Facilities Management Glossary A/C Air conditioning. Air handling unit An air handling unit (AHU) is a component of a building s ventilation system. ABBE - www.abbeqa.co.uk ABBE is an awarding body for qualifications in facilities management, and energy assessment and advice. Asbestos A hazardous building material that is no longer used. Its handling and disposal is now highly regulated as it can cause lifethreatening disease. Originally used for its insulating and fire resistance properties. Asset management The process of proactively managing a building s assets to ensure maximum efficiency and return on capital investment. Baseline costs The overall costs for providing a facilities service, including sub-contracted elements, within the scope of the contract but excluding overheads and profit. Benchmarking The process of one organisation comparing an element of a contract, such as performance or cost or a specific process or method, with an organisation in a similar industry, often an industry standard or best practice example. British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) - www.bifm.org.uk BIFM is the professional body for facilities management in the UK. It delivers a range of services and benefits, including resources, qualifications, training and networking. British Pest Control Association (BPCA) - www.bpca.org.uk BPCA is a not for profit organisation that represents the interests and needs of the pest management industry. It provides access to pest control research and training and advertises job opportunities. Business as usual A financial term used to describe the fixed price element of a facilities contract. City & Guilds - www.cityandguilds.com City & Guilds is an awarding body for qualifications in facilities management, and energy assessment and advice. Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) - www.cibse.org CIBSE is the standard setter and authority on building services engineering. It provides technical resources, training and events. Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) - www.ciob.org.uk CIOB aims to raise professional standards and provide careers guidance, advertise jobs and recommend qualifications. Cleaner, Safer, Greener The government campaign to improve the quality of planning, design, management and maintenance of public spaces and the built environment.
Continuous improvement The continuous improvement of performance is often driven by an excellence model or other quality management system. By using a model, a score can be obtained to reflect a snapshot of an organisation s performance. By driving forward compliance and progress, an organisation can demonstrate an increased score over time. Contract period The length of a contract, usually stated in years with start and end dates. COSHH Control of Substances Hazardous to Health regulations concerning the duties and responsibilities of employers and employees to ensure that such substances do not cause harm. Cost transparency Refers to the breakdown, and subsequent provision of the breakdown to the client, of full cost information of a contract, including resources, materials, equipment, overheads and profit. CPD Continuing professional development. CRE Corporate real estate. Credit/reward framework The mechanism for providing monetary incentives against a set of defined performance criteria within the performance management system. Critical success factors A critical success factor is an element that is necessary for an organisation or project to achieve its mission. CSR Corporate social responsibility. DDA Disability Discrimination Act. Deep clean A deep clean refers to the process of an intense clean period that will normally involve cleaning duties/processes outside of the day-to-day specification. Disaster recovery Disaster recovery is a sub-section of business continuity planning and refers to the specific provisions for handling a critical issue, such as a catastrophic power failure, flood or security breach. Decanting Process of moving residents from their homes while improvements are carried out. Dwelling Main place of residence. EAC Electronic access control EDEXCEL - www.edexcel.com EDEXCEL is an awarding body for qualifications in facilities management.
EDI - www.ediplc.com EDI is an awarding body for qualifications in energy assessment and advice. e-business Also called e-commerce and refers to business transactions, marketing communications and sales that take place through the internet. EIA Environmental impact assessment. Empirical Often relates to empirical evidence and is based on experiment, observation or experience rather than theory. Environmental management The management of an organisation s environmental performance through policies, processes and initiatives, such as carbon offsetting, recycling and minimal travel policies. EPC Energy performance certificate. e-portal A web-based 'door' to a wide range of information or services with a common theme. Facilities management Facilities management is the integration of processes within an organisation to maintain and develop the agreed services, which support and improve the effectiveness of its primary activities - European standard definition, adopted by the BIFM. Facilities manager An individual s job role, responsible for coordinating facilities services or the providers of facilities services. Facilities services The range of support services required in the workplace, e.g. cleaning, catering, security, etc. Facilities Management Association (FMA) - www.fmassociation.org.uk FMA is a trade association with a specific section for young facilities managers. Fixed wire testing The testing of a building s fixed wire infrastructure to ensure its continual safe operation. Flexible working A term applied to a range of approaches to work, covering everything from the physical environment, such as hot desking and breakout areas, to terms and condition elements, flexi-time, annualised hours, etc. UK legislation on flexible working applies primarily to parents with young children and focuses on changes in hours spent at the place of work. Floor plate The gross internal floor area available on one floor. Food & Drinks Qualifications (FDQ) - www.fdq.org.uk FDQ is an awarding body for qualifications in facilities management. Hard FM Hard FM is the maintenance of a building s mechanical, electrical, fabric and landscape assets.
