Tag: Facility Management

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Four Main Functions of FM

The broad scope of facilities management makes it a hard position to define. Where a Sales Manager is directly responsible for managing the performance of salespeople, the functions of facilities management go far beyond “managing facilities.” As a result, it’s often difficult for companies to maximize the advantages of a good facility manager.

But what is the importance of facilities management? To truly understand what a facility manager does, what they’re responsible for, and what effect they have on a company, it’s best to break down their scope of work. That means taking a closer look at the four main pillars of facilities management: People, processes, the building, and technology.

Supporting people

The foremost objective of a facility manager is creating an accommodating work environment for employees. This serves many broader goals, including attracting and retaining top talent, improving efficiency and productivity, and creating a positive workplace culture. Facility managers provide employee support in many ways, including:

  • Coordinating desking arrangements
  • Managing employee directories
  • Facilitating moves and space utilization
  • Handling emergency planning

Facility managers serve as a bridge between the workplace and the employees working within it. Whenever issues of accommodation, safety, or comfort arise, it’s up to the facility manager to solve them.

This applies upward, as well. Facility managers are responsible for providing vital planning data to the C-suite and determining the long-term approach to workplace optimization. Their everyday interaction with the workplace sheds light on true costs and competitive advantages at the employee level.

In addition to the mentioned responsibilities, facility managers play a crucial role in managing and maintaining the physical infrastructure of a company. This includes overseeing the upkeep and maintenance of the building, ensuring that it meets safety and regulatory standards. They collaborate with various departments, such as maintenance, security, and janitorial services, to ensure that the facility is clean, secure, and well-functioning.

Another important aspect of a facility manager’s role is managing the budget and resources allocated to facility operations. They analyze and control costs related to building maintenance, repairs, renovations, and utilities to ensure optimal resource allocation. By effectively managing the budget, facility managers contribute to cost savings and financial efficiency for the organization.

Furthermore, facility managers are responsible for implementing sustainability initiatives within the workplace. They promote environmentally friendly practices, such as energy conservation, waste reduction, and the use of eco-friendly materials. By incorporating sustainable strategies, facility managers contribute to reducing the company’s environmental footprint and promoting corporate social responsibility.

Facility managers are often involved in long-term strategic planning for facility development and expansion. They collaborate with stakeholders to assess the organization’s future needs, evaluate potential facility options, and provide insights on the feasibility and impact of different decisions. This involves analyzing space requirements, conducting feasibility studies, and making recommendations for facility improvements or expansions.

Facility managers are the point of contact for addressing employee concerns and ensuring a safe work environment. They handle issues related to building security, fire safety, emergency preparedness, and accessibility compliance. By prioritizing employee safety and comfort, facility managers foster a positive workplace culture and contribute to employee satisfaction and well-being. They are responsible for creating an accommodating work environment, managing the physical infrastructure, overseeing budget and resources, implementing sustainability initiatives, participating in strategic planning, and ensuring employee safety and well-being. Their multifaceted role is essential in supporting the overall success of an organization and maintaining a productive and enjoyable workplace for employees.

Establishing processes

What are the functions of facilities management without a process to govern them? Establishing processes brings order to the workplace. Order creates a system of expectations, which breeds organization that positively impacts the way people utilize the workplace. The workplace runs on a multitude of processes, including:

  • Submitting a work order request
  • Reserving space within the facility
  • Checking in guests and visitors
  • Emergency action planning

Facility managers serve the dual role of identifying governance areas and adapting processes to cover them. Whenever a new situation arises, it’s up to the facility manager to create order from chaos and building a repeatable framework for handling that scenario again in the future.

Developing processes is also where the scope of facility management expands its reach. New processes may involve different departments, employees, assets, fixtures, and spaces—all of which connect the many aspects of the business.

Facilities upkeep and improvement

As the name implies, facility management is largely rooted in facilities upkeep and improvement of the physical building. It’s the most common answer when asked, “What does facility management include?”

But this is also the most robust scope of expectations for facility managers. It involves not only tending the building, but cultivating partnerships, future planning, and asset management. Some examples of this broad range of responsibilities include:

  • Finding and maintaining vendor contracts
  • Repair, maintenance, and building improvement
  • Workplace cleaning and décor
  • On- and off-site property management

If it has to do with the physical building, it falls within the facilities manager’s realm. Facilities are the second largest expense behind the workforce—it’s the job of a facility manager to turn the workplace into a competitive advantage, instead of a cost center. It’s about ensuring facilities meet the needs of the people using them.

