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Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
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2

Facilities Management Departments

INTRODUCTION

Facilities are defined as “something that is designed, built, installed, etc., to serve a specific function affording a convenience or service” and “something that permits the easier performance of an action, course of conduct, etc.”1 Facilities include all necessary exterior and interior fixed assets that form the built environment supporting the functions and mission of an organization. For the purposes of this study, “facilities” represents the built environment, including buildings, roads, and parking lots, and the plumbing, electrical, heating, and cooling infrastructure systems necessary to support an organization’s functions and services, including but not limited to hospitals, clinics, offices, utilities, grounds, roads, support buildings, parking, and physical security systems.

Organizations both public and private rely on facilities to achieve their organizational purpose and mission through the safe, efficient, and effective delivery of their individual goods and services. Without the built environment, organizations would not be able to deliver many critical functions and services. When facilities fail, the mission of the organization often fails. When facilities are not maintained, repair costs and risks to the mission and probability of failures rise. In the case of many services such as medical care, emergency response, and housing, the failure of facilities supporting those services may negatively impact the public’s safety and quality of life and the perception of the owning organization. Thus, effective and efficient operations, maintenance, repair, and modernization of facilities are of critical importance. Lives and livelihoods depend on reliable facilities.

Organizations rely on facilities management (FM) departments to lead and provide for facilities planning, design and construction, operations and maintenance, real property management, and associated services of the organization’s physical plant. The International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) defines FM as a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety, and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process, and technology.2 The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines FM as the “organizational function which integrates people, place, and process within the built environment with the purpose of improving the quality of life of people and the productivity of the core business.”3 Organizationally, the FM department may be wholly organic or internal to the organization

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1 For the complete definition of facilities, see https://www.dictionary.com/browse/facility, accessed August 28, 2019.

2 International Facility Management Association, “What is Facility Management?,” https://www.ifma.org/about/what-is-facility-management, accessed August 28, 2019.

3 Ibid.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
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they support and service, an entirely contracted or outsourced function, or a hybrid combination of the two based on the organization’s size and priorities.

This chapter first provides a broad overview of the three major functions of an FM department, specifically Capital Projects (CPs), to include facilities planning and design and construction; Operations and Maintenance (O&M); and Engineering Administration (EA). These are core functions of an FM department and are the primary focus within the statement of task from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Facilities Management (Engineering). The chapter provides an overview of the general scope of duties and responsibilities, staffing, and skill sets to execute and deliver on these duties and responsibilities, as well as example performance measures to monitor and assess the efficiency and effectiveness of these three major FM functions. The chapter also outlines additional or unique considerations associated with federal facilities as well as medical facilities.

CAPITAL PROJECTS

Providing facilities begins with their actual construction and outfitting. Before a facility can be constructed, the work must be specifically planned to outline what is to actually be constructed and how. This work is a major function within the FM department called Capital Projects (CPs). The CP function includes two elements: (1) planning and programming and (2) design and construction.

Planning and Programming

Planning for an organization’s facility investment needs is an integral part of the strategic planning process. In this work, facilities planners and organizational leaders assess the ability of the organization’s buildings and infrastructure to support its strategic goals and objectives as it responds to changes in the operating environment. Through the planning process, many factors, including the organization’s facility size and capacity, configuration, age, condition, quality, efficiency, safety, and regulatory compliance, are assessed against the current operating environment as well as the conditions forecast for the organization’s future. Facilities planning provides recommendations in terms of projects or acquisition or disposal strategies to overcome any gaps or shortfalls in the ability or capacity of the organization’s facilities to support its mission or business objectives or reduce or eliminate outdated, obsolete, or excess capacity. These recommendations are evaluated against the organization’s budgetary, economic, risk, and resource conditions.

The result of the planning process is a set of steps, actions, or projects needed to enable the organization to effectively carry out and sustain its mission into the future. These can include facilities projects to construct, upgrade, renovate, or demolish buildings, or projects to provide utility services or upgrade and enhance the capacity of existing systems.

Approved building and infrastructure projects then enter the most important phase, the predesign or predesign planning phase, sometimes called programming. Decisions made in this phase set the stage for all actions and decisions to follow. There is more opportunity to consider and most effectively incorporate input from organizational leaders and other stakeholders, including regulatory authorities, into the project during this phase than at any other time in the project’s life cycle. In fact, the opportunity to effectively make changes decreases dramatically with each subsequent phase.

