Argument for the Involvement of the Facilities Manager in the Design Process The main role of a Facility Manager was the conversion of a physical product into a suitable

and habitable built environment (De Silva, 2011). The Facility Manager has to be aware of the organisation’s current business objectives and future financial goals and must possess the skills to ensure that the organisation’s facilities support its corporate goals in achieving these objectives (Leifer, 2003).

The responsibilities of maintaining and managing the facility exist with the Facility Manager, despite the Facility Manager not been conversant with the design concept employed by the architect (Mohammed and Hassanain, 2010 pp 73).

The detailed design stage was the most extensive and complex stage, particularly in terms of the volume of information produced by the design team and the degree of detail (Mitchel et al., 2011). This fact coupled with a previous assessment made by Mobley and Khuncumchoo (2006), that contractors and designers have little awareness of downstream uses of information which, lead to the loss of, or a failure to record, important information can result in Facility Managers never receiving all necessary information.

A number of claims from academics have voiced the possible benefits of including the Facility Manager in the construction process. Hodges (2005) concludes that Facility Managers were in a unique position to view the entire life cycle process and with the proper financial and strategic planning tools can create long-lasting value to the organisation by developing, implementing and maintaining sustainable facility practices. The Facility Manager should at least play an active role in the briefing process before and during construction with a new niche role possibly being developed for Facility Managers (Kelly et al., 2005 and Eley, 2001).

Kelly et al., (2005) predicts that involving the Facility Manager in this process will result in operational issues being addressed from the onset, and the contribution of key data in developing and benefiting the briefing process and furthermore developing the organisation.

Ph.D Thesis 54 Barry McAuley Enoma (2005) comments that FM at the design stage will add value to the facility by ensuring less ‘rework’, emphasising value for money, efficient control of the supply chain and team work. Enoma highlights some of the benefits of the involvement of a Facility Manager in the design process which include lower cost of procurement due to reduction in design alteration and rework, provision of a facility that was better suited to the needs of the end-user, a facility that was attractive to potential users and clients, a facility that was easy to run and maintain, controlled and managed. In order for the Facility Manager to take a more active part in the design they should strive to understand the procurement process and the point at which their contributions to the decision making process will be most valuable, as so to justify their inclusion in the team.

Shah (2007) argues that FM, if integrated early into the construction process, can help maximise sustainable construction potential, as well as, providing a new cost focus for buildings. Mohammed and Hassanain (2010) voice the concern that the responsibilities of maintaining and managing the facility exist with the Facility Manager, despite not been conversant with the design concept employed by the architect. The authors claim that direct involvement of the Facility Manager in the design stage has the potential to decrease future maintainability issues during the O&M stage and if introduced correctly with the design team will contribute to reducing the needs for repairs and alterations in the lifecycle of the building.

Mohammed and Hassanain suggest that a Facility Manager who was responsible for the maintenance management activities throughout the operational lifespan of the facility, if integrated with the design team, will make a greater impact on enhancing functionality, sustainability, economy, time and maintainability of projects. Current research and practice suggests that the role of the Facility Manager starts with the occupancy phase and it contributes very little, if any, to design, due to the prevailing notion that the expertise of the Facility Manager was considered by a majority of clients and professionals as operational in nature. The authors explain that in the traditional process of designing projects, the absence of the specific role attached to the Facility Manager in the integrated design team has contributed to the low participation of these professionals in the design stage. According to the authors there was a need for further studies on the extent of the detailed contributions of the Facility Manager to the individual members of the design team, especially to address the problem of maintainability right from the design stage.

Ph.D Thesis 55 Barry McAuley De Silva (2011) observed that due to the failure to address FM problems right from the design stage, Facility Managers/ owners/users of high rise buildings face many concerns with the maintainability of the building. De Silva further speculates that Facility Managers can contribute significantly in the delivery of cost effective decisions for efficient maintainability of the facility. He further suggests that the information possessed by a Facility Manager was enriched due to their vast knowledge and experience, as well as the feedback from users of the building on operational and maintenance problems, could result in them becoming the

“pathway” for providing such feedback. De Silva outlines that there was still little evidence reported of acquiring benefits from a Facility Manager during the project development phase.

Meistad and Valen’s (2012) involvement in three pilot case studies demonstrates how FM involvement improves the design phase of a construction project. They found that by involving the facility department in the design team had a positive effect on energy performance in the operation phase.

The benefit of early FM involvement was further supported by Brewer et al., (2013) who elaborates that through proactive FM involvement during the design phase can have the potential to improve occupant health, satisfaction, and productivity.

Failure to obtain FM input during a project’s design phase would likely result in an asset’s suboptimal contribution to a client’s business needs (Brewer et al 2013., pp 76).

It was suggested back in 2001, by Brown et al., that the FM profession and the Project Management professions must amalgamate to some degree to recognise the professional management role which must be provided within construction projects, in order to improve the propensity for successful project outcomes. Brewer et al., (2013) in their research state that despite ten years passing, it would appear that Brown et el., (2001) vision has yet to be fully realised.

Meng (2015) carried out a number of interviews to explore the past, present and future of FM and found one third of interviewees suggested that FM professionals should be consulted during the design process.

In recent years there has been a more conscious move towards involving the end user in the design stage of public works projects. An example of this was the GSL framework in the UK.

Their earlier involvement was predicted to help designers in achieving more informed decisions with regards to ongoing maintenance and cost of operations. The literature has

Ph.D Thesis 56 Barry McAuley established that early FM involvement, despite claims to the contrary, has the potential to address a number of future life cycle problems, which can be addressed during the design stage. This as evidenced was crucial when it comes to the management of public sector assets. The question to be addressed, considering the already established lack of recognition with regards to the Facility Manager’s role in the traditional construction process, was how BIM and ICT education and training can offer an alternative platform for them to showcase their skills.