Technology integration

More important than ever is the need for facilities managers to understand and use technology. Workplace management systems aggregate data, which drives crucial decisions about how to run the business and shape the workplace. Identifying and implementing the right technology is a chief responsibility of facility managers.

Integrating physical technology typically falls on the IT department. However, facilities managers are the first and last word on how they’re selected, used, and leveraged. Some examples of what this looks like in a modern setting include:

  • Researching IoT devices based on data collection needs
  • Integrating IoT devices into everyday facilities processes
  • Determining the cost, ROI, and advantage of smart technologies
  • Using aggregated data to better understand the workplace

Using an Integrated Workplace Management System (read more on what is IWMS software), facility managers can collect and analyze data from networked technologies to get insights about the workplace. This fuels better decision-making on how to optimize the work environment for the people using it.

It’s important to note that not all office tech relies on data collection. Access control systems support safety, while automation tech streamlines processes. And while there’s a data component to any networked device or software, the true benefit of most tech is in its function. It’s up to facility managers to understand and leverage this function for optimal ROI.

Putting it all together for facilities management

Facility managers support workers directly and indirectly. They establish processes for order and organization. They’re charged with upkeep and improvement of the facilities themselves. They create complex integrations to leverage data for success.

When you put these four functions together, they paint a picture of what facility managers really do. Broadly speaking, their focus is on optimizing the workplace to support every aspect of the business it touches. But on a deeper level, it’s about giving the company a steady foundation for success.

Keep reading: Selecting the best facility management software.

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Identifying Facilities Management Goals and Objectives

Identifying Facility Management Goals and Objectives

Facility management has always been critical to overall organizational success because of how it impacts key performance metrics like growth, productivity, and the bottom line. But as the landscape has changed, so has the process of identifying facility management goals and objectives. 

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BIM for FM Construction Project Handover [Guide]

BIM for FM construction project handover

In a perfect world, a construction project handover delivers everything facility and maintenance managers need to efficiently run the new facility, including data on all critical assets and equipment, where they are, and how best to operate and maintain them. But we don’t live in a perfect world, and that means handovers are often full of missing data or data trapped on paper, where it’s easy to lose and hard to leverage. 

Continue reading “BIM for FM Construction Project Handover [Guide]”
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Getting started with BIM for facility management

BIM for FM

At the completion of the design and construction phases, there’s an opportunity to hand over a lot more than just the keys to the facility. With BIM for facility management, you could be setting up stakeholders for improved space management, streamlined maintenance workflows, and a better understanding of the opportunities for long-term energy savings. By carefully leveraging some of the data from earlier phases, you can cut future operating and maintenance costs – the two biggest parts of your total cost of ownership across the facility life cycle. 

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Workplace Thought Leadership

Leveraging BIM for Maximum Returns

Office buildings background generated with a CAD software for architectural design, showing constuction plans, blueprint and structure. All models and plans are available in my portfolio.

By Nick Stefanidakis
General Manager, Archibus
SpaceIQ

As the world population continues to grow, the demand for urban and industrial construction projects will also carry on at a massive scale. Building information modeling (BIM) systems are playing a vital role in this development, with both government and private sector groups seeking more efficient, collaborative ways to build roads, skyscrapers, tunnels, and more.

BIM software is so effective that countries like Abu Dhabi and the UAE now require its use for all major construction projects. Other countries are following suit, and the BIM market is estimated to reach a value of $9.81 billion by 2026.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased the demand for BIM, which helps construction companies adhere to safety and distancing requirements. (Global use of Autodesk, one of the most popular BIM software options, increased by 350% in the first quarter of 2020.)

Clearly, BIM software is quickly becoming the new standard in the construction industry. But what are the top benefits of using BIM during the construction process? And how can construction companies leverage the technology to the fullest?

A quick guide to BIM 

Like blueprints and CAD software that came before, BIM is fast becoming the standard for drafting, designing, and visualizing any construction project. But unlike past methods, BIM is highly intelligent and collaborative.

Changes to the design are updated and stored automatically in a common data environment, so architects and contractors can immediately observe these changes. In addition, small tweaks to any element of the 3D model flow through to the entire building, which helps maintain consistency and accuracy.

