Operations Facilities management

Do we need to turn building services professionals into ‘operational engineers’ to ensure energy efficiency?

I have seen

improved M&E maintenance contractors, yet the building services industry has not evolved from its core principals

– Pat Coleman

improvement in the attitude of clients in obtaining professional advice for resilience, maintenance cost management, statutory compliance and sustainability of properties. ‘I have also seen improved IT and M&E maintenance

contractors with people skills yet the building services industry has not evolved from its core principals. This may be because consultancy skills in building services are required to be precise, disciplined and structured on delivering a contractual “design” service in accordance with the ACE Form of Agreement.’ Rob Manning, CIBSE president-elect, agrees that the envisaged role of operational engineer is important: ‘People are currently being recruited who understand how a particular component such as a pump or a control

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valve works, but do not understand how the system as a whole works. Hoare Lee is seeing this as an opportunity to sell their skills.’ However, it will be difficult to attract enough

young people to fulfil this role, he adds. ‘There is a need to spend money on education. The universities cannot get the candidates to take up building services engineering because it is not an attractive subject to young school leavers.’ Professor Tony Thomas of London South Bank

University believes that the facilities management profession must ‘fully embrace the operational engineer concept’, adding that this realisation is ‘growing’. He adds: ‘The education of facilities managers is by its nature rather broad and a new approach is required >

April 2010 CIBSE Journal

59

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