The programming or predesign process is a participatory process coordinated by the FM CP function, the product of which is a definition of the scope of work as well as project budget and schedule. The project programming or predesign process starts with a stakeholder group or planning committee led by or facilitated by the planning unit or function. This group or committee is made up of key personnel directly impacted by the proposed project—for example, production staff and group leaders for a manufacturing facility project, faculty or teachers for a classroom or academic research laboratory project, or physicians and nurses for a hospital or clinic project. This group should also include members of the FM department responsible for operating and maintaining the proposed project space and representatives of the chief financial officer or comptroller function, information technology and security, occupational safety and environmental compliance, sustainability, risk management, and general counsel, as well as members of the organization’s administration or strategic planning functions.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

The planning committee embarks on a process to identify, understand, and validate the specific origins of the project and the problem or need that the finished work is to solve or provide for. Project origins include needs to expand or otherwise change operational capacity; upgrade or modernize existing buildings and infrastructure; respond to changes in the organization’s operating environment, product or services lines, or environmental or other regulatory requirements; and respond to natural incidents or disasters. Existing operational and facility or infrastructure attributes are analyzed and assessed against the desired outcome of the project. This analysis includes facility and infrastructure size, age, condition, configuration, capacity, accessibility, safety, and operating efficiency as well as proximity to other spaces and systems and the potential impacts of other projects or initiatives.

The development of alternatives to solve the organization’s stated need or problem is the next step in the project programming or predesign process. The committee establishes its alternative selection criteria, which may include total project cost based on initial capital costs or life-cycle costs, total project scope, new versus renovated space, location, environmental impact, or other factors. These criteria may be weighted or prioritized for the individual organization’s goals, priorities, and purposes. The final product is documentation of all the project inputs, negotiations, and trade-offs and ultimately results in a recommended project scope or program, schedule, and budget.

The total project budget has two components, the owner’s budget—meaning the owning public or private organization or governmental entity—and the construction budget. For the purposes of this report, the owner would be the federal government through VHA. Generally, the owner’s budget can total from 20 to 40 percent of the total project budget and includes consultant fees; land or property acquisitions; testing; insurance and permits; moving or relocation and storage; and furnishings, fixtures, and equipment; as well as a line for contingencies and an accounting for inflation. The construction budget includes all costs associated with the new construction or renovation, site work, utilities, and infrastructure. A successful project predesign process sets the stage for all that follows in a building’s life cycle. The more deliberate and detailed the predesign is, the more effective the design and construction phases will be.

While the planning and programming processes incorporate personnel from across the organization, including senior leaders and managers, financial experts, and operational service and product delivery subject-matter experts, the FM CP function plays the important role of information integrator, requiring a unique set of skills. FM CP staff in the planning function may include architects; interior designers; planners; cost estimators; financial technicians; mechanical, electrical, industrial, systems, and civil engineers; project managers; engineering technicians; environmental and safety specialists; contracting officials; and data analysts.

Data systems play a critically important role in the planning and programming function. Key data requirements include but are not limited to owned space, including acreage and building or facility square footage and as-built drawings; facility age and condition; utility configuration and capacity; energy cost and consumption rates, history, and trends; space utilization and production measures; and construction costs.

Project Management and Delivery

The design and construction of the project delivery function within the FM department moves project predesigns developed by the planning function into execution and reality. There are several delivery or execution strategies that the FM CP function utilizes in the project delivery process, including but not limited to the following:4

  • Design-Bid-Build (D-B-B)—Architects and engineers (A/E) are hired by the owner to develop plans and specifications for a building. Based on the plans, a contractor is selected to build the building. During construction, the A/E sees that the contractor builds according to the plans and specifications and that the owner meets financial and other obligations to the contractor.5

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4 For a more detailed discussion of potential project management and deliver methods (acquisition strategies), see https://facilities.health.mil/d/1060, accessed November 14, 2019.

5 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota, “Understanding Project Delivery,” https://www.aia-mn.org/wp-content/uploads/project_delivery.pdf, accessed August 28, 2019.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
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  • Negotiated Bid—The general contractor and A/E are selected by the owner at the project’s inception and work together throughout the delivery process.6
  • Construction Manager at Risk (CM@R)—CM@R is a contracting strategy in which the general contractor or construction manager (CM) is selected early in the design phase and acts as a consultant during design and agrees to deliver the project within a guaranteed maximum price (GMP).7
  • Design-Build (D-B)—The owner enters into a contract with a design-builder, who designs and constructs the project.8

The FM project management and CP delivery function guides the project through the design process, documenting the details and the specific outcomes of the project. The design process typically includes three phases and products—specifically, schematic design (SD), design development (DD), and construction documents (CDs)—in preparation for actual construction (Haggans, 2010). The long view and total cost of ownership (TCO) are typically considered in making design decisions throughout the design process. This includes impacts of individual design and specification decisions on future O&M practices and costs to include energy efficiency, sustainability, and FM staffing. The ability to influence these factors is highest in SD and drops dramatically during the DD and CD phases and into construction.