Design is just one element of BIM, however. The software also offers features like scheduling, cost estimations, budget analysis, energy consumption, and more.

Ways to leverage BIM data

The advantages of BIM data go well beyond 3D modeling. But leveraging BIM requires a thorough understanding of how the software can help a particular segment. For example, for those looking to use BIM to FM (facility management) purposes, the manager should first define their needs, make a data storage plan, and then classify information.

Here are other ways architects, construction firms, capital project managers, and operations and maintenance professionals can successfully leverage BIM data:

  • GPS and drones. Every 3D design starts with a point cloud, and that point can sometimes take weeks to come up with. However, GPS software and drones can be used to get quick, accurate, and detailed measurements as a launching point for BIM designs.
  • Laser scanning. Laser scanning is the best way to outline existing structures that may clash with a new construction project. This information can be directly imported into BIM software, making it easy for architects to design buildings with minimal rework.
  • Mobile apps. Owners can now use BIM software like Autodesk anywhere they go, thanks to mobile apps that can communicate both internally and externally to immediately reflect design changes.
  • Project management software. Integrating BIM data with project management software helps to further streamline the entire construction process, from the initial sketches to completion.

Maximize BIM with the right tech

BIM offers many clear benefits, allowing companies to build in a more streamlined, cost-effective, sustainable fashion.  Combined with an open project management tool that integrates flawlessly with Autodesk and other BIM software, like Archibus, stakeholders are able to access vital information that keeps them on track with their goals.

Greater Cost Savings & Predictability

Capital projects present many budgeting challenges, with 30% of construction costs coming from rework and 55% of maintenance costs remaining reactive. Fortunately, BIM can help to greatly reduce costs during the building process, by minimizing delays and providing greater visibility. BIM can also help reduce costs across the life of the structure, from maintenance forecasting to energy specifications.

Archibus helps take these benefits to the next level. Weighted performance scorecards highlight over-budget projects and allow owners to review actual costs in comparison to baseline estimates.

Fewer Errors & Improved Schedules

When asked about the benefits of using BIM, 34% of people surveyed answered that “fewer errors” topped their list. Because BIM offers insightful data and better schedule forecasting, builders are less likely to encounter problems in later stages of construction. In addition, the same survey found that 26% of respondents believe BIM offers an ROI of 25% or more—further highlighting the importance of reducing errors.

Archibus creates a central repository of data, offering a “top-down” perspective that makes it easier to manage projects and changes once construction is completed and the building is handed over to the owner/occupier. With insights like project priorities, actions, and costs, all parties involved have quick access to streamlined reporting and project execution.

Greater Insights

BIM software makes it easier for multiple parties to communicate about the construction process in real-time. This allows all stakeholders to gain valuable insights and a greater understanding of the 3D modeling before it is put into action.

One of the premier advantages of using Archibus is the ability to see each subsystem within a building and understand its context. How does that system exist in relation to others, and what’s its role in broader building function? With this information in-hand, facilities managers can make better decisions about how they manager, alter, and maintain different subsystems, and the effects of those decisions on the building.

Increased Efficiency

In another survey of BIM users, respondents reported that the software allows them to spend less time documenting and more time designing. Increased efficiency means architects can dedicate more of their workday to creating sustainable, cost-effective buildings.

BIM risk mitigation takes many forms. Utilizing BIM data in an integrated workplace management system (IWMS) like Archibus can help model maintenance and improvement tasks sequentially, to reduce risks associated with the scope of a project and increase efficiency. Or it can deliver risk analysis for certain aspects of building function. It can even mitigate on-the-job risks by assessing the inherent dangers of specific tasks. In short: BIM makes facilities maintenance and modification safer.

Comprehensive Views

Organizations typically have a large number of projects in progress across the portfolio. Using BIM data, Archibus can help connect these project to a capital budget plan and ranks them so capital spend is aligned with the corporate mission.

By integrating BIM data into Archibus, managers get a comprehensive view of their entire project, which allows for appropriate building management once construction is complete. Using data collected during design and construction phases lets owners and operators easily track and manage assets and space. The payoff is improved asset performance and space utilization because all departments are aligned.

For example, Maintenance isn’t repairing a roof, that capital planning has scheduled to replace, in a building that CRE has slated to sell, and technology is completing a mission critical project in. BIM correlates the activities across the organization.

