1 November 2011
A hefty 80 per cent of respondents to the latest FM 100 Poll believe facilities managers should be involved in negotiating service charges paid by their organisation to the landlord.
As the debate continues in FM circles about service charges paid to landlords and the role that the facilities department should have in negotiating that charge, many FMs have said they are not involved, but would like to be.
The case for FM involvement is straightforward: “Without question, facilities managers know the full costs of running a building and need to be consulted to ensure all items are included. Frequently, costs are missed and that becomes a complicated matter to sort out post lease-signing. FM can also cross-check to see that nothing is over-specified or overcharged.”
Some respondents to the poll had a certain amount of distrust that the data offered by landlords is a true and fair picture of a building’s running costs.
As one respondent said: “Sometimes it really feels like we’re ripped off and best value is not achieved”.
But sitting around the table should not be an automatic right, said another respondent: “The question is one of competence. Not all FM's are up to it.”
There may be an issue of size and manpower. If a business and its property are small, the FM may be mostly reactive and planned maintenance-focused rather than analytical and involved in long-term running costs.
However, more involvement of FMs is also welcomed by landlords, according to comments by poll respondents. As one FM said: “I have been on both sides of the fence, as a tenant and as a landlord and there is certainly a case for FM involvement, with their knowledge of services, utility costs, and so on.”
Other news for Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Merger off for G4S and ISS
Merger on for EC Harris and Arcadis
FM 100 Poll: Service charges, get involved
Vinci Facilities win 20-year PFI deal
Contracts round-up
The ‘wee’ issue of trains without toilets
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