Facility Planning PDF

BM1902 FACILITY PLANNING Real Estate Management According to Atkin and Brooks (2015), facility managers must create an asset plan that includes management o...

BM1902 FACILITY PLANNING Real Estate Management According to Atkin and Brooks (2015), facility managers must create an asset plan that includes management of physical property operations, personnel, and finances. The asset plan must be designed following an in-depth analysis of the property and its position in the market. It implements the owner’s objectives in the property’s management and is typically developed within 60 to 90 days of property acquisition. An asset plan may also be developed when a property is transitioned from one asset manager or asset management company to another, on an annual basis, as a part of the ongoing management of an already-owned property (Atkin & Brooks, 2015). Facility managers must also have a thorough understanding of the company’s assets, in terms of real estate, by reviewing three (3) specific areas such as legal document inspections, physical property review, and market analysis. The following are the key elements that facility managers must consider in evaluating real estate assets. Legal Document Inspections Mechanical records. Facility managers must inspect the mechanical areas of the property. S/he must also ensure that adequate records are being kept for preventive maintenance measures. An example of this is an evaluation of machine replacement to ensure smooth operations. Compliance with legislation. Facility managers must identify if there are any deficiencies that must be addressed pertaining to building registration and other related government requirements. Building plans. Facility managers must check the complete set of building plans, especially when alterations are proposed to be made. Physical Property Review Interior quality. Facility managers must consider the status of cleaning, carpet repair, wall coverings, ceilings, and lighting. The common areas of the property should be properly maintained, especially as this minimizes liability. Foundation and exterior. Facility managers must carefully examine if there are any cracking or other signs of structural problems in the facility. A qualified structural engineer should be hired to perform a detailed review of any of these conditions. A roof survey is also essential and helps in budgeting. Vacant space. Facility managers must review if the empty places in the facility are clean or require additional demolition to make the space marketable. Market Analysis Property operations. Facility managers must conduct a thorough review of current management and leasing personnel. It is important to spend time evaluating the personnel who will be working 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 1 of 6  BM1902 at the property since the success of any plan depends on the knowledge and effectiveness of the people implementing it. Tenant feedback. Facility managers must perform tenant interviews. This is an important step that is often overlooked. While inspecting the property, the manager should coordinate an effort to take as much time as necessary to hear tenant comments on property management and maintenance. The Own, Lease, or Rent Decision Atkin and Brooks (2015) stated that companies have options to own or build a new building, lease a building, or rent a space for the business. A new building can be purposely-built, which means that it meets all the desired requirements relevant to business operations. A leased building, on the other hand, can be classified as a long lease (between 7-25 years) or short lease (between 1-7 years), depending on the discretion of the company. Lastly, a rented space can be classified as a tenant fitted-out or a space that is ready for occupancy and meets the requirements of the business undertaking, furnished or a space that is ready for occupancy but does not suffice to the requirements of the undertaking, or totally serviced workplace or a temporary solution to a space problem (Atkin & Brooks, 2015). The following table illustrates the real-estate occupancy period relevant to own, lease, and rent decisions for a facility. Options Classifications Occupancy period New building Purpose-built 25 years or more Leased building Long lease Between 7 and 25 years Short lease Up to 7 years Rented space Tenant fitted-out Between 5 and 15 years Furnished Between 1 and 5 years Totally serviced workplace Up to 1 year Table 1. Real Estate and Space Provision Options and Occupancy Periods Source: Total Facilities Management (4th ed.), 2015 The Totally Serviced Workplace A totally serviced workplace refers to a “ready-to-use” office space that goes beyond the traditional set- up of an office. According to Atkin and Brooks (2015), the concept of a totally serviced workplace revolves around the idea that an organization seeking a temporary solution to a space problem can rent totally serviced office space from as little as one month up to a few years. In some cases, the serviced workplace might be intended as a permanent solution or at least one that does not have a defined time horizon. For organizations looking to expand their business internationally, the availability of this kind of solution can be attractive, even though it attracts a cost premium (Atkin & Brooks, 2015). The categories of totally serviced space, which suit different organizational demands, are as follows: Office space. This is ideal in serving a full-time, part-time, branch, project, start-up, or a team demand for space. Virtual office. This pertains to the operational domain of any organization whose business does not require a physical office but a simulated work environment using technology to perform work at any location. 