BIM for better building

BIM data provides a wealth of opportunities for capital projects managers, real estate developers, and more. Coupling BIM software with Archibus allows owners to leverage existing data, improve construction schedules, and get greater cost predictability. Explore the benefits of utilizing Archibus and  BIM together by scheduling a demo today.

Keep reading: How Does BIM Work?

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Credit Union Facilities Management

By Dave Clifton
Content Strategist
SpaceIQ

One of the hallmarks of a credit union is the friendly, welcoming feel members get when they walk through the door. A credit union isn’t a large, impersonal corporate bank—it’s a hometown financial institution that sees members as individuals. Each visit needs to evoke a feeling of comfort, welcomeness, friendliness, and warmth. To do that takes a focus on credit union facilities management.

A strong emphasis on facilities management is imperative for maintaining the ambiance of a credit union—and for enabling the services members expect when they visit one. Well-managed facilities are clean, safe, and accessible, and support everything from simple teller transactions to private meetings behind closed doors. It’s about enabling the credit union to run seamlessly with the full support of facilities.

Here’s why credit union facilities management has become more of a priority for smaller, local financial institutions—and the benefits that come with it.

What is credit union facilities management?

Credit union facilities management encompasses a wide range of disciplines. According to the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA), the core areas of focus for facilities management include: employee support, facility technologies, health and safety, training, environment and sustainability, and facility maintenance. Together, they touch every major aspect of operating a workplace.

For credit unions in particular, facilities management is a practice of vital importance. These institutions rely on facilities as an asset, even more so than their big bank counterparts. They often have smaller branches, which makes for a more personable and intimate setting, which means offering a higher standard of service. Without facilities management to bring cohesion to the environment, credit unions run the risk becoming impersonal, thus losing a major competitive advantage among financial institutions.

From ensuring employees and members have the right space, to keeping facilities running efficiently, to managing the costs and ROI associated with each branch. The overarching goal is to ensure facilities serve the needs of the people relying on them.

Benefits of facilities management for credit unions

A strong emphasis on facilities management is enough to turn a workplace from a cost center into a competitive advantage. Facilities management for credit unions helps ensure members have a friendly neighborhood branch available when they need financial services. Well-managed facilities set the tone by enabling a higher standard of service for members and better ROI for credit unions, among other benefits:

  • Safe and secure facilities that promote accessibility, yet safeguard access
  • Streamlined operations through better space efficiency and utilization
  • More affordable facilities and better budgeting for upkeep and maintenance
  • Better transparency when it comes to company operations and activities
  • Easier management, upkeep, and improvement for space across facilities
  • Better adaptability and more flexibility to accommodate business growth

Facilities management is an ongoing practice with ongoing benefits. Credit unions need to continuously respond to the needs of members, as well as pace the service offerings of larger regional and national banks. Facilities need to support this and offer credit unions agility and scalability, while remaining personable and welcoming.

How does credit union facility management software help?

The sheer scope of focus involved in facilities management makes it nearly impossible to do well without software support. Whether it’s managing facility support tickets, assessing space allocation, monitoring building upkeep, or responding to changing demand, software enables both understanding and action when it comes to facilities.

Credit union facility management software enables not only better oversight, but simplicity, as well. It’s easy for administrators to automate routine facility tasks, focus on specific metrics, and gather data to support decision-making in regards to the credit union workplace. Less guesswork; more data and tools to promote better facilities upkeep and enablement. That, and the benefits that come with dashboards, sandboxes, and modeling tools.

Ultimately credit union facility management software puts administrators in better control of facilities, so they can shape the experience members have when they visit a branch. Whether that means keeping the lights on and the HVAC blowing or allocating space and creating the ambiance required to deliver personalized financial services, software is an essential cornerstone in the facility management experience.

Financial facilities need to be personable

Whether they’re walking in to cash a check, make a withdrawal, or sit down with a loan officer, members need to feel welcome and confident when they step through the doors of a credit union. Well-managed facilities help set the tone for a positive experience and ensure members feel good about their visit. More important, it establishes a level of trust that reminds members why they chose a local credit union over a corporate mega bank.

