Abstract: The processes involved in developing and implementing a computer‐based school facilities management system for a regionally independent organisation are described. Since 1986 approximately 300 schoolbuildings covering approximately 5,000,000 sq. ft have been surveyed. The buildings are mainly post‐war and some date from the 1930s with post‐war extensions or partial modernisations. The first three implemented modules concern the graphical/statistical data and condition appraisal and procedures (five‐year maintenance programme). Some results concerning quality levels and building age, and typical building damages, as well as a consideration of future developments are included.

Abstract: Defines Post‐occupancy Evaluation (POE). Discusses its importance for facilities management. Compares this method of performance evaluation with the business planning used in organisations. Describes the evaluation criteria of POE and suggests some opportunities that it provides for facilities managers.

Abstract: The office as a workplace has reached a critical point in its evolution. The requirement of the conventional office would appear to be holding back the near applications of IT and organisational creativity, which aim to promote a much freer and more dynamic relationship between space and time for the office workplace. Henry Ford′s mass production of the 1920s laid the foundations of the modern office as we know it, but “post‐Fordism” is challenging the rigid patterns then ordained, especially the traditional notions of work time and space. To this end not only must the office be redesigned but also the nature of work itself must be redefined.

Abstract: An abstract model for establishing facilities management in an organisation is set out: the needs of the business, the customers and the performance of the facilities management department in relation to these needs. The generic functions of the facilities department and the level of resources necessary to fulfil these are addressed.

Abstract: Value engineering has recently made a significant impact in the UK construction industry. Many clients are insisting on its application in order to ensure that the completed building design represents value for money. Project managers are enthusiastically adopting the value engineering approach as a means of managing the early stages of design. The current state of development of value engineering in the UK construction industry is described.

Abstract: The focus of attention of the design and construction professions has in the past been concentrated on new building design and development, and little attention has been given to the use and maintenance of buildings over time. An agenda for facilities education to address this problem is set out. A postgraduate facilities education programme, to be set up in the next two or three years, will have a curriculum which covers five areas: physical characteristics of building stock; human issues of building occupancy; financial issues of development and use; locational issues; and management issues – which cut across the traditional boundaries of the “property” professions.

Abstract: Over the last 30 years many office planners and managers have disregarded the people who work in offices, by being transfixed by the hardware. A research project conducted into the way change is managed, in six large offices over a two‐year period, identified two types of change: extrinsic and intrinsic. Each was found to have a different status with facilities managers – extrinsic was seen as essential to organisational life and intrinsic as trivial and unrelated to organisational effectiveness. Examples of how these attitudes are formed and their negative impact on productivity are given and it is concluded that the trend towards greater individuality amongst individuals and their demands for greater autonomy at the workplace in the 1990s make it necessary for managers to provide some degree of intrinsic flexibility.

Abstract: Sick buildings are those which expose their occupants to health dangers which arise purely from the buildings themselves. The multifarious illnesses which derive from a variety of sources are examined in minute detail and Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) itself is thoroughly dissected, the reasons for its present incidence, the scale of its effects, and its causes (climatic, chemical, ergonomic, psychological and managerial). It is concluded that organisations bear the greatest responsibility for protecting their members from building‐related hazards.

Abstract: The working environment has a considerable potential contribution to make to improving quality within an organisation. The introduction of the concept of total quality means that the role of the working environment in generating organisational success cannot be ignored any longer. Planning office space needs to consider the individual in context in terms of personal requirements as well as work requirements. The three design aspects which are crucial in determining quality are: (1) recognising different individuals′ needs; (2) finding more appropriate forms of expression which encourage people to communicate and work together, and (3) providing tools which extend people′s capacity for work.

Abstract: A building should enable its occupants to function more effectively and efficiently but frequently this is not the case. The reverse can occur to the extent where the building inhibits rather than enables its occupants. Three causal factors identified are: (1) pace of organisational change; (2) the design process; and (3) building management. Considering these together creates a different way of thinking about buildings and what they are for. Each factor is discussed individually as a potential source of constraint and solutions are proposed. Part I this month looks at cultural change and design. Part II next month will discuss management.

