Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management

By peter.cholakis@verizon.netFacilities Management Operations & Management

Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management considerations span several areas.

A partial list is shown below:

  • Organizational Strategy, Goals, Required Outcomes
  • Budgeting/Capital Planning
  • LEAN Business Models and Methods
  • Multiple Competencies, Business Processes, and Activities
  • Supporting Technologies and Tools
  • Education, Training, and Support Services
  • Metrics/Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
  • Common Data Environment (CDE)

Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management

Organizational Strategy, Goals, Required Outcomes

The full support of an organization and associated service providers is required in order to deliver provide a level of Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management in concert with their mission and goals.

A comprehensive written facilities management operations and maintenance manual and/or execution guide is a fundamental requirement.  It should be written with LEAN process fundamentals in mind that focus upon BEST VALUE outline measurable desired OUTCOMES.

Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management requires and appropriate and ongoing consideration of PEOPLE, PROCESS, INFORMATION, and TECHNOLOGY is needed during the development of the Operations Manual / Execution Plan.

Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management

 

 

 

Budgeting/Capital Planning

Post construction costs average 80% of total facilities investment thus emphasis upon O &M budgeting and capital planning provides major benefits.

 

 

Most organizations are historically first-cost driven, a bias that negatively affects overall return on investment.   Appropriate decision-support tools and services (technology, data, and consulting/education/support) must be included to enable consideration of life-cycle costs and financial resource prioritization.

Determining the priority of capital reinvestment into facilities based upon a life-cycle perspective has proven to provide the highest likelihood of positive overall results.   Many organizations spend up to 80% of operations and maintenance funds on emergency, unplanned projects and/or projects that provide limited true value to an organization.   With proper planning and management processes in place, this ration can be reversed.  This beneficial “shift” in resource allocation however is impossible without current actionable information, appropriate decision-support tools and appropriate strategies among all participants and stakeholders.

LEAN Business Models and Methods

The productivity, quality, value and satisfaction associated with any facility renovation, repair, maintenance, sustainability, or new construction project are directly linked to the processes employed.   Promoting awareness and education of LEAN construction practices and associated construction delivery methods among Owners, Contractors, Engineers, Architects, and Oversight Groups is key to efficient management of the built environment.

Within the LEAN Construction / Collaborative Construction Delivery process framework, emphasis is upon BEST VALUE OUTCOMES as the can be achieved through the leveraging of expertise of all project participants and stakeholders from initial concept and throughout the entire life-cycle of the built structures.

 

A common and minimum body of knowledge defined as a standard of excellence is key to reversing the current norm of waste, and other negative economic and environmental issues attributed to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, Owner (AECOO) sector.

 

LEAN, BEST VALUE CONSTRUCTION DELIVERY METHODS[1] have been available for decades, but only practiced by fractional percentage of Real Property Owners and service providers.   The reason for limited adoption of these methods, capable of enabling more projects to be completed on-time and on-budget, and with higher levels of quality and satisfaction, is simple.  It’s a sector-wide lack of awareness and education.

The most widely used collaborative construction delivery methods are JOB ORDER CONTRACTING, JOC for renovation, repair, and maintenance activities and INTEGRATED PROJECT DELIVERY, IPD for major new construction.

As JOC is a form of IPD, directly applicable to operations and maintenance, a typical workflow for job order contract project is shown below.

LEAN Construction methods share has the following characteristics;

  • Performance-based reward based upon achievement of specified goals.
  • Defined work flows, data formats, and technologies which enable experiences with the principles and techniques of state of work definition, cost estimating, project management, and performance analysis to be reported, discussed, documented, and reused.
  • Fostering and requirements for ongoing training
  • Systems to maintain standards of proficiency and performance
  • Required cooperation among internal and external project participants with common or related purposes, in furtherance of project success
  • Clear and transparent mechanisms for all participants to collectively discuss and comment on subjects of common interest
  • Common and shared standards for terminology, definitions, conduct and application of all procedures and policies
  • Shared risk/reward
  • Mutual respect
  • Continuous improvement

Mulitiple Competencies, Business Processes, and Activities

Facilities O & M management spans multiple competencies (core skills), business process (asset management practices/industries), and activities.   A partial listing is shown below with links to additional information.

Facilities Operations & Maintenance Management

Competencies/activities

  • Strategic planning
  • Cost estimating
  • Procurement/bidding
  • Construction
  • Space planning
  • Operations
  • Planned, unplanned, user requested maintenance
  • Repairs, improvements/upgrades, retrofits, replacements
  • Programming

 

Business Processes

  • Capital planning and management
  • Construction project delivery methodology
  • Space management
  • Operations and maintenance
  • Inventory and maintenance disposition management

Supporting Technologies and Tools

Multiple technologies and tools can be used to lower the cost of establishing and deploying facilities management operations and management best practices consistently.   A partial listing is shown below, with appropriate links to additional information where available.

Technologies

Application Software

Tools

  • Construction code databases
  • Construction cost databases
  • Data formats: PDF, Graphics (2D, 3D, PNG, JPG, …)
  • Industry specific glossaries
  • Industry Standards (ISO, NIST)
  • O & M Execution Guide
  • O & M Manuals
  • Standardized data architectures (Cobie, Masterformat, Uniformat, Omniclass)
  • Technical construction specification

Education, Training, and Support Services

Enhancing the understanding and appreciation specifically within the below areas will aid in improving productivity, quality, and satisfaction across the AECOO[2] sector, thereby bringing facilities management operations and maintenance to a higher level of performance:

  • Collaborative methods
  • Leadership without excessive management
  • Linking global oversight with local knowledge and execution
  • Life-cycle / total cost of ownership management techniques

Training and education must be required and ongoing for all stakeholders.

Metrics/Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Ongoing performance measurement supports informed, information-based, decision making and improve resource allocation targeting facilities operations and maintenance.

From a generic perspective, an effective measurement system includes:

  • Clearly defined, actionable, and measurable goals.
  • Key performance indicators that monitor the overall administration of O & M program, as well as individual projects / task orders, and all associated workflows, deliverables, and outcomes.
  • Established baselines enabling measurement of historical and current progress.
  • A basis of timely, accurate, repeatable, and verifiable information based upon standardized terms, definitions, and data architectures
  • Applicable reporting and feedback systems to support continuous improvement of processes, practices, and outcomes.
  • Leading Indicators (forecast future trends inside and outside the organization) as well as lagging indicators
  • Objective and unbiased information (not subject to manipulation) that is normalized (can be benchmarked against other organizations, departments, locations)
  • Statistically reliable
  • Unobtrusive (not disruptive of work or trust)
  • Appropriate (measures the right things)
  • Quantifiable
  • Verifiable/auditable.

The importance of performance measurement cannot be understated.  It is a fundamental element of LEAN management practices.

Sample O & M performance indicators:

  • Annualized Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) per building per gross area = Rate per square foot
  • Annualized TCO per building/Current replacement value = Percent of Current Replacement Value (CRV)
  • Annualized TCO per building/Net assignable square feet = Cost rate per net assignable square feet per building
  • Annualized TCO per building/Non-assignable square feet = Cost rate per non-assignable square feet per building
  • Annualized TCO per building/Building Interior square feet = Cost rate per interior square foot per building
  • Churn Rate
  • Utilization Rate
  • AI (Adaptation Index) or PI (Programmatic Index) = PR (Program Requirements)/CRV (Current Replacement Value)
  • Uptime or Downtime = Defined in percent, as amount of time asset is suitable for the program(s) served.
  • Facility Operating Gross Square Foot (GSF) Index (SAM Performance Indicator: APPA 2003)
  • Custodial Costs per square foot
  • Grounds Keeping Costs per square foot
  • Energy Usage is expressed as a ratio of British Thermal Units (BTUs) for each Gross Square Foot (GSF) of facility, group of facilities, site or portfolio = British Thermal Units BTUs /  Gross Area GSF
  • Utility Costs per square foot
  • Waste Removal Costs per square foot
  • Facility Operating Current Replacement Value (CRV) Index = Facility Operating CRV Index = Annual Facility Maintenance Operating Expenditures ($)/Current Replacement Value ($) (SAM Performance Indicator: APPA 2003)
  • Facility Operating GSF Index = Annual Facility Maintenance Operating Expenditures ($)/Gross Area (GSF)
  • Planned/Preventive Maintenance Costs per square foot
  • Emergency Maintenance Costs as a percentage of Annual Operations Expenditures.
  • Unscheduled/Unplanned Maintenance Costs as a percentage of Annual Operations Expenditures.
  • Repair costs (man hours and materials) as a percentage of Annual Operations Expenditures
  • FCI (Facility Condition Index) = DM (Deferred Maintenance) + CR (Capital Renewal)/CRV (Current Replacement Value)
  • Recapitalization Rate, Reinvestment Rate
  • Deferred Maintenance Backlog
  • Facilities Deterioration Rate
  • AI (Adaptive Index) or PI (Programmatic Index) = PR (Program Requirements)/CRV (Current Replacement Value)
  • FQI (Facility Quality Index) or Quality Index or Index = FCI (Facility Condition Index)+ AI (Adaptive Index)
  • Capital Renewal Index = Annual Capital Renewal and Renovation/Modernization Expenditure ($)/Current Replacement Value ($)Emerging Issues

[1] The construction project delivery method, or project delivery method is the process established to define, cost, procure, execute, and manage ) O & M and other construction/service tasks.  As there are numerous and disparate operations and maintenance projects facing real property owners and their service providers, is it critical that they be accomplished in a timely and cost effective manner.

 

[2] AECOO-Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operations, Owner