Throughout the design process, the project management team makes decisions on project elements and scope of work based on cost estimates. These estimates become more refined and detailed as the project design moves from the SD phase through the CD phase. The construction bidding and contract award phase define what the specific cost of the project will be when the CD documents are offered to a contractor or contractors for their firm offer or statement as to what the cost of the project will be.

In construction bidding, price or cost is usually the key consideration in contractor selection. For many projects, typically government construction, a project is awarded based on the lowest bid or price. However, in some cases, contractor qualifications, methodologies, or other factors can be equally or more important than price.

The ultimate bidding and selection process is dependent on the project delivery method and overall size, typically utilizing one of several solicitation practices. Bidding methodologies include an invitation for bid (IFB) or request for bid (RFB) for competitively bid projects, typically publicly advertised with the award going to the lowest responsible bidder; best value (BV), when the focus of selecting the construction contractor is on offering the most advantageous services to the owner; price and other factors; and sole source or negotiated cost/price, when the owner has a preferred contractor and a general sense of the expected cost of the work. These methodologies may be used by governmental entities depending on their individual jurisdiction.

Regardless of the solicitation and bidding process, the FM project management and delivery function are responsible for getting the contract awarded and giving the contractor the notice to proceed (NTP). The NTP is a formal letter from the owner to the contractor indicating the approval and acceptance of the contractor’s bid and provides direction to the contractor to begin construction based on specific start and finish dates.

Through the construction process, the FM project management and delivery function coordinate work among the owner, other departments of the organization, as well as city, county, or state inspectors and regulators and the contractor. The FM project management and delivery function also review and provide oversight of material and product submittals, site visits, testing and inspections, and processing of change orders.

At the end of construction, the FM project management and delivery function guide project closeout by finalizing a project “punch list” for those items to be completed before the project can be declared complete, ensuring that final building component testing and commissioning is accomplished to verify that elements operate and function as designed, and to make certain that life safety and security items are in place and function appropriately before the building or space is occupied.

The FM CP function for an organization may be entirely an in-house group for larger organizations, entirely

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6 AIA MBA Joint Committee, “Procurements & Supplements,” http://www.aiambajointcommittee.org/i9-negotiated-bid.asp, accessed August 28, 2019.

7 “Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) Delivery Method,” https://www.ccgov.net/DocumentCenter/View/3238/CMAR-Information?bidId=, accessed August 28, 2019.

8 AIA, “Design-Build Family,” https://www.aiacontracts.org/contract-doc-pages/27146-design-build-family, accessed August 28, 2019.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

contracted for, or some combination of the two based on the owner’s priorities and resources. The staff required to do this work include architects; mechanical, electrical, and civil engineers; contracting technicians; project managers; engineering technicians; and environmental and safety specialists. The architects and engineers may often be professionally registered with the state in which they are functioning. While technical training and professional registration are important in staffing the FM project management and delivery function, there are six knowledge domain and skill sets that are critical to the project delivery process, as follows (Gransberg, 2019):

  1. Leadership and ability to coordinate other staff;
  2. Risk identification and analysis skills;
  3. Strong partnering and team-building skills;
  4. Knowledge of project delivery and procurement procedure;
  5. Ability to analyze constructability reviews and project phasing; and
  6. Knowledge of construction contract administration.

Performance and effectiveness of CP functions are typically measured in several metrics and feedback mechanisms, including adherence to project schedule and budget, the number and type of change orders, safety or environmental incidents or issues, waste and recycling, post-occupancy evaluations and effectiveness, and customer satisfaction (Komarek, 2019).

OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

Facilities operations and maintenance encompass a broad spectrum of services, competencies, processes, and tools required to assure the built environment will perform the functions for which a facility was designed and constructed. Operations and maintenance typically include the day-to-day activities necessary for the building/built structure, its systems and equipment, and occupants/users to perform their intended function. Operations and maintenance are combined into the common term O&M because a facility cannot operate at peak efficiency without being maintained; therefore the two are discussed as one.9

Operations of facilities generally refer to the provision of utilities, including but not limited to power; steam; heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC); gas; clean air; and water supply and basic services such as janitorial, pest control, and grounds maintenance. Operations may also include fire response, wastewater treatment, water plant operations, power generation stations, and power distribution systems, and other specialty services.

Maintenance is generally the work required to keep all building systems and components operating efficiently and effectively and to ensure a safe and accommodating environment. Maintenance may also include ensuring that appropriate aesthetics are maintained, such as painting walls and ceilings, cleaning windows, and repairing furnishings. Maintenance is most often associated with repairs, both emergency and routine, and preventive maintenance, such as changing out filters regularly or ensuring proper lubrication of moving parts.

Linked closely with O&M is sustainability, meaning taking into account both the demand and sources of energy for the facility and the environmental impacts of the materials and processes within the facility as well as the disposal of wastes and expended items. A well-run O&M function will ensure that energy and water conservation are considered and that resources are used efficiently. It strives to ensure that building systems are operated at peak efficiency. Besides meeting regulations and laws, environmental stewardship of building systems ensures the comfort and well-being of building occupants.

O&M is a critical phase in a building life cycle. Many studies have shown that more than 70 percent10 of the life cycle cost of a facility is in O&M over the building’s life, with the balance being in the building’s initial planning, design, and construction, as well as its ultimate disposal. Inadequate O&M lowers the potential life of a building and results in higher operating, repair and renovation, or replacement costs. This has been shown to be

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9 Sapp, D. “Facilities Operations & Maintenance–An Overview,” Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG), updated December 5, 2017, https://www.wbdg.org/facilities-operations-maintenance.

10 Two of many references of O&M costs over a building life cycle include the Whole Building Design Guide at wbdg.org and National Research Council, 2012, Predicting Outcomes of Investments in Maintenance and Repair of Facilities, The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

true both at the overall building level and at each system level (i.e., HVAC, electrical, plumbing, exterior envelope); inadequate maintenance of a chiller, for example, will lead to higher operating and repair costs or failure of the chiller earlier than designed.

O&M staffing consists of management (planners, schedulers, inspectors, work-order system operators, contract management specialists, forepersons, and trades personnel, including boiler/steam plant operators, water/wastewater plant operators, carpenters, electricians, HVAC technicians, plumbers, painters, laborers, locksmiths, technicians, auto mechanics, etc.). O&M staff often require special training, licensure, or certification in a trade or operations. A typical O&M function will include operations, maintenance, engineering, training, and administration.

The O&M function may be staffed entirely with in-house personnel, completely contracted out, or a combination of the two to best meet the needs of the entire organization. This function may be organized by specific trades (carpentry, electrical, mechanical, etc.) or “zones” created to served specific physical areas or units within an organization. When contracting for O&M services, the FM department may utilize an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. IDIQ contracts are used when the total need or scope of work or service is not known or cannot be precisely determined above a specified minimum level and are used for service contracts as well as for some architect-engineering services.

Another contracting tool is the job order contract (JOC). A JOC is a strategy for getting small, simple, and commonly encountered work done easily and quickly and essentially provides the facility owner with an on-call general contractor who is well suited to carry out relatively simple repetitive jobs and tasks. JOCs may be used for routine maintenance, upgrades and renovations, alterations, and minor construction. These jobs usually have minimal design requirements.

There are many ways to measure O&M performance. The primary measure is known as deferred maintenance (DM). DM is normally a measure of the cost to do maintenance or repairs resulting from not performing the proper preventative or regular maintenance on a system as discussed in FASAB40.11 Also known as a repair backlog, DM is a liability that many organizations include in their financial reports. The condition index (CI) is a ratio of the repair needs (DM) to the overall plant replacement value of the building (facility condition index [FCI]) or system. IFMA (www.community.ifma.org/fmpedia) lists the following for the overall Facility Condition Index:

  • 0-5% = Good
  • 5-10% = Fair
  • 10-30% = Poor
  • Above 30% = Critical

Federal agencies have often tried to quantify at what level FCI becomes critical, and most now also sort it by the class of facility. For example, maybe it is acceptable for a warehouse to have an FCI of 20 percent, but a hospital or mission critical building would be critical at 10 to 15 percent.

Other performance measures may include but are not limited to:

  • The number or percentage of preventative or regularly scheduled maintenance tasks completed on time.
  • The number of customer-generated service calls or work orders in a given time period.
  • The ratio of preventative maintenance to repair (or reactive maintenance) work orders completed.
  • System downtime measured as either the percentage of time a system is not operating or available due to lack of maintenance and repairs or the amount of time a system is not operating or available.
  • Cost per square foot (energy, janitorial or custodial services, general maintenance), cost per acre (grounds maintenance), and others.
  • Customer and employee satisfaction normally measured through surveys.

To reiterate the importance of facilities and the risk of inadequate maintenance, the preceding measures, including FCI, are indicators of the risk of facility failures and therefore potentially risks to lives and livelihoods.

