Why A Building Needs a Facilities Manager
Unless you are a hands-on landlord or building owner, you will reap the benefits of having good facilities management. Hiring a designated manager for general building maintenance will take the pressure off trying to run a building and ensure everything is working. It will also benefit your building as they can give full attention to taking care of plumbing leaks, alarm testing, and more.
Important tasks can often get overlooked without a proper facilities manager, causing the everyday operations to suffer. To keep your building running as efficiently as possible, you need to employ someone who can take care of all these critical tasks. As well as general building maintenance, they’ll be able to carry out health and safety monitoring and ensure visitors are signed in and directed to the right place.
A facilities manager will help reduce workplace injury risk for building occupants, as they will oversee all lighting, emergency exits, and fire safety equipment in full working order. Your facilities manager should also be first aid trained, so they can permanently be on-hand to help if needed.
What Are the Key Responsibilities Of a Facilities Manager?
To run a building successfully, you must be able to lend your hand to a long list of tasks. Every day will be different, and you must be able to respond to and resolve situations as they happen. You will have a range of responsibilities that include both hard and soft tasks.
Hard Tasks
● General building management
● Preventative & reactive maintenance
● Plumbing & electrical inspections
● Fire safety checks
● Responding to building emergencies
Soft Tasks
● Building security management
● Budgeting
● Workspace/ communal areas management
● Building cleanliness
● Health & safety
● Waste disposal
How To Stay On Top Of a To-Do List
The number of responsibilities for one facilities manager can seem a bit overwhelming if the workload isn’t managed well. It takes somebody who is organised, good at troubleshooting issues, and hardworking. You need to maximise your time throughout the day to ensure every task is complete when it needs to be. Knowing your building well will enable you to spot any issues in good time before they become a serious problem. Forming good relationships with the occupants of your property is worth your while, too, as you will be dealing with them on a day-to-day basis.
The key to success as a building manager is your ability to organise your time well and prioritise the most important tasks essential to your property's general function and safety. You are responsible for keeping a building up to a high standard so that any visitors will leave with a good impression. Most importantly, organisation will help you remain on top of your to-do list. It is worth your while keeping a written record of any checks you undertake and a copy of all essential documents.
To stay on top of your to-do list, there are some measures you can take to make it easier. You can do the following:
● Prioritise important/ urgent jobs
● Plan your tasks realistically
● Take scheduled breaks
● Set approximate time frames for each task
● Consider using a software/ app to track your tasks
The Benefits Of Facility Management Software
Facility management can be made much easier by using suitable software for the job. It makes everyday tasks much easier by keeping track of your completed tasks and safety checks. Depending on your workload and the building you manage, investing in good facilities management software may be worthwhile to help you stay on top of your work.
There are numerous benefits to this kind of software, as it has been specifically developed to ensure your work gets done and all safety checks are carried out when they are supposed to be.
Key Benefits:
● Quicker & easier to use than paper methods
● Can synchronise tasks
● Automates regulatory compliance checks
● Reliable & consistent
● It can be integrated with other software in your building
Useful Facility Management Tools
In addition to management software, many other tools will help you succeed in your facilities management. Here are some of the most effective facility management tools to ensure your building runs as safely and efficiently as possible.
Install a Comprehensive Safety & Security System
One of the best ways you can ensure yourself and the building occupants are as safe as possible is to install a good security and safety system to help monitor all aspects of the property. It can be challenging to be aware of everything happening at all times, particularly on larger sites. That is why it is beneficial to have a system that can monitor movement in and around your property. This will increase the security of any expensive electronics and keep occupants safe. Systems that track building security and safety are available, ensuring workspaces stay safe from severe disasters.
Visitor Management Software
This is a handy tool for helping you keep track of any authorised people arriving and leaving your building. If you manage a workspace facility with numerous offices, there will likely be many people visiting the establishment for meetings on a daily basis. To ensure the safety of these individuals, you must track their visits. Digital visitor monitoring software can make this a much easier process than a sign-in book method.
Sustainability Monitoring System
A valuable way to ensure that your building runs as efficiently as possible and keeps costs down is by monitoring your building’s energy usage. It is important that while your establishment is open for business, you have all the necessary facilities turned on. However, leaving these running overnight can run up unnecessary costs. By monitoring energy usage, you can see where you can be saving on certain appliances or lighting. This will help you reduce carbon emissions and energy bills.
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