“It’s too hot!” “It’s too cold!” “It smells!” “I can’t do my work!” “We need more space!”…the list goes on and on…and your company’s bottom line suffers because the place where you work is not supporting the purpose of your business.
Let’s start with an example. You’re planning a cross country trip from Norfolk, Virginia to San Diego. The only problem is, you don’t know where you are, so you can’t plan how to get there. Fuel costs and other — expenses are too high to just start out on a road trip. Oops.
The same problem exists for your business. You want it to grow and become more profitable, and cut operating costs where it makes sense. But to do this, you need to know what you have that works, what you have that doesn’t perform to design specification, and where it makes the most sense to make changes. Maybe you want to add new product lines, equipment, or personnel. Where are you going to put them? What kinds of support do they need? Perhaps you’re not even sure if your buildings support the core purpose of your business. How can you find out? Can you fix the problem for a reasonable cost and in a way that improves your bottom line? Are there other uses for your building? What do you look at? What are the questions you need to ask? Who do you ask? How do you start?
A facilities audit is a planned method of collecting accurate information about current functional performance and maintenance conditions of your buildings, and providing this information in a format that helps you make these important decisions, develop a budget, and plan an effective course of action.
A well designed audit will:
– Provide a detailed inspection of facilities and identify deficiencies.
– Develop and refine maintenance requirements.
– Determine if equipment is operating to designed parameters.
– Identify safety, security, and handicapped access issues.
– Determine if the facility is both functional and serviceable for the company’s purposes.
– Use life cycle and other facility financial analysis tools to determine the best course of action to correct deficiencies.
– Identify and evaluate alternatives.
– Develop recommendations for corrective action.
– Develop budget recommendations.
– Plan a program of corrective action that minimizes negative impact on business operations. (For information about planning maintenance actions, please see my white paper “Maintenance Planning 101 available through my website at www.fps-fm.com.)
If you’re in agreement that you need this information, you need to do an audit. How do you begin?
Here’s a suggested course of action:
1.Determine scope and get support from upper management.
2.Develop an agreed-upon common terminology: Capital additions and improvements (alteration & renovation and new construction); deferred maintenance, facilities audit, facilities components, facilities renewal and replacement program, etc.
3.Establish a budget, deadlines, audit milestones, develop a chain of command and reporting methodologies, and ensure access throughout the facility.
4.Publicize! Use PR to showcase the positive impact the audit will provide. Get employees excited about helping!
5.Select the audit team.
6.Plan and schedule the inspections.
7.Establish process for emergency corrective actions.
8.Collect and evaluate data.
9.Present audit findings.
10.Use data to develop and get budget approval.
11.Issue maintenance work orders within your scope of authority.
12.Develop capital acquisition and renewal program.
13.Conduct final project review and summary.
As you can see, doing a facilities audit can take a lot of time. Failing to do an audit can cost you a lot of money- and more time- by making poor, uninformed choices. Facilities Management specialists, either in-house or through contracted sources have the specialized skills and knowledge to guide you through this program, and can ensure that you make the best use of company personnel.
Richard Buzard is president of Facilities Performance Services, an ENERGY STAR® Service Provider. For more information or help in solving your energy and facility management issues, visit the FPS website at http://www.fps-fm.com or call Richard at (248) 814-4097.
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