Facility management doesn’t need to be difficult for credit unions—after all, the facilities themselves are typically smaller than other financial institutions. What matters is the level of oversight required to ensure the branch is well-maintained and aligned with member expectations. If members feel good about their visit and leave satisfied, it’s a testament to a credit union’s ability to be better than bigger banks.

Keep reading: Credit Union Space Utilization

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Healthcare CMMS Enables Better Patient Care

By Dave Clifton
Content Strategist
SpaceIQ

You’d be hard-pressed to find facilities more technologically equipped than hospitals and other healthcare environments. Today, the practice of caregiving is as much dependent on facilities and assets as it is on the physicians and nurses actually delivering it. To care for patients, hospitals need to also care for facilities. In that sense, an investment in healthcare CMMS is an investment in better patient care.

A healthcare CMMS puts vital upkeep and maintenance at the forefront of broader facilities management. It paves the way for accessibility across facilities by ensuring the amenities within them and the systems that govern them work as-expected for doctors, patients, visitors, and anyone else relying on them. A single-source of maintenance and upkeep also allows in-house maintenance staff to get ahead of potential problems, to prevent trouble from cropping up in much-used areas of facilities.

A healthcare CMMS solution allows hospitals and other facilities to put more of their attention on caregiving and patient care, without worrying about whether facilities will support them.

What is healthcare CMMS used for?

A healthcare CMMS is primarily used to ensure repair and maintenance tasks get their due attention. This can mean everything from schedule upkeep to immediate repairs, starting from the submission of a support ticket to assigning that task and allocating the expense. It’s meant to ensure upkeep and repairs don’t get lost in the ethers, so that healthcare providers can continue to rely on the facilities and amenities around them.

Below the surface, healthcare CMMS systems are actually cost-saving budgeting tools that help control the ever-rising cost of healthcare facility maintenance. Especially in larger hospitals and healthcare buildings that see thousands of visitors each day, there needs to be consistent focus on cost control. Healthcare CMMS helps facility maintenance managers review costs, plan for expenses, budget projects, allocate to different cost centers, and optimize the use of man-hours and resources.

At the end of the day, a healthcare CMMS serves as the framework for facilitating maintenance and doing it efficiently. With the cost of healthcare already high and demand even higher, keeping facilities working properly is paramount.

The benefits of healthcare CMMS software

Because it’s the standard for all maintenance actions within the healthcare environment, a CMMS quickly becomes a source of truth and action for those responsible for upkeep. This can include recognizing proactive maintenance opportunities, reducing servicing costs, and ensuring critical amenities get due attention in a timely manner. Here’s a look at the broad benefits that accompany CMMS use:

  • Better budgeting for recurring and routine repairs and maintenance
  • Better cost allocation and expensing to different cost centers
  • Expedited time to repair for support tickets and maintenance requests
  • Improved planning for capital improvements and large projects
  • More organized ticketing and task allocation through a CMMS
  • Archived repair and maintenance tickets for reference in the future
  • Access to prior servicing data and notes, to facilitate better future service
  • Automations to reduce time, cost, and manpower affiliated with repairs

Above all, these benefits translate into facilities that work as-expected, when needed. If a handicap-accessible entrance isn’t functional or the nurse paging system on the second floor is down, it directly impacts patients. Having these issues front and center in a CMMS ensures they’re dealt with and better-understood, so that there are fewer problems like them in the future.

How to implement a healthcare CMMS

Most healthcare facilities already have some sort of digital maintenance software. Unfortunately, legacy systems aren’t always cloud-enabled or broadly compatible with increasingly smart healthcare infrastructure. To capitalize on modern-day CMMS, hospital facility managers need to orchestrate a complete migration.

Migration can occur in many different ways, depending on the scope of data involved in the transfer. In some cases, it may be a simple import-export of data that takes place in stages, to ensure a proper port. In other cases, it may involve an extract, transform, and load (ETL) procedure, where data feeds into a data lake or structured warehouse before flowing into the new CMMS. Sometimes, a direct port is possible. In any case, it’s imperative there’s no data loss and that operations aren’t interrupted during the switch.

For facilities establishing a completely new CMMS, detail-oriented setup is imperative. That means taking the time to orchestrate information about each asset, maintenance and cost center information, and more. Triggers and hierarchy programming should also be a focus, to automate as much of the workflows coming into the CMMS as possible. Integration is also imperative—especially for healthcare facilities with IoT networks and other networked systems that offer relevant data for the CMMS.

