April 24th could be remembered for many things, but for the Facility Management world it would be without doubts because of the publication of the regulation 41001. Even though is not the first one at the familiy, considering that last year the 41011, 41012 and 41013 came up, it is the first management system or MMS (Management System Standard). This means broadly that it is certifiable and that the companys could prove that they are meeting the standard´s requirements. Without going into greater detail, it will apply for both final clients and services suppliers. This will be a milestone on the way to understand or apply the importance of the discipline.
The regulation is been made oficial while I am in Athens giving a presentation about how FM can improve the employee´s experience, at the Hellenic Facility Management Association´s anual congress, whom I would like to take the opportunity to greet. It happens that I shared stage with Stan Mitchell, good friend and president of the international techinical committee 267 responsible for the FM standardisation with whom I shared long working hours.
Although this years we have been many people participating to reach it, I think that we owe him an special mention, as he is the person who has take charge of the process with excellent tact and professionalism. It had already been difficult to publish FM european regulations, so to bring countries from all around the world to common consensus probably it has not been easy. We need to show him gratitude not only for the huge dedication, that has allowed this regularization to be a reality, but an extraordinary view and proactivity. Not many people know that during certain moment this regularization´s job did not have even the entity as it does now, not even the name. The international organization did not see the importance of this regulations, restricting the work just to model regulations. Stan´s persistence led to the change and finally the acceptation of the many times denied FM management system. That also caused the re-naming of the assign number 18480 into the current 41000.
I am convinced that this standard will mean for Facility Management the same as the 9001 standard meant for quality. Before its publication there were much talk around this idea but not many could say what it was or how it could be calculated. I think that the same thing is happening with FM. Even though we will publish more articles and specials that already are under preparation, I would not like to let the opportunity to share the announcement and, as I have said on the title, express thanks to Stan for his contribution.
Without a doubt, a great day for FM.
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Author: David Martínez, PhD. Strategic consultant, coach, researcher and international speaker. Renowned Facility and Asset Management expert. Specialized in multicultural property management models and productivity applied to workplace.