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 2 of 6  BM1902 Disaster recovery. This provides workplace recovery to support business continuity during an incident. Space Management An important function of facility management is to ensure the efficient and cost-effective use of space. In terms of the design of a new or refurbished facility, the recommended practices for ensuring space efficiency are as follows: Maximizing space on the footprint of a new facility. Facility managers must ensure that the total available space in a new facility is utilized for operational efficiency. Matching new uses to a refurbished facility. Facility managers must match the operational requirements of the firm relevant to the provisional spaces of a refurbished facility. Increasing the ratio of usable to gross floor area. Facility managers must maximize the usable space area of the facility and ensure that vacant spaces are minimized. Incorporating design features to support different activities at different times. Facility managers must ensure that facility design provides relevance and convenience in facilitating the activities of the firm. Providing space, furniture, and fittings that can be adapted for different activities. Facility managers must acquire furniture that matches the operational requirements of the firm. Creating space that mixes open-plan, meeting, and quiet spaces. Facility managers must plan a provisional space area to accommodate different work settings and requirements. Providing wireless data access to enable maximum use of common space. Facility managers must ensure that wireless data or internet connection is available to common spaces of the facility to maximize operational efficiency. Atkin (2015) stated that the organization should be able to measure and forecast the costs of servicing its space, including those relating to energy, and be able to determine the effectiveness of energy-saving measures. In some cases, it will mean a controlled reduction in space and the opportunity to utilize energy with a commensurate cost saving. In others, it could amount to the more effective use of existing space through initiatives that maximize occupancy and/or productivity while maintaining an acceptable workplace environment (Atkin, 2015). Other recommended measures in promoting space utilization and efficiency are as follows: Appointing a champion/manager for space management and operating costs. This involves selecting a point person within an organization who will oversee if space requirements and cost efficiency are being met. Systematically collecting and updating space utilization and cost information. This involves timely updating of space utilization procedures of a firm based on changing needs or requirements of the business to lessen operational cost. Agreeing with targets and monitoring their achievement. This involves periodic assessment of initial targets set by the firm relevant to space utilization. 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 3 of 6  BM1902 Incorporating space efficiency concepts into the facility management strategy. This involves injecting the space requirements of a firm in implementing facility management strategies such as project design briefs, feasibility studies, option appraisals, and design reviews. Developing and maintaining a clear decision and communication structure for facility-related projects and their stakeholders. This involves ensuring that open communication can be facilitated given the design and features of the facility. Assessing space efficiency through post-occupancy evaluations. This involves assessment of the effectiveness of a refurbished facility based on the experience of previous occupants through an interview or survey. Design and Facility Management Briefing Briefing is the process of communicating the objectives and needs of an owner, or prospective owner, of a facility to a designer or design team in order for them to prepare the design of a new or refurbished facility. The process includes clarifying and confirming the intentions of the owner and documenting the resulting provisions for the facility to support efficient and effective decision-making. Below are the phases in facility delivery life cycle: 1. Design. This involves developing detailed and comprehensive specifications based on the agreed requirements and design evaluation of a facility relevant to the operational requirements of a firm. 2. Construction and/or installation. This involves the actual building, manufacturing facility, and system requirements needed in the facility design and management. 3. Testing and commissioning. This involves providing on-site testing, quality assurance, specifications audit, punch listing, and all other compliance crosschecking of the agreed requirements and/or acceptance test. 4. Handover. This involves the formal transfer of the product, system, or building to end-user after the successful testing or commissioning. 5. Start-up of operations. This involves the official utilization of the unit or facility by the end-user for business as usual operations or transaction. The steps involved in design and facility management briefing should follow a logical sequence as follows: 1. Business case. This involves defining the phases, decision gates or facility considerations, deliverables, and criteria for determining the progression of facility management related tasks of an organization. 2. Statement of needs. This involves defining the primary processes and activities of an organization to understand how the facility can accommodate these processes. Known and anticipated conditions affecting the organization’s ability to sustain these processes and activities, including the space required for this purpose, have to be determined. The statement should express the needs of the organization in general terms – as valuable context-setting information – and specifically in relation to the facility. Criteria for measuring success should be included in the statement of needs and should be revisited regularly so that no one loses sight of the original purpose of the exercise. 3. Development of design brief. This is a comprehensively written document developed jointly by the organization, its professional advisors and the designer or design team, based on the 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 4 of 6  BM1902 statement of needs, including the business case for the new or refurbished facility. The design brief articulates the case for the facility in terms of its functions, performance requirements, sustainable space provision and overall design concept among other aspects. Detailed aesthetic treatment normally falls outside the scope of the design brief. The content of the design brief includes a summary of the business case involving strategic fit, objectives and prioritized needs, criteria for measuring success, grants, allowances, subsidies, and taxation. In addition, it includes end-user requirements, as well as functional, operational, and quality standards for the facility. It also includes the following considerations: o Health, safety, and security policy; o Environmental management policy; o Corporate social responsibility policy; o Project execution strategy or plan; and o Project delivery schedule including phasing and milestones. 4. Functional brief. This involves the proposed technical solutions, including the evaluation of options for satisfying end-user requirements. It deliberates the following concepts, as well as internal and external considerations: Overall Concept o The vision and image of the organization and the extent to which these should be reflected in the appearance and general design of the facility. o The impact of the design on occupants and other users as they approach, enter, and move about the facility; in particular, the internal environment and provisions for assuring the health, safety, and security of personnel. o Inclusive design principles are applied to the facility and incorporate the needs of disabled people and others with equalities-related needs. o Design for reduced environmental impact, including choice of principal materials and their ultimate reuse, recycling or disposal, and the extent, if any, of passive systems (e.g. natural lighting, cooling, and ventilation) Internal considerations o Zoning, internal circulation, and transportation. Examples include offices and service cores such as electrical cables, water pipes, lifts/elevators, stairways, and lobbies o Demands for space supporting functions and activities (e.g., production, creative areas, private spaces, meetings and conferences, safety areas, social areas, dining, and refreshment areas); and ancillary or necessary services, which include waste segregation, recovery, reuse and recycling, and rainwater harvesting o Organizational structure (e.g., departments and other subdivisions, including the anticipated number of personnel and their roles) o Communication across departments o Descriptions of the functions, activities, and processes supported in the facility, including provisions for the separation of space, by zone, by level, and so on 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 5 of 6  BM1902 o Arrangements for enabling access, use of emergency evacuation for all occupants and other users, including disabled people o Flexibility/adaptability in the internal design (e.g., reconfigurable space and expansion/reduction potential) o Energy use, water management, and waste disposal (e.g., environmental management) o Security, safety, fire, and resilience (e.g., responses during a failure in an installation or system, or other incidents, and arrangements for business continuity) o Carbon footprint, including calculation of the carbon equivalent o Services that include security, waste disposal, and cleaning o Design for reduced environmental impact, including choice of principal materials and their ultimate reuse, recycling or disposal, and the extent, if any, of passive systems (e.g., natural lighting, cooling, and ventilation) External considerations o Zoning of external areas and associated security (e.g., landscaping, parking, emergency assembly points, fences and gates, lighting, signposting, security, and surveillance) o Entry to and from the facility for different categories of user and visitors, including emergency access and escape routes o Access to modes of public transport and their distance from the facility 5. Feasibility study. This involves determining the viability of the facility design prior to further progression in the project. It is primarily used to inform the decision on whether to proceed with the design within the defined scope, to modify the scope or to terminate design altogether. The feasibility study should include an assessment of the facility’s environmental impact and energy performance. The facility’s whole-life cost should be estimated on the basis of the principal materials, components, and systems proposed in its design, with the aim of optimizing energy efficiency and minimizing its carbon equivalent. The expected life expectancy of the facility’s structure, fabric, components, systems, and major fixtures should be made explicit in a whole-life cost estimate. 6. Design development. This involves ensuring that the information deemed critical to the operation of the facility is made available to the organization as owner and, where applicable, the operator during design. In doing so, the fitness for the purpose of design solutions as well as the safe, correct, and efficient operation of the facility can be more closely assured. This information forms an integral part of the defined scope of the work and is the basis of the design for an operational asset. References Atkin, B. & Brooks, A. (2015). Total facilities management (4th ed.). United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Fmlink. (n.d.). The facility manager’s role in real estate management. Retrieved on January 30, 2019, from https://fmlink.com/articles/the-facility-managers-role-in-real-estate-management 02 Handout 1 *Property of STI  [email protected] Page 6 of 6