High level works Works, such as cleaning, that occur in high level areas, generally agreed to be any height above an individual s hand when held above their head. Requires use of platform or other lifting equipment. Holistic The wider view of a system (physical, economic, technological) and the idea that all the properties of a the system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone, i.e. the system is not a sum of the individual parts. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. HVAC A term used to group the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems of a building. Hygiene services The provision of feminine sanitary services in washroom facilities. IAP Indoor air pollution. IAQ Indoor air quality. IB Intelligent building. Institute of Leadership & Management (ILM) - www.i-l-m.com ILM is an awarding body for qualifications in facilities management. Inherent Described as a natural quality. If someone or something is inherent, it is a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute. Input specification States the resources and processes that will be used to achieve a specific function or task. Commonly used in cleaning services, for example, though recent years have seen a shift towards output specifications. NEBOSH The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health is an internationally recognised health and safety training provider. National Pest Technicians Association (NPTA) - www.npta.org.uk NPTA is a nationally recognised pest control association providing information on training and events, a quarterly magazine on the industry and technical documents. OEM Original equipment manufacturer. Output specification States the service to be delivered as opposed to the resources that will be put into a particular task. Outputs The contract is based on an output specification, meaning that the contractor works towards an end goal, without the client being prescriptive about how to achieve it. Also see output specification.
Outsourcing The procurement of services from external providers, normally covering both the service (or services) and management function. Project management The management of a task or group of tasks to a specific timeline, budget or predetermined set of outcomes. Quality management system A management tool providing active process maps to follow either ISO 9001 or an excellence model and allow manageable growth through continuous improvement. Reactive maintenance Unplanned maintenance activities, an inevitable supplement to planned preventative maintenance regimes in the operation of a building. Recycling The collection and processing of used materials in order to utilise the raw materials to produce new products. Request for information (RFI) A prequalification stage that is often issued before a request for proposal (RFP) to judge the capabilities of service providers. Will usually include a company s technical knowledge and experience, as well as financial and operational information. Request for proposal An RFP is an invitation for suppliers to submit a proposal for the provision of a predefined set of service/s. The RFP will outline all the specific information required as part of the process, which can include a service delivery model, account management details, full financial breakdown and contract mobilisation strategy. Risk assessment An assessment of the risk involved in carrying out a particular task, job or process accounting for the environment, equipment and materials required. Risk management The process of assessing hazards (factors with the potential to cause disruption or harm) and risk (the likelihood that disruption or harm from a particular hazard will occur). Also see counter measures. RMS Remote monitoring system. ROI Return on investment. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) - www.rics.org RICS is the world s leading professional body for qualifications and standards in land, property and construction. Those who undertake RICS approved qualifications can become chartered surveyors and members. Soft FM Soft FM is the day-to-day people driven areas of FM, such as cleaning, security, catering, reception, mailroom and helpdesk. Space planning The process of determining the amount of floor space available in an area, floor or entire building and how it is best used to meet individual, group and corporate needs. Specialist clean A clean requiring specialist equipment or materials, e.g. a clean involving bodily fluids.
Stacking plan Graphic representation of space allocation to illustrate positioning of departments or groups within a building. A key step in making decisions about how to use space within a building efficiently and effectively for the groups involved. Total facilities management Total facilities management is a strategy in which a provider takes responsibility for the delivery and management of all required service lines on the behalf of a client. The integrated nature of TFM solutions will often provide both cost, operational and performance efficiencies. VOIP Voice over internet protocol (VOIP) is a system for making voice 'telephone' calls over the internet using specialised software and/or hardware. VPN A virtual private network (VPN) is the creation of a secure network over the internet to connect to a remote server. A VPN allows users to connect to work systems and files from a remote location Waste Management Industry Training & Advisory Board (WAMITAB) - www.wamitab.org.uk WAMITAB is an awarding body for qualifications in facilities management. WAN Wide area network. Washroom services A wide ranging service, usually involving one or more of the following areas - feminine hygiene bins, air fresheners, hand dryers, soap, hand towels, and toilet roll dispensers and the consumables that feed them. Waste management A waste management service is characterised as the collection, transport, processing and recycling or disposal of waste materials from a building. Wi-fi Wireless protocol used in IT networks. Allows users to connect to networks without wires/cables, reducing IT infrastructure costs and allowing connections in areas where cables cannot be installed, i.e. outdoors, historical buildings, transport. WO Work order. For further information email enquiries@assetskillstraining.org or call 0844 858 1643