A day in the life of a Facilities Manager

Q. How did you get into facilities management?
By accident really – I worked in recruitment and was getting a little frustrated with the role, a job came up for Arlington/Goodmanas an assistant running the service charge on an 8,000 occupier business park & even though I had no real experience I knew I could do it, that was 12 years ago and I’ve never looked back!

Q. What’s the best part of the job?
The variety – no day is ever the same.

Q. What’s the most challenging?
Not being able to solve problems/action issues as quickly as I would like.

Q. How does technology help you in your job?
Having the Riskwise app on my mobile phone means I can log hazards and issues on the go. As a FM I am mainly on site so admin on the go reduces the time I spend in the office completing databases.

Gerald Eve use RiskWise which transforms the inspection process by completing inspections and audits easily and efficiently whilst on site, without an internet connection. It automatically captures, tracks and escalates actions and maintains a full audit trail.
https://www.s2partnership.co.uk/software/app/

Q. What achievement makes you proud?
I have two recent examples of myself as FM taking responsibility for emergencies that required a collaborative and urgent response from the team.

A wall collapsed at height during horrendous weather and proposed a great risk to tenants in the building. The team all had to work together urgently to communicate with the tenants who were evacuated. We then had to work with consultants, structural engineers and contractors to put everything in place to make the building safe. Two of the units were high end retailers so knowing they were unable to operate meant there was extra pressure. It was an amazing example of being part of a team working with a situation none of us had dealt with before. All tenants were back into the building within 6 working days.

The second example involves a historic building multi let to over a dozen tenants.
One of the fire alarm panels suffered a complete failure and we had to implement a fire watch on five floors liaising with tenants to keep them reassured, instructing contractors and the onsite team. Within 24 hours we had the panel fixed and the full system back up and running without a single complaint from a tenant.

Author
Suzanne Bech – Facilities Manager

Contact Suzanne 
T: +44 (0)20 3486 3623
E: [email protected]