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11 FASAB 40. Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 40: Definitional Changes Related to Deferred Maintenance and Repairs: Amending Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards 6, Accounting for Property, Plant, and Equipment. See http://files.fasab.gov/pdffiles/handbook_sffas_40.pdf, accessed December, 2019.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

In a perfect world, organizations should be able to directly measure the outcomes of their FM program, such as the impact on their customers or those who depend on the organization’s services.

ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION

Leadership, integration, and coordination of the various functions of the FM department come through Engineering Administration. This includes a host of activities such as budgeting, procurement and contract administration, reporting, personnel management, training, safety, logistics, advocacy, and general leadership of the FM department. IFMA12 has established a set of core competencies that may be used as a framework for the overall FM function and define the role of Engineering Administration:

  • Communication—Communication plans and processes for both internal and external stakeholders.
  • Finances and Business—Strategic plans, budgets, financial analyses, and procurement.
  • Human Factors—Healthful and safe environment, security, and FM employee development.
  • Leadership and Strategy—Strategic planning, organizing, staffing, and lead in the organization department.
  • Operations and Maintenance—Building operations and maintenance and occupant services.
  • Project Management—Oversight and management of all projects and related contracts.
  • Quality—Best practices, process improvements, audits, and measurements.
  • Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity—Emergency and risk management plans and procedures.
  • Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability—Sustainable management of built and natural environments.
  • Real Estate and Property Management—Real estate planning, acquisition, and disposition.
  • Technology—Facility management technology and workplace management systems.

Because the FM department can have a substantial impact on the overall organization’s effectiveness, the FM department must have a seat at the table where they can be aware of and have input on both strategic and tactical initiatives and align the FM functions and work to make them successful.

It is the responsibility of the leader of the FM department, called chief engineer within VHA, to create a culture within the FM department aligned with the mission vision and goals of the greater organization. The committee heard of a story attributed to a visit by President John F. Kennedy to NASA headquarters in the early 1960s as an example of the ideal level of alignment. During the visit, President Kennedy introduced himself to a janitor in the facility and asked what he did at NASA. The janitor replied, “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”13 The janitor’s statement shows a culture of alignment of purpose from the front-line, individual contributor with that of the overall organization.

Budgeting and funding for FM, including O&M, repairs, renovations, modernization, and new construction is a critical aspect of an overall FM program. Most private organizations include FM as part of an overhead cost that is rolled into overall prices charged to customers. If budgeted too low, the FM department must seek to cut costs such as deferring scheduled maintenance actions, which often has a serious downstream impact such as resulting in faster deterioration, increased repair needs and costs, and increased risks of failures. Many private organizations also measure and attempt to understand the impact that facilities and their state of repair have on customer satisfaction, and in turn, on profit margins. Large private sector organizations use a variety of means to develop facilities budgets, including past and current operations costs (utility costs, for example), scheduled periodic maintenance costs, current and future repair or replacement needs often based on the standard life a system (such as a roof), engineering estimates, and so on.

As discussed in the section “Federal Facilities Considerations” later in this chapter, federal facilities are budgeted differently from private-sector facilities. Because FM is still considered “overhead” or a “support” function by federal sector appropriators and financial leadership, it is often tagged for a budget reduction in favor of diverting funds to mission-direct requirements. A rule of thumb developed by the National Academies Board

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12 See http://cdn.ifma.org/sfcdn/knowledge-base/ifmas-11-core-competencies.pdf?sfvrsn=0, accessed December 2019.

13 See https://www.inc.com/matt-given/mark-zuckerbergs-jfk-quote-is-a-master-class-on-th.html, accessed December 2019.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

of Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment indicates that the federal sector should budget at least 2 to 4 percent of the Plant Replacement Value of an agency’s real property portfolio to FM; the same report indicates that much of the private sector budgets 10 percent or more to FM (NRC, 1990).

In terms of personal management, Engineering Administration (EA) may oversee an array of functions including recruitment and hiring of staff, timekeeping, training and professional development, and credentialing or licensure. These functions may be informed or driven by internal FM policies and practices, broader organizational personnel management processes, and union contracts. The FM personnel management functions must balance the number of staff members and their skills or capacity to deliver the needed work. This can be difficult for FM department heads who have plants with a wide range of building systems age and the supporting technology systems and applications.

Procurement and contracting for an FM department can extend from the procurement of simple materials, supplies, and hand tools on the order of tens or hundreds of dollars, through service contracts and JOCs, to contracting for major capital construction on the order of hundreds of millions of dollars. Each will be governed by the organization’s policies, standards, and the jurisdiction they serve under.

