All about Facility Management

The use of a CMMS software for the building becomes an essential solution. It allows to reach a level of comfort and security of the building. The actors, the spaces, the company strategies and the technique are taken into account to reach this objective. And this regardless of the sector of activity and the type of organization of the company. Do you want to know everything about Facility Management? It's right here!

Only one definition of Facility Management?

There is no single definition of Facility Management. This management method concerns many professions and various specialties. It also depends on the company's sector of activity and its organization. If we had to give a simple definition, it would be the following. Facility Management covers all the technical services and services that enable the management of a company and its facilities, in terms of organization and performance.

In other words, the role of a Facility Manager will be to ensure the implementation of a quality working environment for the players. The tools chosen will have to enable him/her to ensure compliance with environmental and safety standards. All this while controlling costs and improving the quality loop. Thanks to the use of a modern CMMS adapted to the management of the building, Facility Management will allow an optimization of costs, deadlines and quality.

Facility Manager, a profession that has existed for over a century

The concept of Facility Management was first introduced 50 years ago by furniture manufacturers in the United States. The arrival of information technology in companies changed the way companies were organized and how they operated. The job of Facility Manager was born. His first missions were focused on the organization of work spaces. The challenge was then to obtain productivity gains. Over the years, Facility Management's missions have expanded towards the company's performance. Indeed, the first oil crisis placed the company manager in front of the need to control the management costs of its buildings. It was in the early 1990s that Facility Management found its cruising speed. By refocusing on its core business, the company outsourced its non-essential activities and optimized the management of its workplaces.

Facility Management offers on services and technical services

Facility management services are applied to many aspects of the company's activity. First of all on the building and maintenance aspects of their installations and then on the part that directly concerns the users of the site (reception and administrative management services).

Facility Management on technical services

It concerns the management of the building and its equipment.

• Activities related to the management of the building: construction work, civil engineering maintenance, access to facilities, elevators
• Preventive maintenance of equipment: planning of interventions, proper functioning of installations, periodic technical inspection, compliance with standards
• Management of electrical installations: lighting, remote surveillance
• Management of fluids: water networks
• Management of heating, air conditioning and ventilation
• Management of security equipment: fire detection and protection

Facility Management on services

This aspect of Facility Management no longer directly concerns the building and its installations, but rather the solutions offered to the players on site to improve their living environment.

• Space management (offices, training rooms)
• Management of computer equipment
• Management of administrative services: reception, switchboard, mail, photocopying, archiving, concierge services
• Financial management of the company: bursar, purchases
• Office cleaning and maintenance of green spaces
• Management of waste and pollutants
• Management of safety audits
• Workspace design: painting, decoration, etc.
• Collective catering areas

Building information modeling (BIM) for facility management

The use of BIM for the design and construction of buildings continues to become more widespread. This technique for implementing modeling data requires the use of Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. It also requires the use of large data files (point clouds). So what's the deal? To Bim or not to Bim? That is the question! Here is a quick overview of the advantages and disadvantages of building information modeling, as seen by the Facility Manager.

The advantages of Building Information Modeling (BIM)

BIM is a digital simulation in 3 dimensions of all activities from the design of the building, through its construction, to its operation. It thus allows an improvement of the global performance of the project thanks to

• A collaboration of all the actors: duplication and risks of error are reduced
• A sharing of competences: it induces an increase of the customer satisfactio
• A significant decision support, thanks to the 3D visualization very early in the project
• An adapted and not fixed project organization
• A reduction in costs at each stage of the project, from design to operation
• Better productivity thanks to budget control
• The disadvantages of Building Information Modeling (BIM)

On the other hand, the use of 3D models inevitably requires a significant investment in CAD software. This implies consequently a solid training of all the actors of the process to the operation of the tool. In the long run, there is a risk of demobilization of the actors if the choice of the CAD tool is too complex and requires skills that are too heavy to acquire... But these disadvantages tend to fade over the years. The use of the cloud reduces the need to store BIM files. CAD software interfaces are evolving in a favorable way for users, making them easier to use.

You can consult our other pages on the services provided by CMMS to the various companies in the building sector.

CMMS to the rescue of fire safety
The contribution of CMMS for heating companies
CMMS is a source of innovation for air conditioning companies
Without CMMS, the headache of elevator regulations