Title:
European Standards in Facilities Management: Benchmarking Foundation
Author:
Stan Mitchell
If we believe that facilities management is a professional discipline that sits alongside the more
traditional and recognisable built environment professions then we need to demonstrate our capability
as well as our value to the organisations that we serve.
If we accept that premise then ‘standards’ are what it’s all about, in the broadest sense of course! If
we accept that ‘standards’ are an essential part of our professional tool kit then benchmarking is what
will provide us with the ammunition, focus and credibility to measure and demonstrate the value that
we offer organisations large and small in every sector.
If you don’t agree with the above then best to contact me and we can have the dialog!
Standards in Facilities Management
To better understand the context to which my presentation is based we have to realise that standards
in Facilities Management actually started back in the 1980’s by those who were involved in the
formation of what today are called International Facility Management Association (IFMA) and British
Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). The act of establishing such bodies was in effect
attempting to establish professional standards.
It was, and is, all about recognition and trying to ensure that whatever we do within our discipline can
be recognised; achieves certain standards; and ultimately delivers real value to the organisations
which we serve. The development of standards in all aspects is part of the core intent of any
professional body.
If we then extrapolate that to our role as facilities management professionals what we need are
standards to which we can strive to perform; standards which will acknowledge our competencies and
experience; standards that will enable us to demonstrate and measure performance. All vital tools
should we wish to be recognised for the job that we do and the value that we bring to the disparate
and varied stakeholder groups that we serve.
The background
Through an initiative that started in 2003 a group of like minded facilities management professionals
from across Europe decided that the time was right to collaborate and start to utilise the Europe wide
organisations that exist to create some momentum as well as recognition to the professionalism of
facilities management.
Within the UK the ‘National Standards Body’ is the British Standards Institute (BSI). From BSI the
BIFM led the establishment of a Facilities Management Committee which in turn was able to assist in
the establishment of a Technical Committee within the CEN Organisation (European Committee for
Standardisation). CEN effectively is a European level organisation to which 31 Counties across
Europe belong and effectively sits between the International Standards Body and any National
Standards Body. Standards that exist within CEN can be elevated to ISO standards through due
process.
The BSI Facilities Management Committee has been at the forefront of the work that goes on behind
the scenes through providing the ‘experts’ to contribute to the development of such standards as well
as Convenors in three instances to lead the development of the BS EN 15221-2 standard ‘Guidance
on Facilities Management Agreements’; BS EN 15221 - Guidance on the development and
improvement of processes; and BS EN 15221-7 ‘Benchmarking’.
To put this work in context I will endeavour to explain the nature of the standards world and then
perhaps put that into context regarding why this work remains important.
What is a standard?
In terms of the ‘standards world’ i.e. those organisations whose role it is to establish national and
international recognised standards, it is a technical document designed to be used as a rule, guideline
or definition. It is a consensus-built, repeatable way of doing something.
Standards are created by bringing together a diverse range of interested parties in order to ensure a
robust process is followed and that all those who have an interest and contribution to make have the
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opportunity to do so. All parties benefit from standardisation through a common benchmark against
which services and products can be compared.
A European Standard (EN) automatically becomes a national standard in the 31 member countries.
FACILITIES MANAGEMENT European Standards
In 2006 the first two standards in Facilities Management ‘BS EN 15221-1 Terms and Definitions’ and
‘BS EN 15221-2 Guidance on How to prepare Facilities Management Agreements’ were published
following a period of some three years of hard work to establish the European Technical Committee.
© Copyright BS EN 15221 -1: 2006. All rights reserved.
Currently the second phase of the development of European standards is coming to a conclusion, in
the development of them at least, and will be completed this year with formal publication occurring in
2011.
There are currently four standards under development which are seen as a prerequisite to the
development of a benchmark standard. They have yet to be accepted but are outlined below:
15221-3 Quality in Facilities Management
1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions, abbreviations
4 Basics of quality management
5 Process of quality management
Annex A (informative) GAP-Model
Annex B (informative) Additional information and recommendation for measurement metrics
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15221-4 Taxonomy of Facilities Management
1 Scope
2 Normative References
3 Terms and Definitions
4 Derivation of facility products and relationship model
5 Description of the standardised facility products
6 Facility management related cost and income definitions
Annex A (informative) Graphic representation of the facility product map
Annex B (informative) additional comments to specific facility products
The hierarchy of ‘facilities products’ is shown in the slides below:
Facility Management – Integration of processes on strategic level (Total support costs)
Space & Infrastructure – Integration of processes on tactical level 1000
(Real estate support management) accommodation & workplace – building efficiency (p& o = effectiveness)
External workplaces
Primary process related utilities
Art
Furniture
Primary
activities
specific
1900
Plants and flowers
Space management
Occupier fitout and adaptations
Special cleaning (ordered)
Pest control
Routine cleaning (periodic <1 year)
Parking facilities
Additional space on site
Land, site, lot
Waste
Water
Energy
Equipment maintenance
Equipment operation
Structure maintenance
Structure operation
Utilities
Maintenance and operation
Portfolio development
Real estate optimisation
Help desk incl. janitor
Property administration
Workplace
1400
Cleaning
1300
Outdoors
1200
CAFM
Enhancement of initial performance
Cost of capital
Technical build. equipment
Asset replacement and refurbishm.
