22 MAY 2021
subcontractors.
Be prepared, things will break and things will leak if they have
been le‰ idle. Consider critical spares - are they in stock, are they
available? It is also important to remember that some equipment
spares should be regularly tested and maintained even if not in
service.
Water systems that have infrequent use or no use at all are likely
to have an increase in bacterial content, which will require action.
This means early water samples should be taken as they will require
analytical analysis in a lab, sometimes taking weeks to return.
Additional water treatment and flushing will no doubt be required.
Buildings that have been empty will not have been ventilated so
again run up all the equipment to improve air quality and carry out
air quality tests.
It is highly likely that we will see a surge in di„ erent ways of
working and what many are calling “hybrid working”. This will mean
that many buildings in the longer term will be occupied at much
lower levels than originally intended or specified. Most buildings
aren’t created for part occupation. Can they adapt to suit the new
way of working?
Together with creating a safe healthy building, the right approach
is to focus on energy consumption. Organisations will need to
consider if flexibility can be achieved with systems such as lighting,
heating, ventilating etc. Can it be zonally controlled? Can particular
operating hours be scheduled to suit revised occupancy timings?
If systems do not provide this service, can they be altered to
incorporate these changes?
Future maintenance will need to change to accommodate
this new way of working, however there are many statutory
requirements which will need to be fulfilled and the buildings
environment will still need to be appropriate for building
communities when we welcome them back.
And just because there may be fewer people in a building doesn’t
necessary mean less maintenance. The term “Out of Hours” will
need to be re-evaluated! There is no doubt that the service will
need to adapt and change and be as flexible as the building is used
by its occupants.
Technology will no doubt be a big factor in supporting the new
ways of working. The opportunities and pace of development of
IoT and AI integrated systems support how we manage buildings.
This will be a real enabler to provide the most healthy and e„ icient
buildings with a heightened emphasis on employee experience.
THE ENGINEERING EXPERT’S VIEW
GEORGE ADAMS,
DIRECTOR OF ENERGY &
ENGINEERING, SPIE UK
With pandemic
restrictions easing and the
possibility of workplaces
reopening and people
returning to buildings
that have stood empty
during the past year,
many maintenance teams
will be facing a number of
challenges and also taking
on a more critical role in
the running of the buildings they service.
The immediate concern for maintenance teams will be ensuring
that buildings meet their statutory requirements and are fit
for occupation. Where buildings were completely vacated as a
result of disuse or remote working, potential problems may have
developed. For example, owing to the lack of turnover of water
through buildings, there is a risk that water systems will have
become stagnated, leading to contamination and blockages. Not
only will maintenance teams need to fix these issues, but they
need to address the medium- to long-term requirements of how
the building’s use could be readjusted or even repurposed whilst
occupancy normalises. For a simple example, where there is a
split tank system, stratification pumps can be fitted between the
tanks that are timed to recirculate the water at night to prevent the
problems with stagnation.
The new challenges faced by maintenance providers will be
defined by how the buildings they manage are reoccupied or
repurposed. This is incredibly di„ icult to plan for, given that
nobody knows how work practices and building usage patterns
are going to develop in the future. If a lot of businesses look to
pursue a hybrid work model, the maintenance scope is going to
change, and providers will have to be more flexible. In adapting
to this, maintenance providers must ask themselves how
they can use new methods and technology to be more agile.
Customers who are using their buildings less are going to expect
a corresponding reduction in the amount they pay. Those that
have not adopted greater use of technology and data will have to
do so quickly, as this will be the best way to adapt. Being more
e„ icient, such as leveraging data and o„ site monitoring, and
moving to condition-based maintenance programmes instead of
traditional maintenance practices will all be important to helping
maintenance providers managing this change.
Where the role of the maintenance team is going to evolve and
grow is in making buildings healthier and more sustainable. The
need for our buildings, and the air that circulates within them,
to be safe has been brought sharply into focus. Creating healthy
environments at the scale of an o„ ice block will require greater
involvement from operations and maintenance teams in running
managed ventilation and air decontamination technologies to
increase safety, productivity and business reputations.
Additionally, if the predictions are correct and hybrid working
becomes the norm, maintenance teams will have to find more
energy e„ icient solutions that help their customers keep costs and
carbon emissions down. Indeed, this is a trend that goes beyond
the pandemic and will continue well into the future, as businesses
come under increasing pressure to cut their emissions and
contribute to meeting climate targets. Failure to do so will result
in damaged CSR reputations, possible loss of investor interest,
and carbon taxes. As the easy fixes run out, maintenance teams
are going to be tasked with finding, installing and running more
complex systems, such as solar technology, for their customers.
As climate targets near, and with every chance that they may
be brought forward as the evidence or requirement to reduce
emissions changes, managing the change needed of the systems
in these buildings is going to become a major consideration for
maintenance contractors.
Do you have a question that you’d like
answered by the FMJ Clinic?
Email: sara.bean@kpmmedia.co.uk
FM CLINIC
George Adams
ADVICE & OPINION
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