Good practice guide on facilities management

Citation

(1998), "Good practice guide on facilities management", Property Management, Vol. 16 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/pm.1998.11316aab.008

Good practice guide on facilities management

Good practice guide on facilities management

A good practice guide published last week by the Further Education Funding Council (FEFC) will help further education colleges better manage and improve the quality of their estate-related facilities.

Effective Facilities Management ­ A Good Practice Guide was commissioned by the FEFC in association with the National Audit Office (NAO) from the University of Reading in conjunction with FBA Limited. It is based on a study of facilities management and the contracting-out of estate-related services in a sample of 170 colleges and information from other sectors.

The guide describes how colleges can develop their knowledge in order to improve their facilities to maximum effect. The study identified that most colleges are making serious attempts to bring order and consistency to managing their services and facilities but that facilities management had to be given more strategic importance.

The good practice guide will help colleges to become "informed clients" in managing their facilities and also provide strategic advice to help colleges decide whether to keep services in-house or to contract-out, prepare service specifications and service level agreements, manage relationships with suppliers and benchmark performance.

Welcoming the publication of the guide today the FEFC chief executive Professor David Melville said:

This joint study will reinforce the aims of the FEFC and NAO to help colleges operate more effectively while at the same time improving the quality of their facilities and services.

Writing in the foreword to the guide Mr Paul Orchard-Lisle, President of the Council of the University of Reading, past President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and senior partner of property consultants, Healey and Baker, stated:

This guide should also demonstrate to the providers of facilities management services, whether as a consultant or contractor, that the further education sector is determined to ensure that effective facilities management is recognised as an important priority by colleges.

Effective Facilities Management: A Good Practice Guide is available from the Stationery Office price £16.95 (telephone orders 0171 873 9090).