Facilities managers must adapt to changing recommendations, regulations and legislation. There has been Government consultation for the Future Buildings Standard, on proposed changes to fuel and power conservation and ventilation in building regulations.
The Future Buildings Standard consultation sets out energy and ventilation standards for non-domestic buildings and domestic homes. Once it becomes law, the Future Buildings Standard support buildings becoming zero carbon ready.
But where there are standards for the near future, facilities managers must also deal with complications and challenges arising from the shifting situation regarding Covid-19. With the spread of the Omicron variant, there is a strong likelihood that many types of buildings will need to reaffirm and ensure safety measures for their occupants.
Another legislative change impacting facilities management is flexible working becoming a legal right for employees from day one of employment. This has implications for office use and the adaptability of working spaces. It can also impact issues such as energy use in a building.
The traditional model of nine-to-five working has undergone a radical shift during the pandemic. Facilities managers must contend with looking after buildings where occupancy is changeable and adaptability a dominant characteristic. There’s also legislation to make electric vehicle (EV) chargers compulsory in new builds.
This too will require that facilities managers stay abreast of developments and ensure that the buildings they manage are up to date with compliance.
How to Future-Proof Facilities Management
Technology offers the most effective way for facilities managers to keep up with the legislation and new standards affecting their work. Proptech is already changing how buildings work. This includes smart buildings using the internet of things (IoT) to optimise heating and ventilation. Smart building tools are revolutionising the way energy use can be monitored and controlled, for example.
This level of precision control will become increasingly important in the move towards zero carbon buildings. In fact, it’s likely to become essential for buildings if they are going to stay within the law.
What will be critical for many organisations and businesses is staying ahead of the curve when it comes to legislation and new standards. Fortunately, the technology to help them do this is available now, rather than in the future.
The Inspection Manager (TIM) App
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Today’s facility managers find themselves in the midst of many challenges, including regulatory and compliance hurdles, resource scarcity, and burnout. Resource constraints, for example, which affect time management, materials delivery, and budget planning, pose major obstacles, all the while demanding highly prudent allocation without operational efficiency taking a hit.
Technology is rapidly expanding into all spheres of life, and this is especially true of industries. In the property management sector, for instance, one is surrounded by disruptive technology which is improving ‘quality of life’ for not only property and facility managers but also tenants.
The property and real estate sector has traditionally been associated with stacks of paperwork, manual documentation, and physical blueprints. However, all that is changing quickly as the idea of paperless building operations is steadily gaining momentum.
If we go back a few years, the property management sector was a bit slow to adopt new changes, especially those revolving around technology and automation. But in the present day, it has taken a dramatic step forward.
In a 2021 survey where 2,000 UK adults were surveyed who had rented a home over the last 5 years – 66% of them had experienced some kind of disrepair issue, while 26% of Housing Association Properties tenants were not happy with the quality of repair and maintenance during their stay.
Everyone wants nothing more than to have secure, safe, and decent housing. Unfortunately, the housing supply in the UK has been unable to keep up with the surge in demand over the last couple of years. This has made accessing housing of any kind rather difficult for individuals and families alike, especially those from low-income households.
Tenant experience is an important metric to understand when it comes to property and facilities management – it describes how your tenants interact with the properties they live in. The quality of these interactions along with the amenities you offer can have a major impact on your ROI.
If you recall the government’s 2019 election manifestos, all the main parties committed to boost housing supply in England. The Conservative manifesto, in fact, pledged that the number of homes being built will continue to increase, targeting at least 300,000 affordable homes by the middle of 2020.
The property management industry has been traditionally shy and somewhat hesitant to embrace new technological trends. The word “automation” would make everyone from real estate agents to property managers cringe with disapproval – as if impending doom and job insecurity was right around the corner.
Data standardisation refers to using consistent methods for collecting data, although this is a very basic and somewhat generic description of what it truly is. If we delve in deeper, data standardisation is the process used for transforming data to fit a constrained and predefined set of values – ultimately, relying on uniformity to improve efficiencies.
