FM DEFINITIONS

IFMA

Facility management is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.
FMA Australia
Facilities can be generally defined as buildings, properties and major infrastructure, also referred to within the Facility Management industry as the “built environment”. The primary function of Facility Management (FM) is to manage and maintain the efficient operation of this “built environment”.
The industry is also responsible for:
• ensuring that services are delivered in a way that contributes to the productivity and profitability of those people who utilize a facility;
• reducing the impact of the use of facilities on the environment;
• minimising operational life cycle costs of facilities;
• repairs and maintenance, security and cleaning as well as more highly technical services required for the efficient operation of a facility.
BIFM
Facilities management is the integration of processes within an organisation to maintain and develop the agreed services which support and improve the effectiveness of its primary activities
Source: CEN the European Committee for Standardisation and ratified by BSI British Standards
The British Institute of Facilities Management has formally adopted the CEN definition but also offers a slightly simpler description:
“Facilities management is the integration of multi-disciplinary activities within the built environment and the management of their impact upon people and the workplace”.

ARSEG
No definition of FM as such, the website defines what a facility manager is.
Presentation of the trade of Director and Person in charge of General Services.
The trade of Director for General Services deeply evolved/moved these ten last years. The increasing pressure on the costs, the increase in the lawful pressures, the appearance of new risks… impacted directly and strongly, in a rather short amount of time, on the conditions of exercise of the trade.
In parallel, of new stakes appear directly interesting the experts of work environment who are the directors and persons in charge of general services in the companies: sustainable development first of all: construction and exploitation HQE (environmental high-quality) of the buildings of offices, energy saving, quality of the air and water, insertion of the people suffering from handicap and public in difficulty, co-education and diversity, purchases equitable, balance of the relations clients/providing… well being in company and the fight against the stress: evaluation of the occupational hazards, ergonomics, caretaker’s lodges, cribs of company, restoration, halls sports, massages… effectiveness of the teams and the appeal of the company: in a context of exacerbated competition and fight to attract and preserve the best talents, quality, adaptability and the optimization of work environment (real, fitting-out individual and collective, material and technologies, accompaniment of mobility, facilitation of daily work…) will become an essential weapon and a major competitive asset in the years to come.
An associated stake will be that of the deployment to international of work environments standardized in a multi-cultural context.
SAFMA
“Facilities Management is an enabler of sustainable enterprise performance through the whole life management of productive workplaces and effective business support services”
HFMS:
Facility or facilities management is the integration of multi-disciplinary activities within the built environment and the management of their impact upon people and the workplace.

Effective facilities management, combining resources and activities, is vital to the success of any organisation. At a corporate level, it contributes to the delivery of strategic and operational objectives. On a day-to day level, effective facilities management provides a safe and efficient working environment, which is essential to the performance of any business – whatever its size and scope.
Within this fast growing professional discipline, facilities managers have extensive responsibilities for providing, maintaining and developing myriad services. These range from property strategy, space management and communications infrastructure to building maintenance, administration and contract management.
The FM sector is now large and complex, comprising a mix of in-house departments, specialist contractors, large multi-service companies, and consortia delivering the full range of design, build, finance and management.
The facilities management profession has come of age. Its practitioners require skill and knowledge. The sector definition continues to expand to include the management of an increasingly broad range of tangible assets, support services and people skills.
Facilities management is a vital strategic discipline because it ‘translates’ the high-level, strategic change required by senior decision makers into day-to-day reality for people in their work or living space.