be present for an end-of-contract room inspection to discuss the findings and to explain the damage deposit process. To streamline the process an online booking facility has been created and since involving the students in this way the university has seen a marked reduction in student queries and complaints regarding charges against their damage deposits.

Hancox says: “Inspection is as much to protect the students in terms of the damage limitation process with deposit returns.

When you’ve got over 2,000 bed 22 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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spaces it isn’t uncommon to have a room without the right chair or task light. One of the positives of the inspection is that we can help make sure that what we have said is in there, is actually there and meets the needs of the individual.”

The streamlining of the inspection process also helps to ensure that the FM team can concentrate on the next part of the process, the maintenance, decoration and repairs programme, which must be completed over the summer in time for the September intake – despite many of the rooms still being occupied by conference guests and international students.

In order to make sure that everything runs smoothly, the FM team has devised a largescale event plan that begins with understanding the requirements of the day and the movement of visitors – from arrival through

SARA BEAN

More than 300 permanent staff make up the professional in-house FM team

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 10:25

enrolment to moving in.

All this comes together on the day itself when several core teams within FM work together, some of whom work in areas that are not their substantive roles, to manage everything from temporary signage to traffic flow and transport links. And by mapping the ‘customer journey’ and analysing feedback from students, their families and Edge Hill staff, the FM team have been able to identify a variety of ways to improve customer satisfaction.

This includes improved traffic flow and signage, welcome points and a buggy shuttle service with the provision of radios to all the staff that are monitored and coordinated from a Radio Control room to ensure that assistance is provided where needed.

Other improvements include a greater range of hospitality for families within the residential accommodation areas and additional safe luggage stores www.fm-world.co.uk

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“THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS RECOGNISE THAT THE ESTATES INFRASTRUCTURE IS PART OF THE EDGE HILL EXPERIENCE AND WE’VE GOT THE EVIDENCE THAT WHEN PEOPLE SET FOOT ON THE CAMPUS THEY FEEL SAFE, SECURE AND THAT IT’S LIKE HOME”

scattered around the campus instead of in just one central place.

The FM team is also responding to the requests of the digital generation.

Hancox explains: “Although the information that is provided to students is in hard copy format, and they’ve told us they find the settling in and induction packs really helpful, what they’ve asked for next year is for a digital post in the halls that would take them to a link for the key documentation.”

Feedback from students and their parents on the event has been incredibly positive. One parent told Hancox that she’d encourage her younger two children to join their older sister at the university on the strength of the welcome they’d received there.

More official recognition on the level of customer case has included the student satisfaction accolade as well as a Customer Service Excellence (CSE) Award.

The event also makes great business sense, with the total cost to run (including staffing and resources) equating to circa £25,000 – a spend equivalent to less than £15 for each student.

Accounting for the average total annual spend of £13,000 for each student (tuition fees and rental), this equates to a cost of only 0.1 per cent – an incredible return on investment in terms of customer experience.

Hancox says: “The board of governors recognise that the estates infrastructure is part of the Edge Hill experience and we’ve got the evidence that when people set foot on the campus they feel safe, secure and that it’s like home. My senior management team know that this is part of the recruitment and retention strategy to have a fantastic campus with fantastic facilities.”

He adds: “In too many organisations FM is seen as the caretaker, not seen or heard but just to get things done – here it is part of a marketing package.”

Dynamic teamwork The success of Welcome Sunday is due entirely to the commitment of the FM team who are in turn motivated and empowered throughout the year by the objectives set out in the FM Vision 2015, which aligns the development and delivery of a dynamic and responsible FM service to the core business of Edge Hill University. The document has been compiled using feedback from a variety of stakeholders, not least, the people at the ‘front line’.

Hancox says: “The most exciting part is when we dig into the values – the team have exploded these into a working document called ‘The FM way,’ which is positive and supportive and about the values we live with every day.”

But with yet another major award under its belt, the FM team at Edge Hill is not being complacent. According to Hancox, the development of its people is of key importance.

He says: “I want the people on the front line to feel as if they’ve got the potential to be the next director of FM, as I want us to be known for developing our people while demonstrating how we can make FM count at a strategic level.”

As for winning a prestigious BIFM award for the second year running, Hancox says: “Facilities management is fundamentally about people and when you’ve got to try and motivate, encourage and develop 300 people, it’s no mean feat.

“So this latest win is absolutely amazing and I think you can appreciate that we are absolutely delighted.” FM FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 23

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FM FEATURE ROUNDTABLE SOFT LANDINGS

ATTENDEES

Alan Brown, founder & consultant at IID Architects

Edward James, workstream lead - estates, facilities & professional services, NHS London Procurement Partnership

Gavin Murgatroyd, partner, Gardiner & Theobald

Geoff Prudence, FM group chair, CIBSE

PHOTOGRAPHY: AKIN FALOPE

Kath Fontana, managing director, BAM FM

Louis Loizou, estates manager, Food Standards Agency

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Mark Gledhill, partner, Gardiner & Theobald

Mark HuttonNorth, director of estate and park management, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Stephen Holton, partner, Gardiner & Theobald

Stuart Cranna, head of corporate Services, BlackRock

Martin Read, editor, FM World

THE SOFT SELL Are the principles of soft landings – a ‘graduated handover’ of a building project to its occupiers once complete – fully accepted?

And is FM ready for its role in the project spotlight?

Our round table, sponsored

by Gardiner & Theobald, considered the issues

WHERE ARE WE WITH SOFT LANDINGS? Kath Fontana: I see the concept of soft landings becoming better established – but we urgently need to address the processes involved, given that by 2016 anyone working in the public sector will need to be able to deliver this as a competence in the new Crown Commercial Services framework. My concern is that the FM services sector hasn’t developed the standards and processes it needs to be able to respond to the challenges that are very quickly coming our way.

Stuart Cranna: Making Soft landings happen is a result of all parties collaborating, working together and being able to understand the end-user customer experience.

Alan Brown: Here’s an observation from an architectural perspective: an awful lot is spoken about BIM and soft landings at the moment, but our experience is that a majority of contractors are miles from really understanding what’s needed to hand over a www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 17:51

SPONSORED BY

there will be many new builds in the government estate over the next 10 to 20 years, but I’m quite pessimistic as to whether soft landings is ever going to be widely used.

Geoff Prudence: The whole thing is surely about driving great design, management and operations of building over their lives, to make them work effectively. So while it’s important, handover is just one part – it’s about getting FM involved early and integrating it into the design process in practice.

Stephen Holton: One of my concerns is of soft landings becoming just another badge to stick on a project. The focus should be on improving the outcome from an operational point of view.

facility to a client. Soft landings is a great aspiration, but there’s a lot of detail to work through. 2016 seems an ambitious target.

Gavin Murgatroyd: On most of our projects there’s a disconnect between the delivery side of capital projects and the actual end-user occupier. The solution?

Defining the rules of procurement and how FM people integrate with our capital spend teams.

Mark Gledhill: Pressures on construction projects are built in from their inception – lease breaks, the design and procurement of the works – and these can often force work into a very compressed timescale.

Louis Loizou: I can’t imagine www.fm-world.co.uk

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Mark Hutton-North: My experience of soft landings has to date not been positive. Buildings are delivered that, however well thought through, don’t work as well as they ought. In the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park we have quite a few large development opportunities coming up and the team is committed to making sure that these buildings are easy to operate and cost-effective over the next number of years. But I share Steve’s view that soft landings shouldn’t just be a badge.

THE ISSUES KF: Government has mandated that, at some point in 2016, all public sector projects in central government – new builds, refurbs, fit-outs – will have to be procured using BIM level 2 and GSL. That’s reflected in the Crown Commercial Services’ FM framework which is currently out to tender; it has a section that says service providers need to demonstrate that they can achieve BIM Level 2 – which is

DEBATE THEMES

SOFT LANDINGS - THE STORY SO FAR The concept of Soft Landings was first enshrined in a document composed by the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA), since adapted by the government for its own Government Soft Landings (GSL) framework.

BSRIA defines Soft Landings as a form of ‘graduated handover’ for building projects in which the construction project team stays on for three years post-construction to support the building’s occupiers, fine-tuning systems and documenting any changes for use in future projects. It’s been developed to address the problem of construction customers not getting the assets and outcomes they asked for, with problems at various stages between initial design and construction resulting in the handover of a building that does not deliver what end-user occupiers require of it. From an FM perspective, this can be manifest in issues such as accessibility or the excessive work required to maintain cleanliness – the result of poorly considered window placement during the design phase, for example.

The aim is to avoid a busy multi-stakeholder project / construction phase followed by decades of FMs and occupiers suffering a project’s shortcomings in silence.

Last year, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) updated its plan of works (PoW) - the structured stages through which a construction project develops - to include an assessment of operational data after handover both at the end of the construction process and at the very beginning – turning a linear process into a circular one. RIBA P0W stage seven now stipulates post-occupancy evaluation and review of project performance. Stage 0, the stage of initial strategic assessment of a project, involves evaluation of data from relevant stage seven projects.

The government’s own digital Plan of Works (dPoW) connects soft landings principles with the maintaining of building information models (BIMs).

