Facilities Managers
Organise, control and coordinate the strategic and operational management of buildings and facilities in public and private organisations to ensure the proper and efficient operation of all physical aspects of the facilities, to create and sustain safe and productive environments for occupants.
A day running the buildings
You are the facilities manager for a council with several public buildings, and Monday starts with a fault report, a contractor issue and a budget question. It is 7:30am. You have the library, the hall and the depot on your list, and a message from the front desk that something is leaking. The mayor is visiting the hall at noon.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
There is water coming through the ceiling above the children's section. I have put buckets out and moved the books, but it keeps going. Do we close the library or carry on and work around it?
Close the affected section, call the plumber and put up clear signs
The rest of the library stays open and safe. The plumber finds a blocked gutter, and the problem is under control by lunchtime. You protected people first and the books second.
Close the whole library for the day until it is fixed
Nobody is at risk, but the whole community loses a library for a day, including people studying and children in a holiday program. A smaller closure would have done.
Carry on and work around it, since it is only a small leak and the library is busy on Mondays
The leak grows during the morning and a wet patch becomes a slip hazard. You close the section late, and the damage is worse. Water and ceilings should never be left.
I am booked on another job this morning and I can come to look at your hall's heating tomorrow instead. I know the mayor is coming, but I cannot be in two places. It is your call.
Tell him tomorrow is fine, and hope the heating holds out for the mayor's visit
The heating fails during the visit and the mayor sits in a cold room. You hoped, and a plan would have been better. Keep a backup for the event that matters.
Get advice by phone, arrange portable heaters and book him for tomorrow
Wayne gives you advice that gets you through the day, and the portable heaters cover the room. The full repair is done the next morning without a fuss.
Insist that he comes today or you will find another contractor
A different contractor arrives but does not know the building, and the job takes longer. You solved the schedule at the cost of the knowledge. Regular contractors are a relationship worth keeping.
We have some money left in the maintenance budget this year. Do you want to spend it on the roof repairs you have been asking for, or on the new meeting room furniture the staff would like?
Say you don't mind, and let Hilary decide
Hilary picks the cheaper option, which is neither. You lose the chance to explain the risk and have to live with the result. A facilities manager is the person who knows the buildings best.
Choose the furniture, because the staff have been asking and it will make people happy
The staff are pleased, and the roof gets worse over winter. A small repair now becomes a big one later. Popular is not the same as most important.
Choose the roof repairs, with a short note explaining the risk of delay, and offer to plan the furniture for next year
Hilary agrees. The roof is repaired before the wet season and the staff hear what the plan is for the furniture. Spending on the thing that protects the building keeps it open for everyone.
How it went
By the end of the day the leak is stopped, the heating is on its way and the budget is sorted. Facilities management is a steady job of keeping a place safe, comfortable and working so others can get on with theirs. Is that quiet sort of responsibility something you would enjoy?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The air conditioning that failed in a heatwave
A fictional case set in a fictional regional council's civic building, library and community hall, looked after by the facilities team.
The situation
Isabel Moreau was the facilities manager for the Hartley Shire Council. In the middle of a heatwave, the air conditioning in the community hall failed on the afternoon that the council was holding a seniors' event. The contractor who normally serviced the system could not come until the next day. The room was filling with elderly guests, and the event organiser wanted to carry on regardless.
What they did
Isabel checked the room's temperature, then spoke to the organiser. They agreed to move the event to the cooler library meeting room, which could hold most of the guests. She brought in fans, water and chairs, and called the contractor to book an urgent visit for first thing the next morning. She also sent a message to the guests who had not yet arrived.
How it turned out
The event went ahead in the cooler room with a few minor squeezes. The contractor found a faulty part the next day. Isabel started a preventive maintenance list so key equipment was checked before the summer, not after it failed.
What would you do?
- Why did Isabel talk to the organiser instead of simply cancelling?
- What jobs could a facilities manager do before a heatwave to avoid a problem like this?
- How would you balance an urgent repair against a planned one?