External structure
Internal structure
Building initial performance
Owner / occupier
Space (accommodation)
1100
Administration/Maintenance/Operation = running costs
© Copyright BS EN 15221 - 4: 2010. All rights reserved.
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Business Support (Management support)
2500
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9200
9300
9400
Quality
Risk
Identity
Risk policy
Innovation
Organisation
specific
2900
Standards and guidelines
9100
People & Organisation – Integration of processes on tactical level (part 2)
2000
Sustainability
Facility Management – Strategic Integration (Total support costs)
Life cycle planning/engineering
Transport services
Travel services
Fleet management
Library and archives
Post room, internal distrib.
Reprographics
For further subdivision
of ICT products please
refer to description in
chapter 5.
Branch specific e.g. Health care (H)
Laundry
Mobility
Moves - people & furniture
Documents management
Office supplies, stationary
Training (ICT)
Connectivity and telecommunicat.
Central and distriubuted services
IT end user services
Service desk
Workwear and other textiles
Meeting rooms and events
Catering and vending
ICT (Information and
communication
technology)
2300
Business application providing
Secretarial services, translations
Procurement
Marketing and communication
Legal counsel and contracts
Environmental protection
Securing property (physical
and intellectual)
Reception and contact center
Security
Safety & Health
Securing people
People occuopation. health
Workplace safety
Hospitality
2200
Contracts
Insurance
Patents and copyrights
Legal advice
Business support HRM
Business support Finance
HSSE
(Health. Safety,
Security &
Environment)
2100
Training & development
Recruiting
Salaries and pensions
Controlling, reporting
Assets, property
Accounting, budgeting
Logistics
2400
see part 2.2
Facility Management – Strategic Integration (Total support costs)
People & Organisation – Integration of processes on tactical level
2000
© Copyright BS EN 15221 - 4: 2010. All rights reserved.
Central (Horizontal)
Functions 9000
© Copyright BS EN 15221 - 4: 2010. All rights reserved.
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15221-5 Facilities Management Processes
1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions
4 Principles of Facility Management processes
5 Developing Facility Management Processes
6 Assessing Facility Management processes
Annex A Examples of Generic Processes
Annex B (informative) Checklist
15221-6 Facilities Management Space Measurement
1 Scope
2 Normative references
3 Terms and definitions
4 Methods and units of measurement
5 Framework of area and space measurement
6 External areas
Annex A (informative) Area Matrix
Annex B (informative) Further illustrations
Annex C (informative) Examples for subcategories to Technical Areas, Circulation Areas,
Amenity Areas and Primary Areas
Total Level Area (TLA)
Gross Floor Area (GFA)
Partition Wall Area
(PWA)
Net Floor Area (NFA)
Internal Construction Area
(ICA)
External Construction Area (ECA)
Non Useable Area (NUA)
Intra Muros Area (IMA)
Net Room Area (NRA)
Technical
Services
Area (TSA)
Circulation
Area (CA)
Useable Area
(UA)
© Copyright BS EN 15221 - 6: 2010. All rights reserved.
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15221-7 A new European Benchmark Standard in Facilities Management
This new standard that will build upon the standards listed above is currently in progress. This
standard aims to bring at last a standard approach to the identification and collection of data in a
manner that will be meaningful across our profession.
The classification of benchmarking forms is shown below from the standard.
Content
Measure
Comparator
Domain
Frequency
- Strategy
- Quantitative
-……
- Qualitative
-……
- Internal
- Local
- One-off
- Competitor
- National
- Periodic
- Cross-sector
- International
- Continuous
- Process
- Performance
© Copyright BS EN 15221 - 7: 2010. All rights reserved.
This standard will focus upon six key comparators all of which will be of value to what we are trying to
do. They are:
1. Financial
2. Spatial
3. Environmental
4. Quality
5. Satisfaction
6. Productivity
The longer term goal from an effective benchmarking standard being to bring the global consensus
together and create a standard that we can use anywhere in the world and as a result ensure that our
long term credibility as a professional discipline and value offering to the communities that we serve
can be sustainable.
There will of course be much to be done particularly as the concept of true facilities management
begins to emerge worldwide.
Stan Mitchell
stan.mitchell@key.fm
CEO Key Facilities Management International
Chairman BSI Facilities Management Committee
Convenor WG2 CEN TC 348
October 2010
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