Add in the government’s stipulation that its GSL framework must be used for all central government projects from 2016 and you can see why clients, architects, service providers, project managers and construction firms alike are keen to discuss how soft landings will work – with FM central to the discussion.

We wanted to find out from our expert panel the extent of the problems in how we build and hand over new facilities to FM operators and occupiers; whether soft landings is the solution; what the practical issues involved in following soft landings are – and how the design and construction process needs to change.

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FM FEATURE ROUNDTABLE SOFT LANDINGS

going to be difficult, because no one’s really done it yet. There are seven pillars of Level 2 BIM [see box, P.31] and a crucial one of those is Government Soft Landings.

MR: What will the effect of the government’s own dPoW be?

KF: Anybody in FM knows that the standardising of classification across all assets is an Everest to climb. In terms of the dPoW, there’s a huge gap around FM’s involvement that needs further work.

AB: For me, fee structure is the issue. It’s nice to say let’s stay involved after delivery, and most architectural practices would love to stay involved in the buildings they’ve been part of because there’s an emotional connection.

Changing the RIBA PoW to make the whole process a virtuous circle seems fundamental and we have to bed that in. But while listening intelligently to FM issues is important, it’s also difficult because in the construction project we have fractured processes. It’s got greater potential if you’re working under a contractor in, for instance, a PFI arrangement, but much more difficult within the standard delivery framework – because nobody’s paying for it.

MG: In the corporate occupiers market we need to be coordinated with the FM provider. There’s the strategic element – delivery of the building – and operational delivery. We tend to split the brief into strategic and operational sections, so that we can define what the operational parameters are and what the occupier needs.

Then, at RIBA PoW stages C, D and E (now stages 2 and 3 in the RIBA PoW revised in 2013) we drive designers to make sure they sign off and present the 26 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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development of the designs to the FM teams, so when we get to the end of the project it’s aligned with what they wanted at the start.

KF: The most proactive of our clients regarding soft landings are private developers – they don’t have a mandate to do it, they just see the benefits. However, one of the issues we come up against with clients is when they say “we want to engage our FM supply chain, but the people you really need to talk to about how the building is really going to operate are the building services engineers who are going to work on all the kit. It seems to be difficult for our clients, especially at specification development stage, to engage with the real, hands-on blue-collar guys who need to be part of the process. So how do we get around that issue of not being able to engage with the people who have the real intelligence about how the buildings will actually work?

SC: As a client you have to be

“A BUILDING IS FOR LIFE, NOT JUST FOR COMMISSIONING” GEOFF PRUDENCE

able to put a project team together to articulate your vision and communicate it; to link together the users, the customers, the design team and the operational team. Those organisations that can support this are rising to the fore and being snapped up by firms because they’re capable of articulating this vision and seeing it through. Clients need people who can do that.

you’re procuring the quickest programme to deliver a project. So then there are all these commercial pressures you encounter during construction that delay the work and mean that the period between practical completion of the building contract and moving in gets very compressed.

SC: But you must do what you can to prevent that from happening by making sure that your procurement process achieves your needs. Don’t just put out a traditional RFP but consider conducting a competitive dialogue process. If you’ve only got a year to complete the project, you should still ensure you make the time to do it because if you don’t build that time in it may cost you later on.

TAKING OWNERSHIP

MG: You can look to embed soft landings through the design process, but where it frequently fails is during the construction phase where, more often than not,

SH: No one builds unsafe buildings now because we’re obliged to follow the means to ensure that buildings are safe – www.fm-world.co.uk

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SPONSORED BY

but we can build inefficient or difficult-to-operate buildings. So the issue is how to avoid doing that without an enormous amount of regulation and requirement, and I do think there’s some naivety in the BSRIA soft landings framework in that it assumes that people are going to do things out of the goodness of their heart, when actually they’ll do what they are paid to do and nothing else.

important role in the stages. But my director is a finance director – he’s not going to take an active role in those early stages.

SC: To be most effective FM should be in a position where it’s able to influence the project but it doesn’t have to have a place on the board.

KF: You’d never say ‘Oh, we need an architect involved in the design, we need a builder involved in the building project’ – they’re self-evident. The same should be true of FM. What’s fundamental for me isn’t where FM sits in the organisation – you don’t have architects as CEOs of non-architectural firms, for example – it’s where FM sits in the project itself. People should accept that they need a facilities management expert as part of the project team from the beginning.

AB: How do you define soft landings? Is there a shared understanding of what it actually means? I’m not sure I really fully understand, as a designer, what the expectations are.

KF: It’s about measurement when it comes down to it.

AB: OK, but how do you capture all of that complexity contractually? (Unless it’s under one umbrella, which is why PFI works.) Somebody has to take overall responsibility.

KF: The fundamental difference with PFI is that the people who built it have to maintain it. The ownership, accountability and risk sit with the people that built it. I don’t understand why we don’t let ‘design, build and operate’ contracts where the main contractor has to operate the building for three years and takes the risk on it.

up appropriately. How does that FM get the skills and knowledge to fill those gaps?

SH: I think there are two things from an FM point of view. Yes, there’s a challenge with FMs’ skills, resource and capability to get involved in projects – but I think the more fundamental thing is that they are not even consulted in the first place. The decisionmakers within clients don’t even talk to people in the FM side because those FMs simply don’t have enough visibility.

IS FM BEHIND THE CURVE? SC: What are our institutes going to do in terms of training within the FM sector for everything we’re talking about? How do we make sure that someone working on representing FM in a school design project truly understands Soft Landings principles? Because if you don’t understand it, you are less likely to enforce it and make sure it works. You are not going to make sure your contracts are set www.fm-world.co.uk

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SC: Yes, this really goes to the whole principle of what FM is – FM should position itself as a strategic role, not just the operational people on the ground.

MR: Shouldn’t FM be leading in all of this?

LL: That depends on where the FM sits in the organisation. If there’s an FM at director level, then I think they might have an

GM: These are fundamentally different skill sets; the people delivering these projects are not necessarily the right ones to be doing FM. SC: Facilities doesn’t always have a sufficiently high enough profile to be running the project, and what I’m talking about is the head of facilities actually being responsible for the whole project, not necessarily just being a player on the team.

KF: And that touches on the debate about where decisions on operational and capital expenditure sits in an organisation. The disconnect I see is that you get a group of people procuring a building project which then hands the building over to a group of people responsible for its maintenance, running and operation. They’re different budgets and different people within the organisation; connecting the two together

would be really positive.

GP: For me, from a hard services point of view, the role of FM is in fact to set the standard for what the design needs to do. And there are now better and more up-todate standards to underpin the cost and impact of maintenance in hard services. People previously said that SFG20 doesn’t support this, but it’s now been completely updated. No one can now make the excuse that they don’t have good standards to base a tender on. Everybody, including FM, has the tools to influence good design.

GP: We all know that clients are getting thinner. My concern is the level of skills in the sector. People are coming out of universities with design and other relevant skills, but they just haven’t got an understanding of the operational OpEx function.

SH: Many FM teams have been cut back in recent years, so don’t have capacity and don’t necessarily have the understanding of process, construction and project development they need in order to get involved – and that’s a challenge for the industry. With many of our clients the project department sits in one place with operations in another; they have little to do with each other. How we close that gap is a big issue.

WHERE IS SOFT LANDINGS ALREADY WORKING? GP: Where are the real exemplar projects? The projects where FM can be clearly seen to have been involved in the early stages?

KF: Probably in retail, because in retail they use the building as a true asset for driving operational profit. Look at the way that Tesco, Asda or John Lewis go about their construction process. It’s all FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 27

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FM FEATURE ROUNDTABLE SOFT LANDINGS

you have on any given project are vast. Setting up a KPI for occupation of a building in use? I just don’t know how you would do that.

connected to how they can sell more in the building and keep costs down.

SC: Exactly. If you look at building lifecycle management, it drives the long term P&L. The industry has been talking about lifecycle management for years but you still don’t see it being widely implemented. Everyone’s talking about lifecycle management in design meetings, but how early on is anyone actually working out how much a new building’s going to cost to run? At what point do you look at the operating budget?

As you go through the RIBA stages in the plan of works, at what point do you ask roughly how much each element is going to cost? Because then, if there are changes to be made at stage D (the design development stage in RIBA’s Plan of Works) you can say OK, what is the operational cost going to be of making this change? We need to build in operational cost estimates, because that’s the kind of thing the decision makers want to know, how much is going to impact our P&L? Everybody needs to start articulating just how much things are going to cost to run.

SH: But if you went to an in-house FM team and expected them to offer that level of input, they wouldn’t know where to start. They just don’t think that way; they don’t have that data or level of knowledge.

KF: The thing about soft landings is that it involves exactly that: the measuring of cost, both CapEx and OpEx cost, throughout the whole RIBA plan of works stages 0 to 7, and on an ongoing basis, in order to ensure that the cost you anticipated for running the building is actually what it is costing you – and if it isn’t, why isn’t it? After that it’s about how 28 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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SC: How does government think it’s going to roll this out? How are they going to manage it? They’re setting these guidelines within the public sector – how have you as service providers been told it’s going to be managed? Who’s accountable for it?

you feed any identified downsides back into the design of the next building or refurb you do. That’s the whole point of soft landings, the measurement of cost, functionality and effectiveness.

