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Facility Manager should be part of Architect’s team – A DEBATE

by Admin
0 comment

Sheetal: A lot of times architects are not aware that the building they have designed with so many protrusions and recesses, would be very tough to clean and maintain.

Kajal: My point is that facility manager should not restrict any architect or designer from doing what they want to. But the only thing we ask is that at the time of design the provisions should be made so that the facilities can be maintained.

Ashok: In many buildings, arrangements have been made. If not, then it becomes a major problem. So that is one part. The second part is that from the functional point of view, it is important to have the option to isolate facilities area wise. Say, you have five water tanks and you need to clean one water tank. You should not be faced with a situation where all the five tanks need to be emptied out. Very simply, in the design stage you can have valves incorporated, so you can isolate and clean one by one. Again, if there is a problem on one floor and you can isolate that one floor, by whatever design you make, then you do not need to shut down the entire building for maintenance. So these are aspects of planning that come in the design stage.

It looks so simple but even today we don’t find it in 10% of the facilities and we manage more than about 200 facilities in this country. So something as simple as this is also not part of the design. This is where the inputs of a facility manager can add value. The design and development stage when the building is coming up is maximum two to three years, but the next 40 years of maintenance is the facility manager’s job, so we need to plan it right. Simple things become very difficult to manage if not planned well. That has been my experience.

Another aspect on which we can provide feedback is safety & security.

Very recently in a building in Pune, where we were involved, had their diesel generator sets in the basement and there was no direct or easy access to these plant rooms. There was a major fire and we found that the fire brigade personnel had a difficult time reaching the basement. They sought our advice later on but this could have been avoided if facility managers were consulted at the initial stages.

Sheetal: These seem to be violations in basic building codes which really have to be followed when designing any building.

Ashok: And this is very basic. Let’s take the example of underground tanks. There are so many cases in the facility management industry. When you go to clean those tanks, people have injuries or faint because there is no proper ventilation. For any underground tank, the simplest thing is to put a level indictor, so we don’t have to go and measure it. We don’t even find it in 5% of the facilities we are working with.

Sheetal: This may be true with some buildings where owners do not follow codes and rules. In that respect, we follow all the best practices and we have a building management system which helps to monitor different areas and does not need to rely on man power. But, again there are very few who follow the best practices.

Ashok: Yes, not even 10% of buildings have building management systems or automated building systems. That kind of awareness has not yet seeped through to all levels. For e.g. if there is fuel stored in underground tanks, there has to be some area kept to have the tanker reach the building. Also there has to be an outlet available somewhere at the outskirts of the building.

Sheetal: I am surprised at this. These are basic norms that should be followed. In our designs there is always an area for the diesel tanker to park with fencing all around and a road going up to that. Architects then really need to be more conscious and careful about these things.

Ashok: If you go to the interiors of the cities, in so many buildings that have come up are operational and have none of these. I’ll give you another example: A building was designed with a fancy look where one side had complete glass façade. Inside the air-conditioned room, the people on the side of the glass used to feel very hot and sweat. If the air-condition temperature was brought down, the people on the other end used to feel very cold. What is the facility manager to do?

The facility manager cannot do anything. The design does not permit it, so as much as he adjusts the temperature, he really cannot satisfy anybody. And in effect, he is also wasting a lot of time.

In another bad example relating to glass, the building has a complete glass façade and because of the temperature difference between the outside and the inside, the glass cracks and falls down. This is very dangerous and can fall on passers-by or cars. Also there is a cost implication because so many glasses have to be changed. These cases have happened in Delhi.

Vidur: This is typical of the new glass big buildings coming up these days. Yes, these are practical difficulties. I recently had a chance to see an interesting design in a hotel in Las Vegas. The façade is completely glass. But when you go into the room, you notice that the glass is not hot even though it is very hot outside. Then I noticed that at the edge of the room, there were standalone air-conditioners blowing air only on the glass. This is definitely where facility management has played a role in the design stage.

CIJ: Then it seems that both awareness and education are much needed.

Ashok: Yes, both are needed. Companies like Design and Development are the lucky ones; they have people on board who are doing this. But there are so many instances, even in some of the latest malls where this is not happening.

There is also very little training in this space, and there is a lack of awareness about the facility management sector. If you were to meet a man on the street and ask if he knew what facilities management is, there is 80% chance that he would not know. Facility management is a term that means different things to different people.

In the unorganised sector, the companies that claim to be facility management companies basically break it down to doing cleaning and janitorial work. Therefore, the first thing is creating awareness. Second, awareness has to be brought in at each functional level – the cleaner, the technicians, firefighters, etc. With the advancements in designs, there has to be a parallel response here as well.

If the designers have created something, we as facility managers have to know how best to extend its life and get the maximum out of this, such as the one-tonne air-conditioner cooling 800sqft system. This is fantastic news. If we can share this information, then we can really understand the amount of carbon footprint that we have saved.

CIJ: Do you have any thoughts on how there can be an exchange of ideas between these two fraternities?

Vidur: Ideally facility managers should be on board in the pre-tender stage for this exchange of ideas.

Ashok: I think if we can raise the awareness in both the architect and facility management fraternity, it is going to benefit both of them in the long run. I think gradually some change will come about. Articles in magazines dealing in design or facility management can help build awareness.

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