Published in 2018, the ISO 41001 standard integrates people, places and processes within the built environment with the objective of enhancing occupant experience at the building and increasing the core productivity of the business.
Developed to mitigate the increasing complexity of the facility management industry, the certification is applicable to all sorts of organizations whether public or private, regardless of its size, nature or geographical isolation.
ISO 41001:2018 standard is implemented so that organisations
The scope of ISO 41001:2018 can be divided into hard facility management and soft facility management.
Under the scope of ISO 41001:2018 in hard facility management, the physical built-in environment is considered with a focus on workspace and building infrastructure. Hard facility management compliance is essential and cannot be removed from the process. Instances of hard services include heating, lighting, plumbing, fire and safety systems, air-conditioning, preventive building maintenance, electro-mechanical maintenance, and so on.
In soft facility management, the focus is on people and organization. Enhancement of occupant experience at the facility is priority. This includes making the building more safe and delightful for its residents. However, these are not mandatory and can be removed any time. Instances of soft services are building security, cleaning, aesthetics, mail management, catering, decorum, and so on.
To obtain the ISO 41001:2018 certification, an organization’s FM system has to undergo a preliminary assessment which includes:
Documentation review: This step assesses whether the organization in question has all the documents in place.
Conformity assessment: This step involves the evaluation of FM system documents and assessment planning, onsite assessment, and reporting.
1st annual assessment: Performed 9 months and before 12 months from conformity assessment.
2nd annual assessment: Performed 24 months after conformity assessment.
ISO 41001 certification ensures efficient delivery of facility management services that support the requirements of the demand organization. The objective of the standard is to consistently meet the demands of all the parties involved in the operation. The host of benefits offered by ISO 41001 are:
When choosing an FM partner, a primary requirement of the demand organization is the maintenance of health and safety standards at the premises. And, with the advent of the global pandemic, demand organizations consider the safety of the 0occupants to be key in ensuring business continuity and achievement of set objectives.
Under the ISO 41001 certification, it is the responsibility of the FM provider to implement these measures. These include social distancing, thorough surface cleaning of the assets and the work area, regular checks of the workforce health to detect symptoms, and observation of visitors moving in and out of the facility to name a few.
With each passing day, facility management is becoming more complex than ever. The requirements of demand organizations are growing meaning there are multiple processes to deal with. Implementation of ISO 41001 under an Integrated Facility Management System (IFMS) allows management tasks, duties, and resources to be managed together. It helps simplify the process by plugging gaps and minimizing errors.
Under the ISO 41001 certification, the standards for energy and emissions are increasingly strict. FM providers have to follow procedures that meet environmentally sustainable goals. This includes implementing measures that reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a minimum and increase energy efficiency via efficient utilization of resources at disposal (this is where energy audit comes into play).
ISO 41001 standards are in place to decrease human error. The standards under the umbrella of the certification ensure analysis of the FM services and their accurate feedback to prevent. recurrence of manual faults. Additionally, the standard also demands an increased focus on employee safety, wellness, and productivity meaning the work environment is of top-notch quality.