We have a fantastic opportunity with the new plan of works that acknowledges FM at Stages 7 and 0. I acknowledge that FM’s input through the project process can change from initially being clientled to being supply chain led at the end. That needs to be worked through as well, because you’re unlikely to have a defined FM supply chain at the front end, and that process needs to be handed over in the same way the design process needs to be handed over.

ACCOUNTABILITY MG: As per the RIBA POW we plan to capture the FM requirements in the design, but there’s no proper process to how that should happen. We need to incorporate the end user in the design, but there’s no specific guidelines about how you should do that nor about how we then implement soft landings from the practical completion of the building contract to the occupier stepping into the building. That needs to be better structured.

SC: Maybe the design team should be held accountable for the

“IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR IT’S GOING TO BE VERY DIFFICULT TO HOLD PEOPLE TO ACCOUNT” EDWARD JAMES

operating cost, make them partially liable for it.

AB: But you’ve got M&E, the architectural side, the construction side – and all have different dynamics. So how are you going to define whether a subsequent problem is a failure on the M&E side or a failure on the building fabric side? How do you identify who’s at fault? The whole idea of soft landings can work, as long as all parties involved in the project team respect each other. But somewhere, the process has to be owned by someone; because if you don’t have that, it falls apart.

MG: The extent of the variables

KF: As I understand it there is a project underway to define the measurement standards for postoccupancy evaluation. Some of it – energy cost and use – is going to be fairly easy to do – but at the other end, yes, it’s going to be really difficult.

EJ: The difficulty is going to be in how change elements are handled in the period between sign-off and supply. I’ve seen so many projects where services delivered in a building vary so much from what was originally planned that there’s opportunity for everyone to say ‘Well, who built that into the plan?’ So, who will you hold accountable? In the public sector it’s going to be very difficult to hold people to account. I can see everyone along the project chain taking a step back and finding a way that they won’t be held accountable for changes that happen during the process.

AB:There’s also a resource implication in monitoring all of this. You’re going to be paying an extra fee layer, and one of the problems already is that everybody’s taking a bite of the client’s cake.

THE VALUE PROPOSITION KF: We’re talking a lot about cost and not much about value, because there’s a massive hidden www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 17:43

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cost to poor buildings that nobody really understands or quantifies.

GP: Absolutely. A post-occupancy evaluation survey may cost you £10k, but what is the longer-term cost of high reactive maintenance, disruption, sending the kids home from school if it’s too cold?

SC: Remedial stages of construction contracts have cost reviews in them – they should start having operational cost reviews built in to them as well.

AB: When you’re going from concept to developed design the question will be ‘in order to do a lifecycle cost, give me details of etc. etc,’ – well, you’re going to need to bring a lot of detail forward to be able to do those lifecycle costings at that early stage. We need to be much smarter about doing that. We do health and safety now, because that’s been driven into the process; we need to do the same with capital and operating costs.

SH: And not just in year one – in years two, three etc – over a defined period, in fact.

STANDARDS ISSUES GP: The third version of CIBSE guide M is coming out in November. There’s also been real collaboration with RICS, CIBSE and others so that there is now a totally updated SFG20 which is electronic and can be customised; it’s something that you can use on a straight tender with. But there’s also the work from RICS on the NRM3 rules of costing and maintenance. with all these documents covering handover and input into design, there are no excuses now.

KF: NRM3 is a hugely significant development.

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GP: The PFI guys have been doing this for years, of course, linking up the asset codes, the maintenance strategy, the costing.

And both SFG20 and NRM3 fall in with BS8544, the lifecycle cost and maintenance standard launched a year ago. So we’ve actually got the tools to put all of this in at the early concept stages.

KF: Absolutely, and at BAM we’re recoding all our assets to NRM3 in our CAFM system. If everybody did that we would have a baseline standard for costing every maintenance activity on a level playing field, which we could then enforce through CAFM. GP: In the space of just two years we’ve all collaborated and put together a complete set of documentation, not just to help the maintenance industry, but to inform the design process.

SC: The industry’s getting ready from a maintenance and utilities standpoint, and yes, that informs the big picture. But hard services is just one element. How often is carpet replaced, for example – every year in a front of house

arena, depending on the throughput; so you have all those decisions too. It needs to become a lot more complex – there’s a lot more cost to be measured when you look at how a building is truly going to be used.

KF: In fact, NRM3 does a good job on floor coverings. Although, knowing how big a building is in the first place can be a quite tricky thing. Actually, a lot of clients don’t even know how many square metres they’ve got, especially on large corporate estates where the asset data is really poor.

MR: Geoff, do you think that a lack of awareness of the tools you’ve just mentioned is the bigger problem?

GP: I think so, yes. And it’s vastly improved information as well. The CIBSE guide used to simply say, for example, that boilers should last an average 20 to 30 years with good maintenance. So now there are 15 pages on specific boilers, and it’s all interlinked to NRM3 as well.

EDUCATING FM KF: There might be debate as to who is responsible for pushing up standards, but it’s not just BIFM – CIBSE, BSRIA and RICS are all involved too. You also need the willingness, attitude and culture as well as the tools. Smart and proactive people will do all of this without tools and the processes – the other 80 per cent will need support and training, and that is sorely lacking within the industry.

SH: It all comes back to the CapEx /OpEx question. FM has to be involved in projects from the beginning. When it comes to key decisions, it’s typically a CapEx question with the OpEx ignored because, fundamentally, someone’s got to deliver a building to a capital budget. So, if anything we might ask for is not achievable within the CapEx budget – for example, we’d prefer a different roof or floor covering because it will deliver better lifecycle and maintenance costs – it won’t happen.

SC: Well, then that does come down to levels of understanding. I agree that what you are saying happens, but it shouldn’t. If the project is set up and reviewed in the right way you should be constantly looking at your CapEx vs OpEx. AB: OK, so who around this table is actually going to carry out that work on a project? Who is going to pay for that degree of expertise?

EJ: If the supply chain steps up it will still need the customer to be linking the two budgets together – because if the customer is not doing that up front, it won’t define what it wants properly and if it doesn’t define what it wants properly it won’t work.

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 29

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SC: Some clients might not be that informed, so they are reliant on the supply chain. If you want to make a fundamental change, the supply chain has to step up and inform those people who are not experts in this area and are also doing 101 other things as well as FM. If we want to make fundamental change then it has to be supported from the supply chain as well as it can’t be assumed that every client is that informed.

EMBEDDING A SOFT LANDINGS CULTURE AB: If you did everything required at all the stages that the plan of work sets out then you’d probably overload some smaller clients. You’ve got to find a way of structuring the project that works for the client. It’s very different with a well-resourced, highly intelligent client. So it’s about embedding a culture.

KF: But I think that is starting to happen. The fact that we are all round the table, all the different disciplines in the built environment here to talk about FM’s role – that’s a huge change in itself.

GP: There are some projects, perhaps a little bit under the radar at the moment, that are doing all of this – and where it is happening it’s because someone at the top has embraced it, signed it off and said, guys, we are going to do this. That’s leadership. You can have as many stakeholders as you want, but someone at the top has to support it.

SC: There also a reliance on project management. The likes of Gardiner & Theobald share the responsibility, because most projects have a project management firm. Even if it’s just talking to clients – ‘have you www.fm-world.co.uk

24_31_Roundtable.indd 31

considered, have you thought about, how does this fit into the operating costs?’ – you’re then encouraging key conversations with people who might not necessarily be thinking that way.

That’s where I think we can encourage change, just by asking those questions of clients.

MHN: One of the things I’ve observed is finance directors being directly responsible for estates and facilities – perhaps the last five years of economic downturn have forced that.

SH: You wonder if we need more engagement with the senior financial people running organisations to get them to understand just how much their buildings cost them. We are horrified when clients have so very little concept of how much they are spending on FM; they don’t even have a basic level of understanding about how their buildings are influencing their costs of operation.

SC: That’s a fundamental challenge faced with the FM industry then. If you are running a building you have to know how much it costs to run it.

KF: The customer/client must take responsibility. That said, our institutes need to step up; there’s a pressing need for standards, process and training to assist us all.

SH: The role of FMs in all of this is to think more strategically, raise their profiles within their organisations and make sure they get consulted. That doesn’t mean they have to sit on the board – few FMs ever do – but if they are burying themselves away next to the boiler and think it’s just about paying the bills and keeping things ticking over, then they misunderstand the role of FM. FM

GLOSSARY OF TERMS Building Information Modelling (BIM) A digital model of a building (or site) and its assets in order to monitor and optimise its whole life value. A BIM holds information about the physical and functional aspects of a building’s assets.

Crown Commercial Service Framework The Crown Commercial Service is comprised of a merger between the commercial teams from the Cabinet Office and central government departments, as well as the Government Procurement Service. It procures and manages facilities contracts for government departments and their arms-length bodies across the public sector.

GSL, BIM Level 2 and the 2016 deadline All central government construction projects must be BIM Level 2-compliant by 2016, and all government departments must appoint a Government Soft Landings (GSL) lead to manage aftercare during the early operations of a building, supported by the project’s design and construction teams.

