An investigation of integrated facilities management functions in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Facilities Managers often confront with the issues of people, technology, and processes in the built environment. Therefore, thl!)' need to be armed with the new business solutions and technical innovations in order to cater organisational requirements. Integrated Facilities Management (FM) is one such solution in which two or more firms collectivelYperform FMfunctions. Although it is a commendable concept, it has given less attention in the recent history. This study, therefore, investigates the applicability of integrated FM concept in the built environments of Sri Lanka. Literature review revealed that the kl!)' dimensions which determine the nature of integration are the ownership/management, distance, and core business of organisations. The integration could be either in the form offacility services, utility/infrastructure, and/ or information. Multiple case studies uere selected for investigating the concept to the built environments of Sri Lanka. The study is concluded with identifying possible nature of FM integrations in the built environment. The study found that the integration is strong when the firms are at a closeproximity, under a same ownership, and in a same core business, whereas integration is weak tuhen thefirms are at a long distance, under a difftrent ownership, and in a difftrent core business.