Above all, it’s important to build failsafe and redundant systems into the CMMS, to ensure every critical system gets due attention during implementation and beyond.

The bottom line on healthcare CMMS software

As healthcare facilities become more robust, so must the management of these facilities. Moreover, demand for healthcare is at an all-time high and rising, which means facilities will get put to the test as more people seek care. To meet the needs and expectations of patients, healthcare professionals need to be able to rely on the facilities around them.

CMMS software brings facility maintenance, upkeep, and repairs to the forefront of managing a successful healthcare establishment. From urgent care facilities to specialty clinics, hospitals to general care offices, when facilities support caregiving, everyone benefits.

Keep reading: Hospital Facility Management Software and the Patient Experience

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Six Major Functions of CMMS for Schools

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

With all the activity college campuses see on a daily basis, upkeep becomes a major priority. From the buildings themselves to the assets and technologies within them, things are subject to breaking. Whether by age, malfeasance, or freak accident, it’s important to facilitate repairs as quickly as possible, to keep the campus accessible and safe. To do this requires nothing short of a full CMMS for schools.

Considering the sheer volume of support tickets colleges see on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis, a CMMS provides invaluable benefits. From digital logging of tickets to automatic assigning to craftspeople, campus managers get plenty of mileage out of a well-managed CMMS.

What is CMMS?

A Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a digital system for processing maintenance requests. Ideally, it handles the complete life cycle of maintenance from request, to delegation, to execution, to archiving, and, if necessary, recall.

CMMS platforms are generally automated. Someone submits a maintenance ticket through a web portal, which enters a queue. Within the queue, it’s delegated to the right department via a tag, such as “IT service” or “general repair.” Once jettisoned to the right department, it becomes a work order and goes into the daily work log. From there, it’s either handled by an in-house craftsperson or outsourced to a vendor based on a service-level agreement (SLA).

When a craftsperson fulfills the work request, it’s archived accordingly. If it’s integrated with a digital twin, that record becomes part of the life cycle maintenance profile for a particular asset. If it’s a standalone system, it’s easy to search and recall service requests within the CMMS for future reference.

Functions of CMMS for schools and colleges

While many campuses have some form of support ticketing and work request strategy, the shift to CMMS is invaluable—especially on larger campuses. Here’s a look at some of the ways universities benefit:

  1. Maintain facilities. The most obvious benefit of CMMS is that it is a more efficient way to maintain and repair facilities. Instead of being passed from person to person across departments, CMMS provides a point of access for anyone who needs to submit a ticket.
  2. Keep tech accessible. CMMS that accepts IT support tickets is especially invaluable. Campuses are increasingly technology-driven, and faster attention to items that need repair means learners can continue to use them as-needed.
  3. Improve campus safety. Some maintenance items are downright hazardous—think downed power lines or a shattered window. The ability to flag urgent repairs in a CMMS ensures they receive the attention they need to keep the campus population safe.
  4. Reduce distractions. The warped door that keeps banging shut. The buzz from a damaged projector. Untended maintenance items are distractions. CMMS expedites time to fix and allows for more complete fixes—especially for repeat offenders.
  5. Boost spirit and pride. A well-maintained campus is an enjoyable one. Students and teachers want to feel like the facilities around them are well-kept and cared for, not derelict and damaged. Beautiful, maintained facilities evoke a sense of pride.
  6. Coordinate craftspeople. Most campuses don’t have a “maintenance department.” Instead, they have a team of craftspeople tasked with addressing specific types of maintenance. CMMS makes it easier to coordinate people and projects by skill.

These functions come together in one big benefit: a campus that meets expectations. When everything works as-expected and as-intended, fewer obstacles stand between teachers, students, and their education. The benefit of CMMS for schools comes from its ability to provide an environment that’s accessible, functional, safe, and comfortable.

Keep facilities accessible to eager learners

Whether it’s a damaged door or a faulty projector screen, anything that doesn’t work the way it’s intended to becomes an inconvenience. In some cases, it impedes the education of students; in other cases, it’s a distraction—or worse, downright hazardous. In any case, the best way to make sure an issue gets due attention is to have a system for fielding requests and prioritizing them appropriately.