Federal and other government contracting may have legal stipulations on contracting solicitation practices and administration standards such as set-asides for minority, women, disabled, and veteran-owned companies and stipulation and documentation of certain pay rates or scales under the Davis–Bacon Act, McNamara–O’Hara Service Contracts Wage Act, or prevailing wage standards. Organizations may, as part of their mission or business objectives, seek contracting strategies that advance social or environmental causes or initiatives such as buying local, supporting employee diversity, or green or sustainable materials and practices. Each adds a layer of complexity to procurement and contract administration that can impact the workload of the EA function.

Other elements of FM functions and culture include quality, safety, continuous improvement, and sustainability. These elements can be established, shaped, refined, and reinforced by utilizing service levels or standards created in concert with organizational leaders and stakeholders, responding to reviews or audits by internal and external groups, benchmarking with data and resources provided by professional organizations such as IFMA and the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), and standards established by the ISO such as ISO 41001, “Standards in Facility Management,” (ISO, 2018) or ISO 55000, “Asset Management” (2014).

Benchmarking along with dashboards and performance measurement requires a common understanding and definition for the data being collected (Coffelt and Hendrickson, 2017). In addition, data must be consistent, reliable, and of repeatable quality to be actionable and useful across the organization and at various levels or echelons of the organization. Aligning the importance of quality data collection and management up and down the organization is vital to both FM decision makers and the EA function facilities technicians and provides data confidence for decision makers.

Quality management and the concept of continuous process improvement is an important role in EA. There are several dimensions to quality. The first level is compliance, doing the minimum to meet various accreditation and legal compliance measures. The second level is achieving selected performance measures greater than simple compliance. The highest level of quality is meeting the first two levels but establishing a quality management system as defined by ISO standards. ISO 41001 is specifically designed for facility management (ISO, 2018). Other ISO standards apply to FM, but they follow the same format of creating a quality organization. The basic principles behind ISO 41000 are based on the Plan, Do, Check, Act model within many quality standards (ISO, 2018, p. vii), as follows:

  1. Plan—Develop the plan for the delivery of facility services based on the needs of the organization being served. Establish commensurate goals of the organization and service delivery expectations. Provide leadership and policies and define roles and responsibilities along with risks and opportunities, objectives, and planning horizons as well as the initial resources, competence, communication, and information for success.
  2. Do—Operationalize or execute the plan, including conducting process controls, coordination, and delivery.
  3. Check—Includes performance evaluation, monitoring, measurement, analysis, and evaluation, internal audits, and management review.
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
  1. Act—Seeks to initiate corrective measures to improve on identified nonconformity through a combination of corrective and preventative actions and a mindset of continual improvement.

Many of these items involve the use of advanced management techniques such as Lean Six Sigma, Deming quality data analysis, and so on. Establishing and integrating the ISO quality program into day-to-day FM operations has been shown to result in quality outcomes.

In order to not only implement strategies resulting from the continuous improvement initiatives but also respond to the dynamic regulatory environment and new and emerging technologies, the FM department must be open to and embrace change. This starts with deliberate and continuous communication from the FM department leadership, the chief engineer, and individual section leaders. This communication should address the concerns and fears of each level of the FM organization, seek and respond to feedback, and provide a vision for how the change will benefit individual FM employees and the organization as a whole.

Technology tools and applications play an ever-increasing role in the effective operation of the FM department. EA provides oversight and integration of the various technology tools and their use within and across various FM functions. One application is in the area of building information modeling (BIM) technology. BIM creates and manages digital models of an organization’s buildings and systems. Through BIM, one can visualize a specific space and alignment of structural, mechanical, and utility systems. While BIM was originally developed to aid architects, engineers, and contractors in the planning, design, and construction of new buildings, BIM applications have expanded to include space and O&M management. BIM helps facilities managers performing the EA function to make data-driven decisions about design strategies, renovation, space utilization, energy consumption, and retrofitting (Ruffle, 1986).

Computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) is a technology application used by the O&M function to maintain data about the FM departments’ building systems and their maintenance and operations. A CMMS can manage data associated with building system and equipment asset data management, preventive maintenance requirements and procedures, staff work hours, scheduling and planning, work orders, logistics, and inventory items, purchasing, and vendors. Reports from the CMMS can aid and serve as input to the engineering projects function, specifically project programming and design efforts.

