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IFMA Launches World Facility Management Day

By Ajarfor Emmanuel Abugri
General News IFMA Launches World Facility Management Day
MAR 30, 2018 LISTEN

The Greater Accra Chapter of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) has officially announced the World Facility Management Day celebration which is scheduled for 16thMay, 2018 under the theme, “Enabling Positive Experiences.”

Speaking at a news conference in Accra, the President of IFMA, Arch. Sampson Opare-Agyemang said World FM Day has offered an opportunity to recognize the vital work that facility management professionals and the FM industry contribute to business worldwide since 2008.

He noted that Facilities Managers are involved in building management from design stage to enhance its overall life leading to an efficient running of the building at an ongoing cost that adds to the overall value of the building.

Mr. Agyemang indicated that the challenge today in our built environment is not just bad maintenance culture as we always say but the challenge is the lack of skilled manpower and understanding of the value of FM by governments, business owners and financial institutions.

According to him, every business in the world is established with Value in mind, value as defined by shareholders and stakeholders.

“Companies use resources to derive and deliver value - ASSET - comprising of current assets and fixed assets. Fixed assets (buildings, machinery, equipment, etc) in most cases constitute about 60% of the total assets of an institution,” he stated.

The President of IFMA added that Facilities Management (FM), which in most cases is seen as a back office function or maintenance department rather than a strategic business function, is responsible for the management of 60% of the total assets of the business and the way that responsibility is executed will positively or negatively affect the bottom-line of the business.

“Architects, Civil Engineers, Building Technology Professionals, Land Economy Professionals, Estate Managers etc. are the ones practising FM today in Ghana. All these professionals speak their different languages because of their background. The IFMAGAC is here to educate and empower all these professionals to speak the language of Facilities Management and to apply the new ISO 41001 Facilities Management standards to achieve results and add value to the core buisness activities of any organization,” he intimated.

The Government is rolling out its fantastic initiatives like the free Senior High School (SHS) programme, one district one factory policy, one village one dam policy etc, MrAgyemang saidthese are all programmes that can only be realised in a buit environment.

He indicated that these are very expensive assets to the govermnent and the tax payer adding, “We at the IFMAGAC are saying these programmes can only be better managed and sustained by FM management strategies and standards. The focus must be shifted from the initial cost of the assets but rather more on the Life Cycle Cost of the asset.”

The President of IFMA emphasized that as part of the weeklong celebration, they want to focus more on advancing the visibility and empowerment of the FM professional for a better built environment in Ghana.

He indicated that Facility Managers influence the health, safety, productivity and well-being of people who utilize the built environment.

According to him, decisions made by successive Governments are increasingly influencing the Facility Management (FM) profession from common sense solutions for energy efficiency to the importance of FM training and standardization.

“It is our responsibility to not only understand and benefit from policies affecting the built environment, but also provides the FM perspective to our elected officials and to influence legislation,” he posited.

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