Standards Development in Facilities ManagementThe development of standards in Facilities Management dates back to 2004 when an initiative was launched within Europe to gather together those who were striving across many European countries to develop Facilities Management as a professional discipline and the recognition that to do so we had to start to develop standards against which such recognition could leverage.BIFM has been at the forefront of this initiative from the beginning, through our involvement within the BSI Facilities Management Committee and representation at a European level within the Technical Committee.The UK has also contributed to the work that goes on behind the scenes through providing the Convenor to lead the development of the BS EN 15221-2 standard and currently with the recently commissioned work associated with the new Benchmark Standard (more details below).European StandardsIn 2006 the first two standards in Facilities Management BS EN 15221-1 Terms and Definitions and BS EN 15221-2 Guidance on How to prepare Facility Management Agreements were published following over two years of development and authorisation via the European Standards processes.These standards have been accepted by 30 participating Countries across Europe.Current DevelopmentsCurrently the second phase of the development of European standards is coming to a conclusion, in the development of them at least, and will be completed this year with publishing occurring in 2011.The current standards under development were established as a prerequisite to the development of a benchmark standard. The four standards under development are as follows:15221-3 Quality in Facilities Management15221-4 Taxonomy of Facilities Management15221-5 Facilities Management Processes15221-6 Facilities Management Space MeasurementBSIWithin the standards world there is a hierarchy that exists and is as follows:International - International Standards Organisation (ISO)Regional - The European Committee for Standardisation (CEN)National - The British Standards Institute (BSI)Within the BSI the BIFM was instrumental in establishing a Facilities Management Committee back in 2004 which continues to function. During this period the BSI itself has restructured most of what it does and as part of that process came to recognise the importance of Facilities Management and has recently become one of the core sectors within the Construction Sector.Since its inception back in 2004 the Committee has primarily focussed upon the European Standards initiative but through the recent restructure its remit is now diversifying across a greater range of standards either directly under the committees control or in many cases as a liaison with other committees within BSI.All such committees within BSI are supported through volunteer experts who give their time to critique the work that is being developed from whatever source in order to ensure that there is a UK input into any standards that are being generated whether they be at National, Regional or International level. Where we fail to do so we will potentially find our selves sub servant to standards that come our from European level for example into which the UK has had not involvement and therefore no input to the traditional UK approach to whatever topic it is we are talking about.Whilst standards are in the main voluntary in terms of compliance they do form the basis of Governmental and legal assessments as to what is right or wrong! Additional Expertise RequiredThe workload since the committee within BSI was formed has been supported by a small number of individuals, in part due to the restrictions that have existed for membership of such committees. They are also naturally restricted to those experts who with the support of their employers are able to give their time and the necessary expense to meet and discuss matters. In terms of the BSI Facilities Management Committee all such meeting take place in London.Typically the committee meets every other month and usually for 4 to 6 hours, therefore effectively consuming a working day. There is also a requirement for those involved to read, develop, critique and comment upon whatever topics are under discussion.Where European workgroups (contains experts from as many European National Standards Bodies as wish to participate) are formed, a nominated expert from the committee will volunteer to participate in the working group activities which will take place over potentially a two year period at intermittent intervals in order to develop the actual draft standards. The current activities within the BSI Facilities Management Committee require addition experts to assist us in ensuring that we gather such individuals from as wide a spectrum of our sector as possible and therefore the output from the committee will truly represent the diverse and disparate views across the sector in the UK.Our activities through 2010 and beyond are planned to embrace the following:15221-7 A new European Benchmark Standard in Facilities Management This standard is being led by Dave Wilson, past Deputy Chairman of BIFM, who as convenor of this workgroup will oversee the working group representing all the European National Standards Bodies. Dave sits on the BSI Facilities Management Committee as does our nominated expert Hermen Jan van Ree. It is important however that we have more members of the committee to ensure that Hermen represents the Facilities Management sector across the whole of the UK.Business Information ModellingA liaison role is required on behalf of the BSI Facilities Management Committee to interface with another committee within BSI who are actively engaged in developing ISO Standards in this regard.Sustainable Facilities Management Briefing StandardThe committee is about to embark upon the creation of a British Standard in relation to this activity. It has been determined that this is a standard that will fill a gap in what is available in the market to better inform those within commerce and industry who may be charged with the procurement of facilities relates services and management and this standard will act as a guide in doing so.Engineering Consultancy ServicesA liaison role to interface with a European Technical Committee which is developing a standard under this heading.Specification for the provision of ICT facilities and services in a workplaceA liaison role to interface with the development of a Public Available Specification within BSI covering all aspects of ICT within the workplace.Buildings and constructed assets Service life planningThis ISO standard requires a liaison role which has a considerable reach and scope as a standard and which continues to evolve through the standards process at international level. It consists of the following parts:Part 1: General principlesPart 2. Service life prediction proceduresPart 3. Performance audits and reviewsPart A. Data requirementsPart 5. Life cycle costingPart 6. Procedures for considering environmental impactsPart 7. Performance evaluation for feedback of service life data from practicePart 8. Reference service lifePart 9. Inclusion of requirements of service life assessment and service life declaration in product standardsPart 10. When to assess functional performanceConstruction DocumentationA liaison role with regard to the work within this international technical committee involved in the specification of all aspects of construction documentation, what it should be, how it should be structured etc.Sheltered Housing CommitteeA liaison role regarding the work currently being undertaken within BSI relating to the design of sheltered housing.Building Maintenance ManagementA lead role on behalf of the committee to rewrite this standard which was last published in 1986. The Facilities Management Committee has undertaken the responsibility of updating this standard.And many more.Your SupportAs already stated the Facilities Management Committee within BSI has, since its inception, struggled to attract sufficient diverse membership to give all of the activities listed above, and others, the attention that they deserve. Where we wish to be known as a leading built environment profession then it is incumbent upon us to demonstrate the leadership and support where such standards are being developed and to ensure that not only do we provide an input but that it truly represents the whole of our sector and is of a quality that truly represents what is best about Facilities Management in the UK.Having appealed to all of the built environment professions on various occasions with limited success we have now gained agreement to open the membership of the BSI Facilities Management Committee to a broader representation of the sector and in order to do that we are appealing to the BIFM membership as a whole to do so.From the above it may appear that the workload is large but this is not the case. With the right number and membership on the committee, apart from the approximately 6 attendances per year all that is required is to review the work that a nominated committee would produce and submit a summary critique or comment to the committee for consideration at each of its meetings.All members of the committee however would also be required to consider and critique the work relating to Facilities Management standards development, that being one of our core roles and responsibilities.Should you be interested in getting involved, either in the committee as a whole or in relation to any one particular aspect of it, please contact in the first instance Annie Horsley annie.horsley@bifm.org.uk who will coordinate the BIFM involvement.The BSI Facilities Management Committee will welcome your participation.Stan MitchellChairman BSI Facilities Management CommitteeFebruary 2010