Education Business

The FM activities that would typically be expected in a school include fabric maintenance for the walls, roofs, floors and windows, and building services (M&E) maintenance, which includes the boilers, radiators, pipework, air-conditioning, lighting and power. Together this is often referred to as ‘hard FM’. Other FM services, including cleaning, security, catering, grounds maintenance, portering and caretaking, is referred to as ‘soft FM’.
    
Another way of looking at FM in schools can be to consider it in terms of ‘day-to-day services’ and ‘asset maintenance’. That is to say services required to support the day-to-day functioning of the school (is it hot/cold, clean/dirty, is there enough light/power) and those which relate to the long term maintenance of the buildings. Take for example a boiler, asset maintenance questions which may arise include when will it need to be replaced? Can its existing life span be extended? How can it best be maintained until then to meet statutory requirements? Would it be better to replace it earlier with a more energy efficient boiler?

Three levels of FM
FM also needs to be considered at three levels; strategy, management and service delivery. Strategy typically relates to procurement routes (e.g. what to outsource and how to fund procurement), property (e.g. the consolidation of premises onto one campus or the development of a new science block), and asset maintenance (e.g. condition based or planned preventative maintenance regimes).
    
The management of facilities is of great importance. At its most basic it ensures that there is compliance with health and safety, and other relevant legislation, regulation and policy, such as CRB clearance. At the next level it ensures that the school develops and keeps to a budget for its FM. Management of facilities also seeks to understand and meet the short and long term needs of the facility users (the teachers and pupils), implements the selected procurement routes for services, and manages the delivery of services – either by directly employed labour or by sub-contractors.
    
Service delivery covers what you would expect; the carrying out of the activities to the agreed service levels and to the budget specified by management, for example cleaning, maintaining, and catering.
    
It is worth also recognising that in most types of facility, if not all, a significant element of facilities management involves reacting to day-to-day issues, and sometimes 70 per cent of a facilities manager’s time can go on this. This should be expected in any dynamic environment – and particularly in a school where hundreds of pupils are moving around all day. If you find a lot of time is taken up responding to issues then don’t think this is unusual. However, reacting to such pressures must not prevent attention being paid to activities that should be structured, planned and programmed, such as complying with statutory maintenance requirements.

Challenges ahead
So what are the issues that are facing those with responsibility for FM in schools?
    
One key issue is that FM in schools, like in most other types of facility and in most other sectors, has either already moved, or is in the process of moving, from being almost solely focused on the ‘service delivery’ level, to paying more attention to management and strategy – partly in recognition of ‘best practice’ and partly in response to government policy – such as PFI.
    
Rather than focus on strategic choice and government policy – which is a huge subject in its own – the rest of this article will cover issues of management that those responsible for FM should address, largely irrespective of the FM strategy they adopt.
    
The first consideration should be who will be made responsible and accountable for facilities management? Whilst there may be a committee which this person reports to and/or consults with, best practice FM does not involve management by committee.
    
This individual then needs to be given appropriate training. At the very least this should be an awareness of relevant health and safety matters, which as mentioned is the base minimum management requirement. This does not mean this person then needs to audit health and safety or become an expert; this can be outsourced to an appropriately trained person from within the local authority or from a private firm. It does, however, mean that this person has a basic awareness of what is required and ensures that somebody monitors compliance, and deals with non-compliance.
    
Training in budget preparation and management may also be required, although as this role often seems to be fulfilled by the bursar, this may not be necessary. The school should then have a facilities management regime that is safe and whose cost it can control. The basics are in place.

Meeting needs
The next part of the management jigsaw is to gain an understanding of the actual needs of the users, and the asset, to be able to specify what services are required and to what standard. This is an iterative process as it also involves assessing what is affordable. The base minimum level of service is to meet statutory requirements for health and safety. At the end of this process the facilities manager should have an understanding of the services and service levels that are sought to balance needs, aspirations and budgets.
    
These services then need to be procured and managed. This will involve some strategic decisions but basically boil down to whether services will be directly provided by the school or local authority, or will be outsourced either via PFI or a standard contract. The manager should be an integral part of whatever procurement route is followed.
    
Irrespective of the sourcing route, the next element of the management jigsaw is a performance measurement system; i.e. a way for the facilities manager to tell whether the school is getting the service it has specified and is paying for – whether from, for example, its own directly employed caretakers or from an external cleaning company. This need not be complex, but must be robust, easy to use and understand and be relevant. It could, for example be as simple as a series of inspection sheets.

Performance Management Regime
The final part of the jigsaw is a performance management regime. Fundamentally this will either involve a ‘Contract Management’ approach for outsourced services (up to and including PFI) or an ‘Operational/Line Management’ regime for directly employed staff.
    
The important message here is to think of FM as a management discipline, not a technical discipline, and to seek expert help; be that procurement advice, maintenance advice, management consultancy, health and safety advice or financial advice from experts.
    
It is also important to remember that even if all of service delivery is outsourced, day-to-day management is outsourced and that the strategic decisions have been made, such as under a PFI contract, that the school will still need to manage its FM provider, as an ‘intelligent client.’ PFI does not involve not having to manage the facility, it just changes the way the school has to manage the facility.
    
In summary, having asked yourself the question “are our facilities safe and compliant?” and been satisfied with the answer, consider whether you are managing the facilities as opposed to whether the facilities are clean or well maintained, and develop your approach from there.
    
In this way, facilities management, along side the provision of enhanced facilities, can assist the delivery of the government’s goals for education and support the desired transformation by providing a positive impact on the staff and students and their place of education.

Any opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and not those of Bevan Brittan LLP.

For more information
Facilities Management Association: www.fmassociation.org.uk
Bevan Brittan LLP: www.bevanbrittan.com