BIM Level 2 is a managed threedimensional design environment with several datasets including cost data and construction sequencing. The government defines compliance with Level 2 BIM as a construction project’s use of: ● PAS 1192-2:2013 and PAS 11923:2014-11-11 BS 1192-4 (both specifications for information management) ● The BIM protocol ● Government Soft Landings ● Digital Plan of Work, and ● Classification (using a

structured and standardised information system – due in 2015) RIBA Plan of Work (PoW) 2013 A project documenting tool for those involved in the briefing, design, construction and postoccupancy process of buildings.

It comprises eight stages from strategic definition through to conceptual, developed and technical design, project handover and in-use.

The government’s digital Plan of Work (dP0W) An industry template to provide data on how to manage Level 2 BIM. Set to be complete by spring 2015.

SFG20 A standard maintenance specification for building engineering services. It provides more than 400 maintenance task schedules covering principal types of heating, cooling, plant and electrical services.

CIBSE Guide M Guidance intended for the benefit of all involved in the operation and maintenance of engineering services - newly revised as at November 2014.

NRM (New Rules of Measurement) 3 Guidance on the quantification of maintenance works for the purpose of preparing order of cost estimates and formal cost plans (pre-construction), detailed cost plans (postconstruction) and during the building’s in-use phases.

Further soft landings reading … is available on a special new FM World web page (www. fm-world.co.uk)

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 31

13/11/2014 17:44

FM MONITOR ALEX MIRKOVIC

Alex Mirkovic, commercial director of Waste Cost Reduction Services (WCRS), a national recycling and waste management broker, and committee member of the BIFM Sustainability SIG

LEGAL UPDATE WASTE LEG ISL AT I O N

ew waste legislation coming in to force in the New Year requires the separate collection of waste paper, metal, plastic and glass. Alex Mirkovic looks at the forthcoming law and its implications for FMs

N

The revised EU Waste Framework Directive 2008 requires that from 1 January 2015, member states make arrangements for the collection of waste paper, metal, plastic and glass separately where ‘technically, environmentally and economically practicable’ and ‘appropriate to meet the necessary quality standards for the relevant recycling sectors’.

One of the aims of the directive, which is transposed into UK law in the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 (and amended in the Waste (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2012), is to promote high-quality recycling. The regulations cover commercial and industrial waste as well as domestic waste.

In Scotland, businesses have been legally required to separate these materials for collection since 1 January 2014.

Commingled v single source collections When transposing this directive into UK law, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) initially determined that ‘separate collections’ included commingled collections. The Campaign for Real Recycling took legal action and a judicial review, held in February 2013, ruled that Defra’s 32 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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2012 regulations were correct, and that commingled collections were acceptable under the requirements of the directive where separate collection was not technically, economically or environmentally practicable (TEEP).

Since this decision, debate has continued over the conditions under which commingled collections may be permissible after 2015. Significant emphasis has been placed on the terms ‘technically, environmentally and economically practicable’ and ‘appropriate to meet the necessary quality standards for the relevant recycling sectors’.

What FMs need to consider There has been no statutory guidance on how the new legislation should be interpreted, which is causing a lot of confusion for waste collectors and producers. Furthermore, the focus of the non-statutory guidance published by government bodies and media coverage of the new legislation has been on household waste collections.

The Environmental Services Association (ESA) appears to be the sole voice on the implications for businesses, stating in a note to its members that ‘commercial waste service providers should…

offer separate collection to their business customers and provide it for those of them who want it and for whom it is a practical proposition’.

While the ESA’s emphasis, by nature of its role in the waste industry, is on the waste collectors, WCRS believes that FMs will need to consider the following to ensure that they are compliant with the new legislation: Maintain an audit trail: Keep a well-documented audit trail when deciding which collection system to use and hold regular reviews to ensure that your waste management system remains compliant.

1

Separate paper, metal, plastic and glass from general waste: Separate mixed dry recyclables (paper, metal, plastic, glass) from general waste before their collection unless space for containers, cost of collection or any other genuine barriers prevent this.

2

Consider the TEEP test and provide evidence for your decision: If it is not technically, environmentally and economically practicable to do this, implement the most suitable alternative solution and ensure that you have evidence as to why a separate collection is not practicable.

3

Review commingled collections, particularly those that include glass: If you already separate your recyclables in a commingled collection, review the suitability of this and the capability of your waste contractor to separate these

4

materials so that they are ‘appropriate to meet the necessary quality standards for the relevant recycling sectors’.

The commingled collection of paper and glass is unlikely to meet the new requirements.

Ensure the quality of your recyclables: Whether you have commingled collections or separate individual collections for paper, plastic, metal and glass, ensure that the quality of these recyclables separated for collection is of a high standard and not contaminated with nonrecyclable waste.

5

Implement the waste hierarchy: It is already a legal requirement for all waste producers to treat waste in line with the waste hierarchy. Once reduction and reuse have been considered, ensure that your recyclable materials are recycled where possible above recovery or landfill.

The new legislation presents a challenge to waste collectors and producers alike. Ultimately, decisions on which collection system to use need to be made by FMs and their service providers based on their individual circumstances and in line with the principle of proportionality.

By reviewing waste practices, considering TEEP and quality tests, and retaining a clear audit trail to justify any decisions made, FMs can be confident that the new legislation won’t be the cause of your headache on 1 January 2015.

Note: This article does not constitute legal advice and is no substitute for legal or other professional advice. FM

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www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 14:36

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FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 33

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13/11/2014 10:19

FM MONITOR TANVEER CHOUDHRY

HOW TO...

Tanveer Choudhry, global marketing manager for key and asset management specialist Traka

KEY MANAG EMEN T – T H E M I SS I N G L I N K IN ACCESS CON T RO L

anveer Choudhry highlights how important it is to have an effective solution in place when managing a facility’s keys

SHUTTERSTOCK

T

Most large organisations have an access control system in place, with many having implemented a second or even third-generation solution. And the technology is making huge leaps forward in functionality and sophistication – helping FMs to manage their buildings more effectively.

But there is one aspect that is overlooked that can create a ‘missing-link’ in the security system as a whole – key management.

In a recent Freedom of Information request, Traka asked 51 of the UK’s police forces how much time they spent replacing keys. Only a limited number were able to give an exact amount as most simply filed the expenditure under ‘miscellaneous’. Key and access management is a large part of managing a building, but it’s clear that even the most highprofile organisations don’t always take an efficient approach.

Keys should be an extension of an access control policy, but in most businesses procedures are outdated. Keys are issued from a mounted key box, which itself is accessed with a key that is more than likely stored in a desk drawer or kept by security personnel.

There is no efficient way to account for keys in this way, and in some cases there is no auditing at all.

Key management is without doubt the most under-automated and antiquated process in almost every business. Yet, the

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technology exists to provide efficient access control to these keys, and at a fraction of the cost of a full system.

Cost efficiency Businesses are constantly scrutinising processes and working practices to reduce inefficiencies and increase profits. Something as simple as losing keys can cost a considerable amount of money.

This was highlighted recently when the police lost a set of Wembley Stadium’s laser keys, which potentially cost tens of thousands of pounds to replace. All the locks needed replacing, and at the same time it presented a very real security risk. If you are going to manage access to buildings, rooms, riser ducts, lifts, basements and equipment using keys – and there is very little alternative

– then you have a duty to find a way of ensuring that the keys are looked after properly.

Saying goodbye to human error To avoid the costs and security risks, human errors need to be taken out of the process.

Automated key management systems have been adopted by supermarkets, schools, universities, prisons, utilities, retailers, banks, police forces and airlines, and have all shown a wide range of benefits.

A key vending system automatically ensures that only an authorised user has access to a specific key or keyset. Of equal importance is ensuring that keys are returned – and returned on time. The benefits of this include improved customer service, more efficient processes, greater employee accountability, and reduced replacement costs for equipment and vehicles.

Another factor is to make sure that keys never go off site. They can be securely managed within the electronic cabinet and access restricted to authorised users only.

This creates greater accountability, resulting in personnel taking better care of the key they are responsible for. If they accidently leave the site with the key, it is extremely easy to find out who removed it and when they removed it.

Security and staff Safety should also be a primary consideration when it comes to

“Key management is without doubt the most under-automated and antiquated process in almost every business”

key management; keys are very often used to restrict access to equipment or higher risk areas.

Even simple, everyday items like ladders need to be restricted to trained members of staff. This is also the case with keys to elevators, chemical stores, and other hazardous areas within an organisation. In most cases, keys are the only sensible way to unlock the padlock or room.

It is important to ensure that only trained staff who are authorised to use certain equipment or have access to certain areas can retrieve the relevant keys. This is almost impossible to effectively police manually. An electronic management system takes care of the whole process automatically.

As the manager, you are able to define the access rights and the system takes care of everything else automatically.

Your clearly defined process to manage the risk is enforced reliably and efficiently without corners being cut by staff who are keen to leave early or who have made a simple and honest mistake.

Ultimately, key and access management should be a simple process, not one that adds to the stress of facilities management. Having an effective system in place will close the loop in access control, and will ensure that the efforts made to make entry into and around a building are not jeopardised by a lack of planning and strategy regarding management of keys.