A college CMMS system provides a complete, efficient ecosystem for facilities maintenance across campus. From tech support to trade-related repairs, a CMMS makes it easy to identify and understand a problem and get to work on a repair. CMMS not only expedites the time to repair, it keeps the campus functioning as it’s meant to, so that students, faculty, and visitors can continue to have a positive experience.

Keep reading: Space Planning for Schools: A Bird’s Eye View

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What is Asset Property Management?

By Devon Maresco
Marketing Coordinator
SpaceIQ

There’s plenty of overlap in the world of asset management and property management—after all, property is an asset. That said, asset property management is a confusing concept that overlaps with real estate and portfolio management. To make matters more confusing, there’s also the concept of “property asset management” to consider. It begs the question: what is asset property management?

Facility managers need to get familiar with the concept as part of a broader understanding of how to oversee facilities. Here’s a look at where asset property management falls into context alongside other forms of asset management and property management.

What is asset property management?

Asset property management is part of the spectrum of asset management. It trends toward the macro end of the scale:

  • Asset management involves oversight of assets
  • Property management involves oversight of property
  • Property asset management involves oversight of properties as assets
  • Asset property management involves oversight of assets within properties

The difference between “property asset management” and “asset property management” is largely semantic. Most companies practice both in conjunction with each other, which further adds to the ubiquitous nature of the definition. Moreover, most facility managers and portfolio managers see property and property assets as one in the same. For example, it’s difficult to separate the HVAC system from the building it’s tied to. For all intents and purposes, they’re managed together.

Asset management in the real estate market

There is one important distinction to make when looking at assets within properties and the property itself: one of value. The overall value of real estate comes from many individual factors. In commercial real estate, capital systems play a significant role in the value of the building.

For example, a building that is in great shape but has poor HVAC may cost more in upkeep, raising the total cost of ownership. Conversely, an older building with great HVAC may be worth less, but operates more efficiently. When it comes to evaluating these buildings, portfolio managers need to consider how the assets that govern each property play into the total value of the holding.

Put another way, asset property management plays a big role in portfolio management. If the sum total of capital systems in Building A costs more than the sum total of an identical Building B, it’s a sign of the need for better asset management. The decision to act (or not to act) contributes to the value of that building within the company’s broader real estate portfolio.

Tips for better asset property management

The golden rule for asset property management is to be proactive, as opposed to reactive. While it may seem counterintuitive to spend money up front on maintenance, this ideology manifests in saving asset managers the cost of unanticipated, unexpected repairs.

Similarly, tracking the asset over time is an important part in managing it. Through inclusive asset tracking it’s possible to identify upcoming maintenance, budget for costs, understand cost of ownership, and more. All this factors into keeping capital assets in functional condition.

Finally, it’s important to understand assets in context. Consider a building with an antiquated HVAC system. While it might run smoothly, there’s no guarantee it’s running efficiently, which could cost building operators more than they realize. Moreover, it might contribute to a stuffy atmosphere within the workplace—or worse, Sick Building Syndrome (SBS). Looking at cost and upkeep alone aren’t enough. Asset property management needs to include context.

The goals of property asset management

The goals of asset property management are cost reduction and ROI optimization. Managers need to first justify the cost of an asset, then work to optimize its returns beyond the break-even point. For capital assets within real property, this means looking far ahead at the entire lifespan of an investment.

Take, for example, renovations that upgrade the efficiency of facilities. There’s an immediate cost to undertake these renovations, however, they’ll return value through both the efficiency upgrades and the productivity they enable. The goal of an asset property management approach is to reach that break-even point as quickly as possible, and to enhance the ROI beyond that. This means staying on top of upkeep costs in order to minimize them and understanding how to measure and record ROI.

Ultimately, the role of good asset property management is to extend the life and value of an asset, in order to ensure the ROI reaches the highest levels possible.

Software improves property asset management

As is the case for many modern-day facility metrics, asset property management is best tracked using software. IWMS or CMMS software provide critical insights about the cost of operating facilities—particularly their capital systems. These asset insights lay the groundwork for how much it costs to operate a property and set the benchmark for its performance against other real estate holdings. Moreover, they provide insight into how to better-manage individual property assets.

There’s significant opportunity in treating capital systems and properties like the assets they are within the context of facilities management. The more attention given to the cost, upkeep, ROI, and utilization of assets, the more opportunities are available to better govern them.

Keep reading: Property Asset Management Strategy Plus Goals and Benefits