Thank you for considering us to manage your facility. Over the years in Africa especially, most governments, lots of businesses and individuals spend millions of dollars investing in the construction and acquisition of state of the art infrastructure and facilities for different purposes. Sadly, these facilities are left to deteriorate beyond fixing and repairs because of the lack of maintenance. In developed nations, facility management is at the heart of their development agenda. They have built an environment where facility management is recognized as an integral part of their setup. This enhances and encourages the growth of the industry and professionals within the industry. As a result, professional bodies have evolved in order to collaborate at the international level with one aim; to make the world a better place to live, Ghana cannot afford be left behind if we are to attain the desired leadership position in Africa. Unfortunately, there is no well laid down clear vision that spans beyond political manifestos and periods.
Any organization that wants to maintain its leadership position in this competitive business environment in Ghana today, needs to focus on their core mandate and outsource the non-core aspect of their business. Facility management may be described as a non-core activity by most businesses and yet it is one of the most indispensable aspect of any business and should be handled carefully in order to create the right environment for maximum performance by staff and creating a good image to clients or visitors. It is therefore necessary that firms consider the outsourcing option carefully in order to gain the desired result or professional support in order to concentrate on their core mandate. Benefits of outsourcing Facility Management include cost savings, operational efficiency, access to professionalism and quality service. These culminate in the ultimate goal of asset value realization.
The structural condition of any facility and its components will determine the value of the property. Therefore, a building or facility within a plush neighborhood and well-built with modern amenities will lose its functional value over time if not maintained. The facility will no longer be able to serve the original purpose at the time of construction. To keep the value of a facility intact, there needs to be regular condition assessment of the facility to determine the aspects that need immediate attention and upgrade to keep pace with current development and maintain current functional integrity of the asset, this enables the owner to also have a plan for asset planning and improvement over time.
It is important to note that, both current and past maintenance practices also have an effect on the value of a property. Owners of properties must make room for regular maintenance of building systems in order to keep the structural condition intact. This helps to reduce the frequency of breakdowns and expensive repairs when there is a crisis. As is said, “prevention is better than cure (an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure)”, it would cost less to regularly maintain facilities or properties. The services of professional facility managers must be sought to ensure that these services are carried out regularly. Moving forward, facility owners should embrace a more forward-looking maintenance strategy such as the predictive maintenance approach. Emphasis should be on prevention rather than waiting till properties/facilities begin to deteriorate visibly.
Interestingly, most organizations focus on the initial cost of construction and relegate maintenance of the facilities in the background. The lifecycle of any facility encompasses the stages of design, construction, occupancy and use, repair, rehabilitation, and disposal. However, maintenance, and management of facilities account for up to 80 percent of total costs in the lifecycle of a building as compared with the design and construction period which only accounts for 20%. The habit of organizations employing their own direct staff to handle facility management services on their own is archaic and can no longer cope with modern day challenges of facility management where standards have moved a notch higher and the need to promote transparency and accountability in organizational spending is paramount. Again, the resultant stress of hiring internal staff to handle facility management is enormous. Therefore, there is the need to outsource the function to professionals. This is consistent with global practice.