An automated process removes the opportunity for human error, and managers are able to locate keys easily, as well as reduce the likelihood of keys getting into the wrong hands. FM www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 17:22

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Client: Dana Petroleum Location: Aberdeen, Scotland Dimensions: 37,000 sq ft HQ for up to 250 people Project Brief: JAMstudio were briefed to create an environment which would reflect the philosophy of a forward thinking energetic company like Dana; a space that was a delight to work in and an office interior that would lift, energise and enliven their staff.

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11:03 11/11/2014 10:08

FM MONITOR SIMON CARTER

HOW TO...

Simon Carter, chairman of B&ES Service and Facilities Group (SFG) and bid manager for NG Bailey’s facilities services division

IM PROVIN G THE EN ERGY PER F OR M AN CE O F BUI L DI N GS

uilding owners must improve their understanding of building maintenance techniques or face serious cost and legal problems. Simon Carter puts the case

B

If buildings are to remain fit for purpose and up to the challenge of tackling rising energy costs, their owners will have to take a closer interest in how building services systems are maintained.

There is a gap between how many buildings are designed and how they are operated, but more sophisticated service and maintenance techniques means that we are now well equipped to narrow that gap and ensure that buildings perform closer to how they were designed – if we are given the opportunity.

Eighty per cent of the value of a building is realised during its operating lifetime, but efforts to modernise and reform working practices are focused on the design and installation phases.

Clients need to be better educated about the value of their built assets during operation.

Be innovative The modern FM company has a fantastic array of tools at its disposal to tackle energy efficiency and extend the operating life of equipment.

We can also keep owners out of jail by ensuring that they fully comply with legislation. But too many companies fail to sell their expertise properly – preferring simply to compete on price rather than promote innovative maintenance techniques.

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way buildings are serviced. These techniques, along with increased use of BMS intelligence, means maintenance programmes can be based on usage rather than frequency. This, in turn, allows the FM service provider to preempt equipment failures, saving clients huge amounts of money and disruption while also ensuring that buildings perform with more energy efficiency.

The use of condition-based monitoring of building services systems is well understood, but not as widely used as it could be. So clients are missing out on the lower costs and reduction in down time for critical equipment delivered by a maintenance service that also does not disrupt their working patterns.

No shut-downs With modern non-invasive monitoring there is no need to shut parts of a building. Work can also be carried out during normal working hours, which also means the maintenance team can see how the building is really operating under load.

It should also be standard practice to provide more system automation by using the

sophisticated IT networks that are already installed in commercial buildings as a platform. Increased occupancy monitoring of local lighting and HVAC systems can be delivered this way.

In an attempt to extend the reach of best practice in building maintenance, B&ES has updated the industry’s building maintenance specification SFG20.

Increasingly, this is being adopted by public sector end-users, in particular to establish strategic maintenance programmes for many building types including prisons, schools and commercial offices. It is now available as a dynamic online tool accessible through mobile devices.

The SFG20 web service offers bespoke maintenance models for specific building types including schools, commercial offices, banks, airport terminals, prisons, hotels and large retail establishments.

Misguided actions Providing this kind of support is important because many clients simply don’t know what they are buying when they acquire a building and have no idea of what is now possible in terms of improved performance and the enhancements the industry can provide. Regrettably, despite the upturn in the economy, the main focus remains on the bottom line cost and not the long-term gain.

There are many ways for building owners and operators to reduce

“Many building owners and operators are unclear about the link between strategic planned maintenance and reducing running costs.”

their carbon footprint and cut energy costs that are simply not being exploited.

Many buildings are being progressively decommissioned because owners and operators are not well informed about how control systems should work.

Temperature set-points are regularly ‘tweaked’ by individual occupants in a misguided attempt to change comfort levels in their section of the building. This can lead to heating and cooling systems operating at the same time and fighting each other, with a consequent negative impact on energy use. This problem is often exacerbated when people open windows to cool overheated areas – meaning all that expensively tempered air is simply thrown away.

Many building owners and operators remain unclear about the link between strategic planned maintenance and reducing running costs. The FM sector must do a better job in promoting this link and in updating clients’ knowledge.

Most buildings would benefit from recommissioning and a regular survey of their energy consuming plant. Many of the adjustments required to put equipment back on track are simple, inexpensive changes to controls settings. As energy prices continue their inexorable rise, this will become a greater priority for finance departments.

It is important to deliver the message that managing energy costs is not just about shopping around for the best tariff. Our industry has the tools to take a far more proactive and farsighted approach that also keeps clients on the right side of the law. FM www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 16:01

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All the brands Brewers supplies the widest range of paints and wallpapers in the market: from Albany to Bradite, Crown to Dulux, Earthborn to Farrow & Ball and everything in between, all the way through to Zinsser. Across all branches there is a range of more than 70,000 items – whatever brand you want or the surface you want to coat, you can find it at Brewers.

1000s of colours Thousands of colours from across the spectrum are readily available including the main colour ranges – British Standard BS4800, RAL and NCS. A colour-matching service is available in branch and on site, using the latest computerised technology to create a recipe from any swatch of paint, wallpaper or any other item you are trying to match.

Icorr qualified paint inspectors The team forms a specialist division within Brewers, there to support and offer advice in the field of high-performance coatings, covering problem areas such as floors, metal, cladding, hygiene and specialist surfaces.

Brewers provides a complete free service, from site visit and specification to testing and maintenance support.

Experts in coatings that extend the maintenance lifecycle External substrates are constantly battered from the weather so anything that can help to extend the maintenance lifecycle will be more cost effective.

As the UK’s largest independent, Brewers can supply coatings from all the manufacturers, so is able to offer a coating for steel that has a 20-year lifecycle, a cladding product with a 10-year warranty

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and a range of masonry applications with up to 15 years’ BBA certification.

SWR has assisted with recycling schemes for customers that have included a full audit trail.

Experts in coatings that protect For floors, Brewers can supply coatings that cover everything from pedestrian to forklift truck traffic and a large range of anti-slip applications to increase safety.

For walls and ceilings hygiene coatings are available from all the manufacturers, offering protection against bacteria and MRSA, plus flame-retardant coatings tested to British and European standards. Brewers can also supply specialist insurance-backed coatings offering further piece of mind.

Trade credit accounts and corporate services Set up an account and you’ll benefit from special trade terms, available at all branches, plus Brewers supplies paint through the Dulux Contract Direct scheme and Crown Indirect Supply scheme.

Brewers can also offer full head office support along with a range of convenient services including forward ordering, storage facilities and free delivery within the trading area. Working with a number of high-profile companies including Tesco, Premier Inn, the Department of Transport and Ministry of Defence, Brewers can provide a flexible, convenient and great value offering.

Environmental policy Brewers has introduced a number of initiatives to support its Environmental Policy Statement, including teaming up with SWR – Specialist Waste Recycling, a company that has full BS EN ISO 9001, BS EN ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 accreditation.

For more information, please call Nick Church on 07970228905 or email: nick.church@brewers.co.uk.

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 37

13/11/2014 10:24

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

FM and waste management professionals cold make a real impact when it comes to saving resources and cutting costs KNOWLEDGE

GETTY

Zero waste for landfill Reducing waste and moving towards a circular economy is a challenge and requires engagement and action from a range of different people, including facilities managers, service providers, waste management firms, client organisations and building occupiers.

The latest BIFM FM Leaders Forum, supported by CIWM and sponsored by GSH, brings together leading thinkers from the world of FM and waste management to discuss how we can move closer to a circular economy and the role that both key industries play in that. While progress has been made, both industries could do more to drive waste management further up the agenda and ensure that everyone is engaged with taking it forward.

Increased focus on measurement, changing behaviour, the impact of technology on the workforce and designing waste out of society were just some of the key themes that came from the discussion.

In summary, it was felt that FM and waste management professionals have a great opportunity to make a real impact within organisations when it comes to resource security and the impact on the ‘bottom line’.

Chris Moriarty, head of insights and corporate affairs, concluded: “It’s very easy to simply look at waste’s final destination but what this roundtable highlighted was the importance of looking ‘upstream’ as well.

“How we design the products that create the waste, our procurement processes and the way we use products before they are considered to be ‘waste’. This is a much more complex challenge

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than simply adjusting our recycling processes and policies.

“We’ve heard about the tangible impact that a change in behaviour toward waste can make to organisations and we hope that the outcomes of this roundtable can help continue to push this important debate forward.” i BIFM members can download the free paper at www.bifm.org.uk/ fmlf. Non-members can access the paper at www.bifm.org.uk/ zerowaste

is the latest in a series of new and improved guidance to support standards and professionalism in FM. The purpose of the document is to get professionals thinking about different ways to measure and score contractors’ performance and why this is so important.

The guidance covers the following topics: Why measure performance? ● What are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), how many KPIs should I have and what should I measure? ● How do I decide what the critical success factors are? ● How do I measure the KPIs? ● How should the KPIs be present? ● Reviewing the KPIs. ●

NEW GUIDANCE

Measuring contractors’ performance using KPIs BIFM has published a new set of guidance for FMs. The Measuring Contractors Performance Using KPIs guidance

This guidance was produced by the BIFM Procurement Special Interest Group (SIG) and is available free to members at www.bifm.org.uk/kpis i

INFORMATION

Procurement and contractors resource pack available now Every quarter, BIFM members receive a comprehensive pack of Barbour Estates and Facilities Management resources with each pack covering a different topic.