Technology also plays a role in building operations. A smart building is a structure that uses automated processes and devices connected to the Internet of Things (IoT) to control buildings systems and how they operate, including heating, air conditioning, lighting, and security systems, and to monitor facility temperature and humidity as well as overall system performance. A smart building can save organizations money, as they can be configured to notify FM O&M and this likely reduces EA workload maintenance teams when building systems are not operating effectively. This allows building managers to proactively address potential issues and prevent equipment failures before they might occur and negatively impact an organization’s operations.

When these systems are used with an integrated workplace management system (IWMS), all of the facility data are consolidated into a single resource and enables FM to identify opportunities to improve how the facility is operated, utilized, and secured. Cybersecurity measures must be considered by the FM department because these systems and the facility data may be connected to or accessible through the Internet and may be subject to compromise.

The EA function of an FM department may be staffed by a wide range of personnel. The chief engineer is typically an engineer by training and education, but could also be the senior tradesperson in the FM department. EA staff may also include administrative personnel, schedulers, accounting and budget personnel, contract administrators, quality or production specialists, data analysts, logistics and supply personnel, planners, engineering technicians, and additional engineers or tradespeople.

Performance measures for EA may include the following:14

___________________

14 The committee’s intent was to simply offer a set of representative performance measures, not an exhaustive list nor a prioritized list of measures for facilities excellence or success. Each organization and FM department will establish their own set of measures that align with their individual mission and business priorities and objectives.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
  • Overall facilities cost per square foot or cost growth or reduction;
  • Budget execution effectiveness;
  • Contract cost growth or number and size change orders;
  • Personnel fill or turnover rates;
  • Training or certification completion rates;
  • Safety incidents and severity;
  • Lost time injury or accident rates; and
  • Construction or work order material availability or fill rates.

OTHER FM FUNCTIONS

Depending on the sector, organizational operating principles, and business model of the owning organization, FM departments may include a wide array of complementary or associated functions and services. These may include the following:

  • Real estate management (sales, purchases and acquisitions, and leases);
  • Grounds maintenance and landscaping;
  • Vehicle or fleet management;
  • Custodial services and housekeeping;
  • Entomology;
  • Occupational safety and compliance;
  • Environmental compliance, hazardous waste management, and stormwater management;
  • Sustainability; and
  • Emergency preparedness and management.

Each of these functions requires a unique skilled and semi-skilled workforce and utilizes a set of equipment, tools, materials, and data to effectively deliver on their required products and services.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS AND FACTORS

Federal Facilities Considerations

FM for federal agencies requires additional considerations that are not present in many comparable private sector facilities. The primary tenets of FM, however, are the same. For example, the definitions of FM and the goals of the FM department do not differ substantially from the private sector to federal sector facilities. The federal sector, however, has some important differences, including how the FM function is financed, federal regulations and policies, and stakeholders. Table 2.1 outlines some of the differences between private-sector and public-sector management that impacts FM (NRC, 2008).

The federal sector is driven by a unique “board of directors”—Congress. While the Secretary of Veterans Affairs may report to the President, the budget is approved and released by Congress, which has many competing interests. The public sector’s stockholders are technically all taxpayers. The VA and VHA are specifically serving a unique population—U.S. veterans. By policy and regulation, cost management and efficiencies are primary drivers for federal FM departments, whereas in the private sector, profit is the primary driver. The federal FM departments may also have more inspection requirements than their private-sector counterparts. In addition to certification or licensure inspections, the federal facility will likely undergo at least one Inspector General (IG) inspection and may undergo inspections by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The committee observed that the private sector and public sector FM have the same fundamental goals and similar challenges (Robinson, 2019). Both have to satisfy their customers and stakeholders and ensure mission success. The budget challenges of the federal sector may be greater and more complicated, but overall federal and private sector FM share many of the same attributes.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

TABLE 2.1 Comparing Balanced Scorecards in the Private- and Public-Sector Management

Feature Private Sector Public Sector
Focus Shareholder value Mission effectiveness
Financial goals Profit, market share growth, innovation, creativity Cost reduction, efficiency, accountability to the public
Efficiency concerns of clients No Yes
Desired outcome Customer satisfaction Stakeholder satisfaction
Stakeholders Stockholders, bondholders Taxpayers, legislators, inspectors
Who defines budget priorities Customer demand Leadership, legislators, funding agencies
Key success factors Uniqueness, advanced technology Sameness, economies of scale, standardized technology

SOURCE: NRC (2008), p. 68, Mathys and Thompson (2006).

