The Bay Dimension 
the newsletter of tbd consultants - edition 1, 1st qtr 2006
TBD Consultants

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In this Edition

Bay Area Market
Facilities Management
Project Management
Industrial Buildings

Construction Management Specialists
111 Pine Street, Suite 1315
San Francisco, CA 94111
(415) 981-9430

www.TBDconsultants.com

 

Bay Area Market
Gordon Beveridge

Market conditions in the Bay Area remain volatile. Escalation has been spiraling upwards in the past two years - what is on the cards for the next couple of years, and what construction market sectors are being worst affected?

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Facilities Management

Facilities Management became a recognized management concept in the early eighties, and is a term that seems to have more interpretations than “project manager”. Yet everyone that has owned, rented or lived in a building has almost certainly been involved in at least some aspect of facilities management. In short, facilities management includes everything that a company/building user has to do in relation to using a building, other than the company’s primary business.

Facilities Management (FM) can include any or all of the following (in addition to other areas):

  • Building Capital Works (e.g. building design and procurement)
  • Building Maintenance Services (e.g. maintenance management, security, etc.)
  • Building Real Estate (e.g. asset management, acquisition and disposal, etc.)
  • Finance (e.g. accounting, invoicing, corporate finance, etc.)
  • Churn-Management (e.g. space planning and forecasting, furniture acquisition, etc.)
  • Business Management (e.g. strategic studies, budget preparation, training, etc.)
  • Marketing (e.g. corporate image, sales, etc.)
  • Legal (e.g. contract, employment, safety and health, etc.)
  • Human Resources (e.g. recruitment, pension schemes, payroll, etc.)
  • Information Technology (e.g. research and development, help desk, etc.)
  • Support Services (e.g. fleet cars, housekeeping, travel, porterage, etc.)

Facilities Management picture Obviously, few companies would have in-house staff to cater to all of the above aspects of FM, and most FM providers offer a limited range of services. However, what is basically being sold is a management service, and the FM company may employ third-party firms, be they lawyers, accountants, chauffeurs or cleaners, etc., to provide the actual service.

Some of the services that FM companies provide might seem to be very close to the actual business that their clients are engaged in. For instance, one FM company serving a hospital provides the reception personnel, keeps the wards tidy, ensures that the food served suits each patients’ needs, and acts as ward hosts/hostesses. If you have the misfortune to end up in hospital, the physician that attends you will not be employed by a Facilities Management company, but the person that recruited the physician, the one who prepares his/her salary check, and the one who organizes his/her continuing education might well be.

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Project Management
Tony Vallance

What services are involved in project management, and what approach would we advise be used when managing a construction project. Tony addresses these issues in this article.

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Industrial Buildings

What are the issues affecting the design of industrial buildings, and do these vary around the world? We address these issues and look at what factors affect the cost of these buildings.

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Design consultant: Katie Levine of Vallance, Inc.