These free resource packs are designed to help save you time and money.

The latest pack centres on ‘Procurement & Contractors’. The free resources include: Procurement ● Employee factsheet: procurement ● Technical guide: procurement ● Directors’ briefing: procurement www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 10:26

Please send your news items to communications@bifm.org.uk or call +44 (0)1279 712 620

Contractors ● Employee factsheet: use of contractors ● Technical guide: Contractors ● Directors’ briefing: use of contractors ● Toolbox Talks: use of contractors i See the latest pack at: www.barbour-ehs.com/monthlyresource-pack

BIFM WORKPLACE SIG

Technology, workplace and the modern FM The BIFM Workplace SIG is hosting an event from 17:30 to 20:00 on 27 November.

Taking place at Vitra Ltd, London EC1M 5PG, the event will focus on ‘Technology, workplace and the modern FM’.

Delegates at this free event will find out what the key technology changes are, why they are being embraced at a strategic level, and how you can remain at the heart of such discussions – and not be left behind!

The agenda includes: 18:00 Hear an occupier’s experience of a technology-driven project 18:30 ‘Poacher turned gamekeeper’ with (ex-Barclays) Condeco head of workplace consultancy, Andrew Howells 18:45 Listen to an overview of emerging technology trends and tips with Cordless Consultants 19:15 Put your key questions to the panel, and enjoy some early Christmas drinks while networking with like-minded FMs. i For further details, and to secure your place at this free event, go to: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/technologyworkplace-and-the-modern-fmtickets-13630680733

www.fm-world.co.uk

38-40_BIFM News.indd 39

BIFM COMMENT

Peter Brogan is research and information manager at BIFM

RESEARCH AND INFORMATION: PROVIDING KNOWLEDGE

s Charles Darwin is supposed to have said: “It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive, but those who can best manage change.” This could easily apply to the world of FM. I joined BIFM in September this year as research and information manager, having previously managed research teams across standards setting bodies, awarding bodies and professional bodies. I will head up the team that will lead on BIFM’s research and information activity.

Research can tell us what is happening, but we need insight to understand why it is happening, and crucially, what to do about it. We need insight to create solutions to the challenges we discover. This will be crucial as we develop both the profession and our own organisation, in what is an ever-evolving sector.

Without this insight BIFM cannot be the authoritative voice of the FM sector. It allows us to learn about new trends within FM, and through robust research we are able to gather enough information to outline what the future may hold for both our members and the wider FM community. This is key in terms of the research we conduct as it ensures that we make a difference to the FM sector and wider society. Research will help the BIFM in its development and effective implementation of policies, processes, services and communications.

The department is not just responsible for the organisation of research, but also for sharing and distributing knowledge and expertise in a credible and convincing way. Examples include our Facilities Management Leaders Forums and Good Practice Guides – just two of our key resources for those looking to deliver in their roles.

Over recent years FM has become increasingly recognised, not only for its impact on the economy, but also for the profound impact it can have on organisations. Through our work we’ll help to raise the profile of the sector to allow FM to climb up the leadership agenda.

This will not be an easy task, but who doesn’t like a challenge? Changes are happening within the world of FM and research and information plays a vital role in ensuring that BIFM delivers on its purpose of being the professional body that truly represents the FM profession.

I started this article with a quote and I will end with one. A fellow member of the Market Research Society (MRS) once said: “Research is just sight, but to act we need insight.”

A

“RESEARCH CAN TELL US WHAT IS HAPPENING, BUT WE NEED INSIGHT TO UNDERSTAND WHY IT IS HAPPENING, AND, WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT. WE NEED INSIGHT TO CREATE SOLUTIONS TO THE CHALLENGES WE DISCOVER”

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13/11/2014 10:27

BIFM NEWS BIFM.ORG.UK

BIFM TRAINING 2014: BIFM TRAINING EXPANDING ITS REACH THROUGH A RANGE OF NEW ACCESSIBLE COURSES

he BIFM Training course programme is unparalleled anywhere in the world, with the public programme comprising 62 different course titles. In 2014 we introduced new courses on: Agile Working; Client Centred FM; Collaborative Working & BS11000; Building Information Modelling; How to Procure a Fit Out; Managing Information & Knowledge; Social Media for FMs; and Legionella.

The BIFM Training Skillset online courses have had registrations from Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean predominantly for “Getting Started in FM, Health & Safety, Key Performance Indicators and Thinking Strategically”.

As well as seeing an increase in international learners, we have also strengthened our professional recognition and we are now an IEMA STS Registered Centre alongside ILM, IOSH, NEBOSH, City & Guilds and the Institute of Ergonomics & Human Factors. We continue to be a preferred supplier to the Career Transition Partnership and part of the ELC approved Provider Scheme.

T

See interviews with 2014 winners at www.youtube.com/fmworldmagazine BIFM AWARDS 2014

Watch this year’s award winners

CHRISTIAN TRAMPENAU

The BIFM Awards took place in front of 1,350 guests on Monday 13 October. FM World, the BIFM magazine, spoke to winners after they had received their accolades.

Hear from these winners: ● Excellence in Customer Service – Edge Hill University, Facilities Management, Welcome Sunday ● Excellence in Product Development – J+J Flooring Group, Kinetex ● FM Excellence in a Major Project – King’s College London and Bouygues Energies & Services, Public Private Partnership Efficiency Review ● FM of the Year – Chris Newton, Mitie ● FM Service Provider of the Year – SME Premier Workplace Services, Business Class Moves and Change Service ● FM Service Provider of the Year Large – Carillion Plc ● Impact on Organisation and Workplace – Three, Every Day Wonderful ● In-House FM Team of the Year – Tesco Maintenance & Energy, Tesco Maintenance Format Teams ● Innovation in the Use of Technology and Systems – Integral Uptimeplus ● Learning and Career Development – FES FM, Committed to Knowledge and

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Skills Development ● Profound Impact – ISS UK and Ireland, Employability: Providing opportunities today for the talent of tomorrow ● Sustainability and Environmental Impact – Cheshire Constabulary, Operation Cleanup Watch all the videos on www.youtube.com/ fmworldmagazine Make sure you save the date for the 2015 BIFM Awards. Once again they will return to the Grosvenor House Hotel, London, on Monday 12 October. i To be the first to hear the 2015 categories and details of how to enter you can register your interest at www.bifm.org.uk/enter2015

MEMBERSHIP

New organisation members BIFM would like to welcome: AIT Ltd – product supplier, provider of a specific product Hill International (FM) – FM service suppliers, contractors Mosanada UGL – provider of a specific product Salisbury Group – FM management, suppliers StepJockey – product supplier, provider of a specific product Thorn Baker Limited – provider of a specific product i Learn more about Corporate or Group membership at www.bifm. org.uk/corporatemembership, email corporate@bifm.org.uk or call +44 (0) 1279 712675

Trends in in-house training Formal qualifications are rapidly setting the standard for career development in FM and we have created a range of bespoke tuition packages through BIFM Training courses, enabling us to focus on the development of the right skill sets for the in-house client.

We also regularly work with clients looking to embed best practice principles in areas such as Sustainability and Energy Management, embracing both technical capabilities and cultural and behavioural change.

Using blended learning, these provide a highly supportive mix of modular, face-to-face training and e-learning and self-study.

The team We were sad to say goodbye to our long-standing marketing manager Rochelle Kajee and our in-house course administrator Nicole Harbert, but we welcome Nuno da Silva and Anna-Sophie Schaefer respectively.

So these were some of the new things that happened in 2014 and with much more to come in 2015, there has never been a better time to book one of our courses and expand your knowledge in facilities management. i We are confident that we will able to serve your learning and development needs this year. Please do not hesitate to contact one of the team: www.bifm-training.com, email info@bifm-training.co.uk, or phone 020 7404 4440

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 10:27

FM DIARY

Send details of your event to editorial@fm–world.co.uk or call 020 7880 6229

INDUSTRY EVENTS

HOME COUNTIES REGION

NORTH REGION

27 November | The Building Services Summit 2014 Building services equipment is responsible for more than 80 per cent of energy consumption in commercial buildings. The Building Controls Industry Association has joined forces with the Building & Engineering Services Association to announce the 10-80-10 – Building Services Summit. Speakers include Deborah Rowland, head of property asset management, UK Ministry of Justice, James Pitcher, head of energy and environment, Tesco, and Michael Dick, head of buildings, City of London.

Venue: Barbican, London.

Contact: buildingservicessummit.co.uk

3 December | Environmental sustainability: how FM can contribute From 5.45pm. BIFM Awards 2014 finalist Syngenta explains how FM can contribute to sustained environmental performance.

Venue: Jealott’s Hill International Research Centre Bracknell, Berkshire RG42 6EY Contact: Email Jane Wiggins at jane@fmtutor.co.uk or visit www. tinyurl.com/lcaryro to book tickets.

24 November | Sheffield and South Yorkshire Group From 5pm – a tour of the new college building, the design of which involved collaboration between employers, universities, colleges and schools.

Venue: University Technical College, 111 Matilda St, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S1 4QF Contact: Email Bob Rabagliati at bailiff@trinity-estates.org.uk or visit www.bifmutc.eventbrite.co.uk to book tickets.