Medical and Health-Care Facilities

Management of health-care facilities, both public and private, is differentiated from other facilities by the need for an increased focus on the urgency and timeliness of service and a higher degree of specialized regulatory accreditation and code compliance. The FM department must ensure a very high state of system reliability, minimizing and striving to eliminate “never events.” One accrediting body is The Joint Commission, an independent, not-for-profit organization, that accredits and certifies health-care organizations and programs in the United States.15 Another is the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).16 Each has standards for the design, operations, and maintenance of facilities and their systems.

These accrediting bodies incorporate standards from national organizations such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA); the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), an organization of health-care facility managers, engineers, and other professionals dedicated to optimizing the health-care physical environment;17 and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). Standards of special note and emphasis for health-care facilities are as follows:

NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code (HCFC) establishes criteria for levels of health care services or systems based on risk to the patient, staff, or visitors in healthcare facilities to minimize the hazards to fire, explosion, and electricity.18

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/ASHRAE/ASHE Standard 170, Ventilation of Health Care Facilities, defines ventilation system design requirements that provide environmental control for comfort, asepsis, and odor in healthcare facilities.19

NFPA 101, Life Safety Code (LSC), is the most widely used source for strategies to protect people based on building construction, protection, and occupancy features that minimize the effects of fire and related hazards. Unique in the

___________________

15 For more information about The Joint Commission, see https://www.jointcommission.org/about_us/about_the_joint_commission_main.aspx, accessed August 28, 2019.

16 For more information about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, see https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/About-CMS.html, accessed August 28, 2019.

17 For an overview of American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), see http://www.ashe.org/about/index.shtml, accessed August 28, 2019.

18 National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), “NFPA 99, Health Care Facilities Code,” https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/allcodes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=99, accessed August 28, 2019.

19 For more health care facilities resources, see American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/bookstore/health-care-facilities-resources, accessed August 29, 2019.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×

field, it is the only document that covers life safety in both new and existing structures.20 (1) This Code is intended to be adopted and used as part of a comprehensive program of building regulations that include building, mechanical, plumbing, electrical, fuel gas, fire prevention, and land use regulations. (2) Prevention of injury incurred by an individual due to that individual’s failure to use reasonable care. (3) Preservation of property from loss by fire. Chapters 18, health care occupancies, and 19, life safety code has specific chapters for health care occupancies.

NFPA 70, National Electric Code, sets the foundation for electrical safety in residential, commercial, and industrial occupancies with Chapter 5, Special Occupancies, section 517, Health Care Facilities.21

NFPA 45, Standard on Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals, provides basic requirements to protect life and property through prevention and control of fires and explosions involving the use of chemicals in laboratory-scale operations.22

SUMMARY

The FM department plays a critical role in the effectiveness and success of an organization. While the FM department may include a wide array of functions and activities, the primary services provided by the FM department are capital projects to include the planning and programming of major projects and initiatives and the operations and maintenance of the organization’s physical plant. These services and other roles and activities within the FM department are coordinated and integrated with EA leadership. Effective FM departments utilize skilled professional and trades personnel, data, technology, and continuous improvement principles to most effectively support their organization in delivering products and services and to achieve the organization’s overall mission in a competitive, complex and ever-changing environment.

___________________

20 NFPA, “NFPA 101, Life Safety Code,” https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=101, accessed August 28, 2019.

21 NFPA, “NFPA 70, National Electrical Code,” https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codes-and-standards/list-of-codes-andstandards/detail?code=70, accessed August 28, 2019.

22 NFPA, “NFPA 45, Standard on Fire Protection for Laboratories Using Chemicals,” https://www.nfpa.org/codes-and-standards/all-codesand-standards/list-of-codes-and-standards/detail?code=45, accessed August 28, 2019.

Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 18
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 19
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 20
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 21
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 22
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 23
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 24
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 25
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 26
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 27
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 28
Suggested Citation:"2 Facilities Management Departments." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Facilities Staffing Requirements for the Veterans Health Administration–Resource Planning and Methodology for the Future. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25454.
×
Page 29
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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is America's largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,243 health care facilities, including 172 medical centers and 1,063 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity, serving 9 million enrolled Veterans each year. In addition, VHA has opened outpatient clinics and established telemedicine and other services to accommodate a diverse veteran population and continues to cultivate ongoing medical research and innovation. Facilities specific to VHA fulfill clinical, operational, research laboratory, and administrative functions. Each site is designed to serve a geographical location with specific health care needs. VHA's building inventory has sites of different ages, and often there is a mix of building size and age at each site or campus.

At the request of the VHA, this study presents a comprehensive resource planning and staffing methodology guidebook for VHA Facility Management Programs by reviewing the tasks of VHA building facilities staff and recommending actions for the VHA to meet the mission goals of delivering patient care, research, and effective operations.

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