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FM Audits - improve quality and speed

The global facilities market is expected to grow by over 10% from 2021 to 2027, according to research by Global Market Insights. Investment in smart buildings and adoption of more sustainable measures will be a driving factor of this growth, in addition to continued recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic and some degree of return to pre-pandemic working patterns. There is increased demand for FM services around cleaning and improving building environments to incentivize the workforce back on site. We’re also seeing more service-outsourcing from sectors like healthcare and education, helping these industries focus more on their core business while external teams ensure their facilities continue to run at optimal levels.

With increased market demand comes increased competition between service providers. With profit margins traditionally slim, points of differentiation will be realized through service quality. Even for in-house FM teams there is a priority placed on ROI and service delivery to create a productive, welcoming environment to help with talent acquisition, in-person team collaboration and retention in a competitive employment market.

Of course, data collection and analysis must be at the heart of providing outstanding services, in order to understand site and building user requirements. One of the many benefits of using an IWMS system such as QFM is that it allows complete control over data – from how and what is collected to reporting. Form and checklist functionality can be used in several ways to help improve service delivery, including:

1. Fully customize your data collection

Whether conducting an asset inspection, building condition survey, cleanliness audit or customer satisfaction survey, forms can be easily created which are fully customized to each. Rather than using generic forms with standard questions, the data requested is relevant for each task, improving the speed of collection and making it easier to identify areas of improvement. Reporting can be conducted to review different time periods, operative, asset or room, as well as identifying any missing data where an operative needs to be re-dispatched (for example if access was restricted at the time of the visit, meaning the survey or inspection couldn’t be completed).

2. Forms at your fingertips

Forms and checklists can be programmed to appear at any point during a task when working on the go using an IWMS mobile app. For example, if an operative was required to attend an air conditioning unit on a roof, a ‘working at heights’ risk assessment must be read and completed through the app before work can begin. A second form could then capture inspection details through a series of questions that must be completed before the job can be signed off. This ensures health and safety regulations are abided by and employee/contractor safety is a priority. When the operative is clear on the skill requirements for the job prior to commencement, there is less chance of a return visit and work is completed more quickly.

3. Adopting a paperless audit trail

With QFM software, all forms can be created, viewed and reported on centrally, eliminating the chance of lost documents and therefore streamlining service. This seamless integration makes it easier to stay compliant by providing an unbroken audit trail, and allows for a paperless and more environmentally sustainable operation. Our client Curtin University in Australia is using our IWMS software to help drive and support a ‘safety first’ culture with QFM’s forms and checklists. Previously the team managed this using a third-party mobile app, but with no link between this and the IWMS, it resulted in a time intensive and manual cross-referencing process for audits.

For more information about QFM’s Dynamic Forms module, click here, or contact us to see how forms and checklists could improve FM data management within your FM team.

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