13 May 2015 | ThinkFM – The Competitive Edge: Gaining competitive advantage through the workplace The ThinkFM conference will be held at Kings Place, London. Full details to follow.

Venue: Kings Place, London.

Contact: To find out more, and to register your interest, visit www.thinkfm.com.

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities available.

CHANNEL ISLANDS BRANCH 5 December | Guernsey quarterly training day – stress management The guest speaker is Dr Robert Gallagher, Queen’s Road Medical Practice.

Venue: TBC, Guernsey Contact: Email Naomi Fry at naomi.fry@investec-ci.com

IRELAND REGION 21 November | Southern Ireland – “Women - take the credit” From noon. Speakers include Jacinta Doyle Durand, HR specialist: “Women – take the credit”, and Valerie Singleton, FM, DAA: “From cleaning to opening Terminal 2”.

Venue: Maldron Hotel, Dublin Airport Contact: Email Aoife Cooling at acooling@google.com or visit www.tinyurl.com/p2hkk8u to book tickets.

25 November | Southern Ireland – breakfast seminar From 8am. Speakers include Joe Lumsden, Louth County Council Fire and Rescue, and Austin O’Hare and Conal Doherty, HBE Risk Management.

Venue: DoubleTree by Hilton Dublin – Burlington Road, Dublin 4 Contact: Email Aoife Cooling at acooling@google.com or visit www.tinyurl.com/nm8ozcf to book tickets.

9 December | Christmas social event More information TBC. Contact: Email Bob Rabagliati at bailiff@trinity-estates.org.uk SOUTH REGION 3 December | The involvement of FMs in the design process FMs complain about the buildings they inherit and manage. There are number of initiatives, such as ‘Soft Landings’, which are designed to give FMs a say in design.

Venue: Brighton University Contact: Email Ian Fielder at ian.r.fielder@gmail.com or visit www.tinyurl.com/nnqcx7v to book tickets.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS

27 November | Workplace – Technology, workplace and the modern FM From 6pm. Key technology changes and why they are being

embraced at a strategic level.

Venue: Vitra Ltd, 30 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5PG Contact: Email Stephen Craven at stephen.craven@cordless.co.uk or visit www.tinyurl.com/oxcxk9p to book tickets.

2 December | Rising FMs – Christmas social event A social event, hosted by the Rising FMs special interest group.

Sponsored by recruitment company PRS. Venue: Las Iguanas, 1 Horner Square, Old Spitalfields Market, London E1 6EW Contact: Email Jason Gurd at risingfms@gmail.com or visit www.risingfmsxmas.eventbrite. co.uk to book tickets.

3 December | Women in FM – Christmas quiz From 6pm, the Women in FM group’s annual Christmas quiz.

Venue: Channel 4, 124-126 Horseferry Rd, London SW1P 2TX Contact: Email Victoria O’Farrell at wifm@bifm.org.uk or visit www.wifmchristmasquiz.eventbrite.co.uk to book tickets.

14 January | Women in FM conference – breaking through From 9am. More information to follow.

Venue: BT, 81 Newgate Street, London EC1A 7AJ Contact: Email Victoria O’Farrell at wifm@bifm.org.uk.

DRIVING BUSINESS GROWTH WITH QUALITY APPRENTICESHIPS Operating across England and Wales, JTL has an enviable record in successful and timely completions of Electrotechnical, Plumbing, Heating and Ventilating and Engineering Maintenance Apprenticeships.

Good candidates are available now and JTL is on hand to help employers access funding and monitor and support apprentices throughout their work-based training.

Call 0800 0852 308 www.jtltraining.com

www.fm-world.co.uk 41 | 8 MAY 2014 | FM WORLD

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FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 41 www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 10:28

Call Jack Shuard on 020 7880 8543 or email jack.shuard@fm-world.co.uk For full media information take a look at www.fm-world.co.uk/mediapack

FM innovations ▼ OCS supports education programme

▲ Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow With the unpredictable British weather there is an increasing onus on businesses to have winter contingency plans in place to protect staff, contractors and the public - to prevent against accidents during bad weather conditions. Failing to plan ahead can put people at risk and cause potential business disruption. We advise businesses to assess the risks posed by ice, frost and snow in the same way that they would all other workplace risks, and then implement appropriate systems and controls. If you still plan to outsource your winter gritting, then make sure you clearly scope the company and ensure they have sufficient local resources and capabilities to deliver the service in all weather conditions. Don’t be pushed into a ‘one size fits all’ contract.

By working with a snow and gritting specialist, they can prepare for and respond to extreme weather by implementing an effective winter maintenance plan - leaving you free to get on with your day job!

W: www.de-ice.co.uk

Prancing packhorses, mooing cows and even shovel-digging navvies play a starring role in a new digital interactive game, ‘Build a Canal’, launched by the Canal & River Trust on its Explorers education website. Sponsored by total facilities management provider OCS, whose Fountains business provides environmental and vegetation management services for the trust, the game invites children to get their virtual hands dirty and play at being a canal engineer.

Designed for children aged seven to 11, the animated storyline is packed full of interesting historical facts and figures, as well as colourful moving graphics featuring animals, people, boats and buildings. The game comes with comprehensive teacher notes suggesting ways the activity could be used for lessons.

Canal & River Trust education manager Annette Simpson said: “The game is part of the trust’s wider education programme to encourage children to engage with their local waterways.” W: www.ocs.co.uk

First unit to filter not mask smells

▶ Tinytag Data Loggers: Energy Efficiency

A new UK manufactured air filtration and fragrance system called ECOBreezeTM that filters out all smells, rather than masking them, is now available.

ECOBreeze is the first air care product that has a triple action system. First, it draws air through a dust filter to remove all airborne dust particulate; air is then directed through a sophisticated carbon filter to extract smelly organic molecules. The clean air passes over a wicking system that releases a fragrance leaving the air in the washroom, kitchen or corridor clean, fresh and fragrant.

W: www.washroom-wizard.co.uk

Tinytags from Gemini Data Loggers support energy efficiency applications by accurately monitoring power usage, CO2, temperature and humidity locally or throughout a building. This will help identify where steps can be taken to improve energy efficiency, maximise cost savings, and ensure the occupants’ wellbeing.

The range includes the Energy Logger, a portable, non-invasive device for monitoring single and three-phase power usage of entire premises or individual high-consumption equipment.

W: www.geminidataloggers.com

▲ SpaceVac wins ‘pole’ position SpaceVac Technologies Ltd, the world’s leading manufacturers of high-level and gutter pole cleaning equipment has reached ‘pole’ position – voted best brand in independent comparison tests.

SpaceVac beat its two competitors Omnipole and Skyvac in practical tests on an Essex office block by a national window and gutter cleaning company.

One complete basic set of vacuum-operated gutter cleaning equipment was bought from each of the three UK manufacturers – Omnipole, SpaceVac and Skyvac. Top independent nationwide window and gutter cleaning expert Ian Robson, director of Progress Cleaning Services, put all three brands through their paces and reported on his findings.

SpaceVac Technologies was voted equal or best product in every aspect from ease of use and assembly to effectiveness and efficiency of doing the job. W: www.space-vac.co.uk

PREMIER

Commercial relocation

workplace services

Specialist IT services

Business class moves and changes

Library & specialist relocations

Interior refurbishment

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42 | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | FM WORLD

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WINNER Service Provider of the Year (SME) HIGHLY COMMENDED Sustainability and Environmental Impact

T | 020 8976 2100 E | info@premierworkplaceservices.co.uk W | www.premierworkplaceservices.co.uk Premier Workplace Services is a trading name of Premier Moves Limited registered in England No 3250579

www.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 17:18

FM PEOPLE MOVERS & SHAKERS

BEHIND

THE JOB NAME: Dominic Lashley JOB TITLE: Facilities management apprentice ORGANISATION: Greater London Authority, City Hall, London JOB DESCRIPTION: To provide administrative and project support for the GLA’s FM department.

Key responsibilities

The admin side of my role means arranging meetings, producing minutes and agendas and maintaining confidential records.

Duties I have more specific to facilities are administering the corporate archive system, providing contract management support, supporting facilities procurement projects, and providing FM help-desk and reception services and completing risk assessments. As part of a job share I have an events role coordinating the letting of spaces at City Hall.

My top perk at work is…

Being able to try different roles.

This year I’ve become an FM Jack-of-all-trades working with security, health and safety, events, helpdesk and admin. My team often joke that they are scared that they will come in the next day and find me sitting at the desk doing their job.

ISTOCK

How did you get into facilities management and what attracted you to the industry?

I opted to work as part of the GLA’s FM team as part of a business and administration apprenticeship. The GLA advertised 15 vacancies, all within a different team such as IT, marketing, HR and events. On the interview days each team had to www.fm-world.co.uk

43_Behind the Job.indd 43

Any interesting tales to tell?

Another bonus in being an apprentice is that I’m invited to a lot of interesting places.

As the GLA works closely with law enforcement, I’ve been to Scotland Yard, The Shard, and the Home Office. The most interesting place has to be the Metropolitan Police’s Central Communication Centre. During the ‘Occupy Democracy’ protest on Parliament Square Garden in October it was insightful to monitor all the activity live from CCTV cameras.

