Blogs

A long time argument that I have encountered in the facility field has been, "at what point does a none licensed maintence person or field service technician have to let the licensed person completed an assigned job"? I have heard many different comments on how that is to be determined. Is...

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The Framework for Improving Building Operating Decisions is a research project being conducted at The University of Reading in partnership with Penn State. The goal of the research is to develop a concise and practical web-based decision support tool to help facility managers and facility management...

In my years in this industry, I have learned that continual exposure to training is essential to success. With the varied types of equipment, power sources and technologies that we are deluged with daily, no one person is capable of remembering all of the key aspects of each variable we are charged with...

Doesn't matter what your situation is, I would like to here from you about the biggest problems or difficulties you are facing as a FM. Management problems, funding, staff, safety, operational cost reductions, energy efficiency? What's going on in your world?

Plant operators, building maintenance personnel and service technicians are continually faced with the convergence of the many technologies that are currently employed to operate our buildings' mechanical systems. From emerging wireless technologies, the millennial integration of electronic systems...

As you know, I travel frequently. The first part of the week was no different as I found myself on a flight to Atlanta. I was leafing through a Maintenance book when the person across the aisle struck up a conversation. Turns out, he worked as a veteran Maintenance Supervisor in a large mill where he...

Before you attempt to ask people to learn something new, you should take a few minutes to diagnose their needs and how they might learn best. See, not everyone learns the same way, at the same rate, or has the same background or experiences that you do. At the end of the day, you aren’t the one...

Another recent question around Maintenance Planning and Scheduling is how the process is integral to Maintenance and Reliability? Can we get by without it? Can’t I just let the Supervisor do it? What is the minimum number of people a Planner Scheduler should plan for? Consider the motions a technician...

High school students have no idea you exist. OK, let’s put that more accurately: Many of the most promising candidates for vacant technician jobs in maintenance and engineering departments know little or nothing about the maintenance profession or its specific jobs. Given that blind spot, it is...

The change in administrations in Washington, D.C., is likely to mean many changes in the way federal agencies and departments operate, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) probably is no exception. OSHA’s aggressiveness in enforcing workplace safety laws tends to vary by...

Something is going on here. I can't quite figure out if it's a growing appreciation of building maintenance and the trades or if it's just a series of nice coincidences. Whatever it is, it's worth a closer look. A comment from myFacilitiesnet member ieqwoman on one of my previous blogs...

As institutional and commercial facilites struggle under the weight of a sagging economy, managers understandably look to new products and technology to help their organizations lower their costs. But how about a no-cost source of savings? It seems to good to be true, but it is. Maintenance and engineering...

What is the first thing you see when you drive alongside a major college or university campus? How about walking up to a massive hospital complex? Typically, the first thing that catches the eye of occupants and visitors is the organization's landscaped areas. With first impressions being extremely...

Are you nervous about specifying a vegetative roof? Does the thought of planting vegetation – and testing the waterproofing capabilities of your roof while irrigating those plants – make you cringe? You are not alone. Many facility professionals are hesitant to jump on the green roofs bandwagon...

Admit it. Maintenance and engineering management generally hasn’t been considered a trendy profession. And the shortage of front-line technicians that has plagued maintenance and engineering departments for years is pretty strong evidence people generally don’t see jobs in facilities maintenance...

Time is money. No group of professionals has come to realize that fact more than maintenance and engineering managers. With that thought in mind, welcome to myfacilitiesnet, a new social networking site for managers in commercial and institutional facilities. The idea behind this community is to build...

Presidential candidates make a lot of promises. It’s part of the game, so nobody believes they’ll keep most of them. Presidents-elect do the same thing, but maybe there’s a difference. Maybe — given they’ve already won election — there is reason to hope a president...