20 MAY 2021
In FMJ's regular monthly column, our team of FM experts answer your
questions about the world of facilities management
THE FACILITIES DIRECTOR’S VIEW
ALAN HUTCHINSON, FACILITIES DIRECTOR, HOWARD
KENNEDY LLP
Facilities managers have a
duty of care to those entering
our o„ ices, so under the
assumption that we have
all been undertaking our
statutory maintenance checks
at the prescribed frequency,
then the brief response
to what principal issues
maintenance providers will
have to deal with in empty
or under-occupied buildings
is very little, if they've kept
on top of the maintenance
regimes. In fact, given the absence of occupiers, servicing and
maintenance should have been carried out in greater detail
thanks to a lack of constraints on the engineers, notably;
easier access, freedom and space to work in, no noise
issues, no disruption, no interference, no parking
concerns, no time restrictions and therefore no
hurrying the task.
The challenge for FM's is to ensure that
there hasn't been a drop in standards
or skipping of tasks due to the absence
of supervision. Where we would usually
check work has been done to the expected
standards and the site le‰ clean and tidy,
has this been maintained at a high standard
or have those standards gradually decreased in
the absence of face-to-face supervision? This has
been a challenge for all supervisors and managers
during the pandemic, with the workforce working
remotely, not just within the facilities and workplace industry
but across all industries. We have all had to learn how better to
trust, report, check and approve
from afar.
On the subject of checking,
we have discovered that the
near total absence of sta„ has
revealed a few surprises; for
example, prior to the planned
preventative cleaning of our
horizontal stacks and waste pipes, the
CCTV imagery showed the usual harsh
build-up of uric acid deposits in the urinals
and toilets had been virtually non-existent since
the last clean. This is surely a consideration for future
maintenance schedules once we begin to encourage our people
back to the o„ ice? In particular, as with most businesses, we
are aiming to embrace the greater flexibility that homeworking
has provided, so with fewer people using the o„ ice daily, our
maintenance routines can be adjusted to accommodate this
reduction (clearly still ensuring compliance where appropriate).
The impact on how maintenance contracts have been
historically delivered will no doubt have to change. As more
o„ ices adapt to a workforce that can swell and reduce daily (or
by the hour), and as the workplace changes to provide greater
collaborative or social spaces, we will have to monitor that flow
of numbers, increase or decrease frequency and adjust timings
to suit. Moving maintenance to periods of low occupancy to
reduce the impact on those working in the o„ ice also has the
added benefit of the engineer being able to work without
worrying about walking on egg shells around a busy workforce.
Cleaning teams have traditionally worked outside of core
business hours, is that something that could be adopted by AV
technicians, M&E engineers, pest control and MFD engineers?
THE FACILITIES CONSULTANT’S VIEW
MARK WHITTAKER,
FM SOLUTIONS
CONSULTANT AT THOMSON FM AND NONEXECUTIVE
DIRECTOR, IWFM
As workplaces thankfully begin to
reopen again, there will inevitably be
a repeat of some of the issues faced
when the same reopening strategy
was attempted and then cancelled
last year.
For me, the central question will
be what level of maintenance activity
has occurred since the building was
le‰ empty or partially open? I suspect
many organisations will have reverted to a
compliance only planned maintenance regime
over recent months, whilst awaiting the green light to
reopen. However, one of the key questions the maintenance
FM CLINIC
As workplaces begin
to reopen what do you
anticipate could be the
principle issues arising
for maintenance providers
dealing with buildings le‚
empty or under-occupied
over the past year? And if the
adoption of hybrid working
reduces occupancy levels should
FM maintenance contracts be
reworked to reflect a more flexible
model?
Alan Hutchinson
ADVICE & OPINION
The impact on how
maintenance contracts have
been historically delivered will no
doubt have to change. As more
offices adapt to a workforce that
can swell and reduce daily...”
Alan Hutchinson