If I wasn’t in FM, I’d probably be…

Doing something admin or process related because I feel a sense of pride in developing procedures. present why they were the best and I chose FM as it was the most varied and it had the best stand.

What attracted you to the job?

FM sounded like the most varied job that did not mean being totally desk-bound.

such a high grade, however, it can sometimes interfere with other duties because queries or issues need immediate responses.

What’s been your career high point to date?

Helping to organise City Hall’s participation in London Open House Weekend on 20 September. I recruited and briefed volunteer stewards, liaised with our estate owners on crowd control, arranged for cleaning staff to be on hand and put out signage for the public. On the day my main role was managing all volunteer staff and the visiting public. I received a lot of praise from colleagues and great feedback from the public, 3,230 of whom came through the building.

What has been your biggest career challenge to date?

Balancing my workload between events work and other FM duties.

An opportunity arose for me to fill in the role of one of our events and lettings officers two days a week. It is great experience in

If you could give away one of your responsibilities to an unsuspecting colleague, what would it be?

I’d nominate another person in my team to complete the weekly hot-desk rota. I didn’t realise how much office politics came with such a small task, which is made harder by the fact that you can’t please everyone.

If you could change one thing about the industry, what would it be?

I would like to change the importance FM has within certain companies. The respect a facilities team receives is based on the value an organisation sees in it. I’d rather see more cases where FM is considered a valuable asset as opposed to a drain on resources.

How do you think facilities management has changed in the last five years?

I get the impression that it has grown into a sector rather than

just a role. I did the ‘BIFM: Understanding FM course’ with FMs of different levels and I found it interesting how most of them fell into the role or just had FM responsibilities given to them over time, whereas I actively want to follow FM as a career.

And how will it change in the next five years?

It will only grow more because all businesses need someone to look after their FM and it can shape how an organisation of any size performs. Good or bad, building management is going to affect their bottom line. I remember my manager saying on my first day that “as long as there is a building there is a job.”

Do your friends understand what FM is?

My friends who are employed understand what FM is, but have varying opinions based on how they work with their teams. One has a lot of respect for his FM team, especially the porters as he works closely with them...

He highlights the “us and them” mindset FMs are aware of, that cleaners, porters and catering staff can be looked down on by office staff.

So what does Dominic’s line manager, Chris Harris, support services manager, think of having an apprentice in the team?

Fantastic! Dominic’s become my problem fixer! He’s gained a good solid foundation in FM and picked up some rather desirable skills such as the IOSH Managing Safely qualification; he’s also become a bit of an events specialist.

Have you got a story to tell?

We are looking for facilities managers to feature in Behind the Job. Contact the team at editorial@fm-world.co.uk for more information.

FM WORLD | 20 NOVEMBER 2014 | 43

13/11/2014 10:29

Appointments

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Call the sales team on 020 7324 2755 or email jobs@fm-world.co.uk For full media information take a look at www.fm-world.co.uk/mediapack

jobs.fm-world.co.uk

13/11/2014 16:44

THE C&M COLLEGE NETWORK.

THE CHEADLE COLLEGE.

MARPLE SIXTH FORM COLLEGE.

Associate Director of Estates ÂŁ40-ÂŁ45k | Cheadle & Marple, Greater Manchester/North Derbyshire

ESTATE MANAGER

We are seeking a talented, enthusiastic and committed leader WR GHYHORS DQG GHOLYHU WKH &ROOHJH¡V )LYH <HDU (VWDWHV 6WUDWHJ\ This will include project managing procurement of all Contractors and Consultants and ensuring the successful delivery of all works associated with maintaining, refurbishing and rebuilding (as provided IRU LQ WKH SODQ RXU FROOHJH VLWHV WR SURMHFW WLPHIUDPHV <RX ZLOO DOVR EH UHVSRQVLEOH IRU VHFXULQJ IXQGLQJ IRU WKH (VWDWHV 6WUDWHJ\ LQ RXU 2I67(' œ*RRG¡ &ROOHJH KHOSLQJ WR VHFXUH VL[WK IRUP HGXFDWLRQ LQ great facilities for the students.

We are seeking to appoint an Estates Manager for the management and development of the buildings and grounds at Manchester High School for Girls which is one of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading independent girlsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; schools and which occupies an eleven acre site close to the city centre. The person appointed will be responsible to the Bursar.

The post would be ideal for anyone with successful facilities and/or HVWDWHV PDQDJHPHQW H[SHULHQFH ZKR VHHV D VHQLRU SRVLWLRQ LQ D ZHOO FRQWDLQHG ORFDWLRQ DV WKH QH[W VWHS LQ WKHLU FDUHHU DQG ZKR HQMR\V the challenge of managing estate transformation and rebuild.

To apply please visit www.cheadlemarple.co.uk to download a full recruitment pack including application forms, job description and person VSHFLĂ&#x20AC;FDWLRQ RU \RX FDQ FRQWDFW RXU DGYLVHUV $6'7L RQ (or e-mail gm@asdti.com). Please do not contact the college directly about the vacancy.

Closing date: 1st December 2014.

Interviews are likely to be held in week commencing 8th December 2014.

Required as soon as possible (subject to notice periods).

The Estates Manager will be responsible for all aspects of both hard and soft facilities management across the Estate, associated budgets, the management of an in-house team and sub-contractors.

The ideal candidate will have an appropriate Facilities Management quali½cation, be pragmatic, have an engineering/electrical background and be computer literate and able to take advantage of project planning software.

Closing date for applications: 12.00 noon, Thursday 27th November Interviews will be held at the School on Wednesday 3rd December 2014.

Further details and application forms available from the school: E-mail administration@mhsg.manchester.sch.uk and also from the website: www.manchesterhigh.co.uk MHSG is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be subject to an enhanced DBS check. Registered Charity 532295

The Cheadle & Marple College Network has a strong commitment to Equal Opportunities, Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people.

Successful candidates will be subjected to enhanced checks by the Disclosure & Barring Service.

PLAN YOUR NEXT MOVE

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on the move

12/11/2014 11:37

JOBS

See latest job listings Create job alerts by email Save and email jobs from mobile Apply for jobs by saving your CV to your proďŹ le Keep track of your activity

Go to www.fm-world.co.uk/jobs jobs.fm-world.co.uk

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FM WORLDâ&#x20AC;&#x201A;| 20 NOVEMBER 2014â&#x20AC;&#x201A;| 45

13/11/2014 15:19

FINAL WORD

NOTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD OF FM

A comet, a spacecraft – and suddenly a whole new perspective on the potential of technology to influence the workplace

NO 2

DAYS

THE SAME SMELLBEING It should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that people who work in offices prefer said offices not to smell. Yet sure enough, that’s the conclusion of recent research sponsored by the PHS Group.

The report’s findings advocate keeping the workplace smelling fresh because “unpleasant smells are bound to demotivate staff”.

Asked about what might improve their daily office experience, respondents said that they felt most strongly about the potential for “improved scents” on office cleanliness and washroom hygiene.

There’s some very good stuff here, too: how people perceive a link between the standard of cleanliness in the workplace and its effect on both company culture and work / life balance.

But when it comes to the smell, this is one of those reports that surely brooks no further argument. Because really, who wouldn’t want to work in a clean and fresh office as opposed to a dirty and smelly one? (We'd go as far to suggest that any analysis of that particular statistic might come out as, well, 100 per cent of everybody).

iBEACON, THEREFORE I AM IN A ROOM Given that they’ve just landed an actual spacecraft on an actual comet, it’s probably time we looked at some of the technologies heading our way and likely to impact on various aspects of workplace management in the years ahead. It’s always fascinating to work through the consequences of futurologists’ predictions on facilities functions, and Misha Gopaul’s presentation at the recent Workplace Week convention provided plenty of fresh food for thought. The 'internet of things', for example, or the pacemaker that can be inserted into your thigh which then makes its way to your heart.

Then there's the robotic red blood cells that are 400 times more efficient than your own? (If you had them, you’d be able to hold your breath for about four hours).

But what about technology set to affect the provision of facilities services? Well, to go with the dramatic switch to mobile over fixed broadband access to the internet – already 70 per cent of internet connections are mobile, leaving fixed access looking like something of a niche market – there’s the impact of ‘Nest’ and similar ‘smart’ thermostats.

These devices use various stimuli and remote

commands to provide the optimum environment, but think on this: linked together, their collective hive mind has the potential to call up the National Grid and reduce overall energy demand from a specific area or range of buildings, thus reducing energy bills.

This is already happening, says Gopaul.

Then there are iBeacons – individual sensors that communicate through ultra low-power Bluetooth signals (thus trumping their rather more energyhungry RFID predecessors). There’s a huge future for these multi-purpose units, not least through their ability to, for example, count people in and out of rooms and adjust the required heating and lighting accordingly. Hell, there’s nothing to stop someone writing a routine that orders in fresh coffee when a certain number of room visitors is reached.

Our desks are becoming connected, too – and they’re starting to realise when they’re being used.

These connected desks can, for example, recognise when a certain critical mass of desks are occupied, communicating to the building that a particular ambient noise level is likely to have been reached and thus triggering noise dampening measures.

This all provides a fascinating insight into evolving management issues, but at the same time fresh issues of privacy loom large. Here’s to the future.

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