Abstract: The physical issues of Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) are all too obvious and easy to address; also the psychological and sociological factors have been thoroughly examined from a professional point of view. However, the broader fundamental perspective appears as yet to have escaped full attention and a holistic approach must be developed at both the personal and the community level in the pursuit of a building for health campaign.

Abstract: Buildings are a major asset to any organisation. They need good management in all respects to enable them to match their owners′ or users′ requirements. Any organisation needs strategic plans at varying levels stemming from an overall business plan. Each building requires a strategy for its management which will take full account of: the needs of the users as these emerge and change; and the maintenance and enhancement of asset value. These two factors should not be mutually exclusive and facilities directors or managers need to plan positively to combine them. Building strategies which project their use and action to be taken over, say, a five‐year period, and which are updated and reviewed annually, will provide management with advance knowledge of financial commitment and raise awareness of each building′s potential.

Abstract: Developing new and more efficient information technology affects the organisation of facilities management by improving the ability to co‐ordinate, to inspect and to translate. Using Swedish examples, decentralisation and the links to users are discussed. The implications of common databases as well as three types of integration – of process stages, of technical specialities and of technical with information system design are also seen in the light of improved information technology.

Abstract: Change in facility design is occurring frequently and designers are having to respond to uncertain requirements. Facility programming is described as one possible solution to the problem, being a structured process of problem solving which allows organised decision making. The five steps which make up the process are described and one result of its use in a recently completed facility in the USA is outlined.

Abstract: Telecommuting is focused on after a recent survey found that 10‐16 per cent of the workforce will telecommute by 1995. The implications of this trend are described: fewer people travelling to work in larger cities; the development of a communications infrastructure to less densely populated areas; the changes in office design and work groups, and the effect on security.

Abstract: The role of the facilities manager can have an effect on the customer even though there is no direct contact. Increasingly, the customer is buying a relationship with the organisation, not just the product. In the long term the physical working environment has much to contribute towards provision of good service to the end customer; and this is seen as an important aspect of the internal culture in creating the atmosphere in which the relationship can flourish.

Abstract: New technology has revolutionised the office, making some buildings of the 1960s unsuitable for modern business. The implementation and benefits of a Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system, in enabling facilities managers to manage change and assemble the background information necessary for arriving at the correct decisions, are examined. The CAFM system, combining a computer aided design system with a database, has been enhanced specifically for the use of space planners and structured to take input from drawings and generate output in formats that are directly useful to facilities managers. The need for CAFM and its potential are assessed in part one. In part two the implementation and use of CAFM are examined.

Abstract: To illustrate the complexity of post‐occupancy evaluation of office buildings, details the 1991 IFM competition and the FT competition for Architecture at Work. Stresses the importance of research into and knowledge of building user needs to developers and financial institutions; property professionals; and government departments. Suggests that post‐occupancy evaluation is a technique that will be increasingly applied, and it will help the profession of facilities management to become more scientific.

Abstract: The management of an intelligent building is examined from the point of view of its profitability; the building can be considered both a cost centre and a benefit centre; the functions and responsibilities of the person(s) in charge of its management depend upon three factors: building technological complexity, organisation chart of the company that owns it, and existence of shared tenant services. Two different situations are distinguished: single‐tenant and multi‐tenant buildings. In the former case, only one figure is found to be needed: the facilities manager. In the latter case, the need for two posts is determined: the facilities (FM) and the building director (BD).

Abstract: To what extent does a building reflect the image of the corporation? Frequently there is a relationship between business strategy and design. It would be a mistake to view this purely as fashion: there is a need to “brand” buildings as though they are items of merchandise. Facilities managers need to understand the organisation′s brands and markets so that investment in design and building complements the organisation′s market positioning.

Abstract: The public sector utilises approximately 20 per cent of the total floor space in Sweden. Half this space is owned by the municipalities and is used for schools, child care, geriatric care, etc. The cost of properties in municipal budgets is rising at the same time as there is a backlog of maintenance and the utilisation of premises is low. A number of measures aimed at making the management of premises in the public sector more efficient and effective are described. The problems are not only technical and economic in nature but also, above all, organisational and political: how to create the dynamics of and incentives for economising on property resources, and how to choose between the cost of welfare production and the quality of premises?