Experts seek facility management units in states

To mitigate the high operating expenses of facilities as well as engender maintenance culture in the country, stakeholders in facility management have solicited for the establishment of facility management (FM) units across states of the federation.

They also called on the Federal government to implement facility management policies that will ensure the inclusion of facility management in education curriculum at  Senior Secondary School level.

These positions were part  of decisions reached  at the 2016 World Facility Management  (FM)  Day, organised by Global PFI at the Union Bank headquarters in Lagos on the theme; “Empowering People for a Productive World”.

The commemoration was adopted by the Global Body of FM Associations around the world  to draw the attention of all stakeholders to the significance and value facility management brings to world economy, businesses, and people.

The Managing Director, Global PFI, Dr. M.K.O. Balogun at the event also urged the National Assembly to come out with legislation on issues about Facility Management  in order to institutionalise it and grow the industry.

According to them, facility managements are capable of contributing towards reducing facilities costs, increasing the capacity to generate revenue and improving the productivity, image and core business of the organisation.

The premised  that a well-educated workforce can have a major impact on how well facilities operate.“Speaking on the celebration, the  Chairman of Global FM, Duncan Waddell  said:  “FM is all about enablement; as a sector we enable people to work, we enable the economy, we enable technology, we enable social interaction  and the list is endless.

“At the crux of all of this is people and for this year’s World FM Day,  we aim to highlight how we, as FM professionals, empower people to reach their full potential and in turn create a productive world, ” he added.

Facility management is an interdisciplinary field primarily devoted to the operation and care of buildings throughout their entire life cycle.
Through effective facility management, buildings in both the public and private sector can reduce their operating costs, promote the health of building occupants, support an organizations strategic purpose and Increase the value of real estate.