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RICS, IFMA collaborate on facilities management

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
25 September 2017   |   3:38 am
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) have launched a landmark collaboration that promises to transform the US$1 trillion global facility management (FM) industry.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) have launched a landmark collaboration that promises to transform the US$1 trillion global facility management (FM) industry.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) have launched a landmark collaboration that promises to transform the US$1 trillion global facility management (FM) industry.

By joining strategic resources, they will create an unprecedented level of industry support to meet growing demands from the 25 million FM practitioners around the world, as well as launch a single and compelling career pathway into the profession.

Over recent years, the FM industry has advanced in stature and evolved into an increasingly strategic discipline. IFMA and RICS research has empirically demonstrated the tangible advantages of effective facility management, ranging from improved productivity and cost savings to energy efficiency and employee well-being.

As established leaders offering extensive resources to practitioners across the built environment, IFMA and RICS have come together in collaboration to further develop and professionalise the field of facility management.

Even as the industry has attained increased status and prominence, the global professional community, which has pioneered much of this advance, has suffered through fragmented support, according to an RICS survey of professionals across six continents. The RICS and IFMA collaboration will seek to address this by providing strong, global leadership and the tools needed to harness the power of strategic FM services.

“As global thought leaders dedicated to the professionals who support the built environment, IFMA and RICS identified a unique opportunity to team up and fortify existing resources to enhance the outstanding level of service they already provide to professionals and built environment industry. The framework of this collaboration will create a less fragmented, more inclusive and highly regarded global facility management community,” according to IFMA President and CEO Tony Keane.

The collaboration will also seek to address the current shortage of FM professionals in the workforce. “Whilst there is growing market demand for facility management skills around the world, currently there is a shortage of professionally qualified practitioners equipped to deliver this service. Our collaboration will establish a clearly defined, single-career pathway, which will see FM practitioners acquire the leading skills they need to become recognised as preeminent professionals,” RICS CEO Sean Tompkins said.

The RICS and IFMA collaboration will be shaped over time, but initially will leverage both organisations’ existing resources in education, research, conferences and events, and external relations. They will also work together to align credentials and qualifications to shape a single FM career path with demonstrable professional status, which is recognised and respected globally.

RICS professionals who have qualified in FM will automatically receive IFMA member benefits. In turn, IFMA members and credential holders will be able to attain RICS professional qualifications.

IFMA is the world’s largest and most widely recognised international association for facility management professionals, supporting 24,000 members in 105 countries. The association’s members, represented in 134 chapters and 17 councils worldwide.

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