Joan Clar: "To hire a Facility Manager is to invest on security"
We begin 2023 with an interview to Joan Clar, Facility Manager of Finques Feliu and Triarq Studio architectural firm. He will explain how his job solves practical problems in the building or in the countryside house where you live.
Question 1 Finques Feliu (hereinafter FF): To what risks are people and property exposed to in a property without maintenance?
Joan Clar (hereinafter J.C.): Purely and simply: a property without maintenance as a structure is exposed to any defect in the building.
The most likely thing is that a slight incidence, degenerates, in a short time, until becoming a serious threat for everyone's physical integrity, for example, it can fall: tiles, loose pieces of the coating, bars, elements added to facade, etc. Obviously, we cannot have a property that is not in good condition.
Question 2 FF: What are the advantages of having our property well maintained by a Facility Manager?
J.C.: Firstly is that in a property with an established maintenance service we know what actions must be carried out and these are scheduled by the Facility Management technician.
The second is that carrying out maintenance on a regular basis reduces significaly the accident risk and the cost of the actions. Thus, it is much more expensive to be forced by an imminent danger to act urgently than to have developed periodic and limited repairs. For instance in the three pictures which ilustrate this text we can see the repairs made in an exterior downspouts.
Question 3 FF: What are the two most common specific actions related to the Facility Manager job?
J.C.: First of all, we must bear in mind that Facility Managers are used to carrying out inspections.
Two frequent tasks are: to make state building report and to check its specific installations.
To perform the building condition report includes assessing the condition of: balconies, window sills, railings, windows, shutters, carpentry, cornices, cladding, etc. From here we make a technical report where we indicate:
a) What constructive pathology the building has
b) How it has must be solved
c) Finally we add some photographs to show the before and after of our intervention
In order to make our job trully effective, it must be done on every three or six months.
To carry out the revision of specific building facilities requires to have thought and to have elaborated a list of verifications to carry out task as the following: to examine the state of the electrical facilities, or to analyze what is the elevator state.
Note: in the following two links you can see which legal regulations these elements have to comply with:
- Lift
Question 4 FF: What actions are carried out on a real estate product from the begining until the end?
At the beginning, we visit the properties or individual buildings. In these visits we evaluate the state of the constructive elements, for example: facades, patios, stairs, parking lots, quartets of water installations, storage rooms, etc. With this information we elaborate a list of elements that the technician will have to review.
According to these reviews we make technical reports from the beginning until, through periodic milestones, we make actions to solve the problems as they arise.
In this way we put the building in optimal conditions (obviously, the repair period will not be the same when the initial construction is already in good condition as when it is in a very bad condition). We commit ourselves to make the necessary periodic actions.
In addition to all the above, we offer a feasibility and cost study of the various actions. This allows us to have updated information on the prices charged by the different professionals involved in maintenance: elevator operators, painters, fire extinguishers technicians, marketers, etc.. In this way we always save.
Question 5 FF: How much does it cost to hire a Facility Manager?
J.C.: Between 5 and 10% of the total cost of building maintenance. However, we do ur best to optimize costs depending on the information we have on the market. Hiring a Facility Manager is an investment in security and peace of mind.
Thanks Joan it has become clear that having Facility Management greatly improves the experience of living in our building or home.