Understanding and Managing Building Services

Courses Syllabus

Overview

This thoroughly practical two-day programme is the ideal course for FM teams who need to develop their understanding of building services in order to ensure:

• Optimal satisfaction of organisational requirements
• Efficient and cost-effective maintenance and operation of building services
• Professional standards of procurement from, and management of, specialist consultants and contractors

Training objectives

To provide a fundamental understanding of building services in the context of:

• The working environment
• The success of the core business
• The health and safety of the occupants
• Operating cost and environmental impact
• The optimisation of cost and value
• Strategies for continuous improvement

Course outlines

Building services fundamentals

• The function of services in commercial buildings and their importance to the core business 
• Electrical services 
• Lighting 
• Heating 
• Ventilation and air conditioning 
• Lifts 
• Water
• Understanding IT and communication systems

The provision of comfort and safety

• Statutory requirements 
• Health and safety legislation 
• Control of contractors 
• Risk assessment 
• Fire precautions 
• Legionella, sick building and other risks
• Business requirements 
• Understanding user requirements 
• Matching systems to business needs

Getting the design right

• What the FM needs to know about design and its procurement 
• Successful space planning 
• Relationship between services, space planning and design 
• Getting the brief right 
• Supplier selection and management

Operation and maintenance

• Input and output specifications 
• Resource options 
• Contracts principal elements 
• Tendering key steps 
• Selection criteria 
• Operational criteria 
• Maintenance trends
• Performance-based service provision 
• Input and output specifications 
• KPIs and thresholds 
• Risk containment 
• Value-add opportunities 
• Performance contract strategy

Contingency planning

• Being ready for the unexpected
• Identifying and reducing risk 
• Internal risks 
• External risks 
• Identifying threats at your site
• Managing risk 
• Protective systems 
• Occupier obligations 
• Fire management 
• Testing

Commissioning services systems

• Physical commissioning
• Common problems
• Typical costs
• Commissioning stages
• Continuous commissioning
• Energy efficiency and the scope for environmental improvement

Satisfying the occupants

• Obtaining and responding to feedback 
• When to get feedback 
• Why 
• How 
• What to do with it
• Practical exercises

Air time

• Sharing experience and addressing specific issues of interest to participants
• Course review