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Facilities Management Definition:

Facilities Management (FM) is the professional maintenance of an organisation's building infrastructure. The purpose is to improve people's quality of life (customers and employees) and the productivity of the core business.

Service Types:

The facilities management industry has two service types - Hard and Soft FM.

Hard FM services (space and infrastructure) are physical materials of a building which cannot be removed. They are required by law and ensure the safety and welfare of employees and customers.

Examples of Hard FM services are:

• Heating
• Lighting
• Fire Safety
• Plumbing
• Air Conditioning
• Building Maintenance

Soft FM services (people and organisation), are non-physical materials of a building and focus on the property's maintenance.

Examples of Soft FM services are:

• Window Cleaning
• Cleaning
• Waste Management
• Pest Control
• Security
• Catering

The importance of Facilities Management

The environment an employee surrounds themselves in has an enormous impact on their wellbeing and overall performance/input. For an organisation, this alone has an emphasis on the importance of Facilities Management. The FM performance can increase the overall efficiency of an organisation through IoT, compliance and process-driven strategies.

A misconception:

Non-FM professionals often have the misconception that the Facilities Management industry solely caters for roles in the examples given above, however, that's not the case. The IFMA (International Facility Management Association) identifies the FM industry’s core competencies as:

• Communication
• Emergency preparedness and business continuity
• Environmental stewardship and sustainability
• Finance and business
• Hospitality Management
• Human factors
• Leadership and strategy
• Operations and maintenance
• Project management
• Quality
• Real estate and property management
• Technology.

Bridge Recruitment are here to support the progression of our industry and are always available to offer you advice: