Soft facilities management
[edit] Introduction
Facilities management is the ‘...integration of processes within an organisation to maintain and develop the agreed services which support and improve the effectiveness of its primary activities’. Ref EN15221-1: 2006 Facility Management – Part 1: Terms and definitions. It is concerned with the management of facilities at both a strategic and a day-to-day level to deliver operational objectives and to maintain a safe and efficient environment.
Facilities management is an interdisciplinary activity with a high concentration of maintenance tasks that can be broken down into two types:
- Hard facilities management (the fixed, physical fabric of the facility, which cannot be easily removed).
- Soft facilities management (the services that help the facility to function).
[edit] Soft facilities management services
Soft facilities management services typically make the workplace more comfortable, pleasant and easy to use for building occupants and users. They can also affect health and safety, security and so on.
Soft facilities management services services might include:
- Car parking.
- Catering and hospitality.
- Cleaning.
- Landscaping.
- Pest control.
- Post management.
- Security.
- Waste management.
- Window cleaning.
Soft facilities often involve some degree of human interaction from professionals who handle these tasks.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Business process outsourcing (BPO).
- Carbon neutral contract.
- Facilities management.
- Facilities management audit FMA.
- Hard facilities management.
- Insourcing.
- ISO/PAS 45005 Guidance for working safely during COVID-19.
- Institute of Workplace and Facilities Management IWFM.
- Maintenance.
- Maximising maintenance budgets after lockdown.
- Move management.
- Vested outsourcing.
Featured articles and news
Twas the site before Christmas...
A rhyme for the industry and a thankyou to our supporters.
Plumbing and heating systems in schools
New apprentice pay rates coming into effect in the new year
Addressing the impact of recent national minimum wage changes.
EBSSA support for the new industry competence structure
The Engineering and Building Services Skills Authority, in working group 2.
Notes from BSRIA Sustainable Futures briefing
From carbon down to the all important customer: Redefining Retrofit for Net Zero Living.
Principal Designer: A New Opportunity for Architects
ACA launches a Principal Designer Register for architects.
A new government plan for housing and nature recovery
Exploring a new housing and infrastructure nature recovery framework.
Leveraging technology to enhance prospects for students
A case study on the significance of the Autodesk Revit certification.
Fundamental Review of Building Regulations Guidance
Announced during commons debate on the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report.
CIAT responds to the updated National Planning Policy Framework
With key changes in the revised NPPF outlined.
Councils and communities highlighted for delivery of common-sense housing in planning overhaul
As government follows up with mandatory housing targets.
CIOB photographic competition final images revealed
Art of Building produces stunning images for another year.
HSE prosecutes company for putting workers at risk
Roofing company fined and its director sentenced.
Strategic restructure to transform industry competence
EBSSA becomes part of a new industry competence structure.
Major overhaul of planning committees proposed by government
Planning decisions set to be fast-tracked to tackle the housing crisis.
Industry Competence Steering Group restructure
ICSG transitions to the Industry Competence Committee (ICC) under the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).
Principal Contractor Competency Certification Scheme
CIOB PCCCS competence framework for Principal Contractors.
The CIAT Principal Designer register
Issues explained via a series of FAQs.
Comments
Facilities management service providers are playing an imperative role in the current economies by managing and sustaining various maintenance services effectively. There are many soft facilities management service providers who offer reliable services to us at affordable rates. Thank you for sharing this wonderful and detailed article on soft facilities management. It was very informative and I enjoyed reading it. Keep on writing and expecting more such relevant articles in the future.