FM industry close to formation of business group

The fmME Breakfast Club is set to evolve into a dedicated FM industry trade group

The constitution of a proposed ‘Facilities Management Business Group’ was put forward at this month’s meeting of the facilities management Middle East (fmME) Breakfast Club.

Agreement to form the group was reached at last month’s meeting of the Breakfast Club, which brings together senior figures from the FM industry to discuss hot topics and the way forward for the community as a whole.

The proposed business group will come under the umbrella of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

Stephen Barker, fmME Breakfast Club chairman, said of the development: “This is an historic step forward for the industry. We are facing a new business model, with the onset of the strata law [‘condominium law no 27 of 2007, regarding ownership of jointly owned property in the emirate of Dubai’] and the new powers handed to owners’ associations.”

Barker went on say the FM industry has to present a unified front to end users. Billing and service provision transparency; and all of the issues FMs and owners face concerning service charges and energy use need to be addressed, with a framework for standardisation across the industry.

“This can only be achieved through the formation of the Facilities Management Business Group (FMBG),” he said, “and we have taken the significant first step.”

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Juma Bin Darwish Al Muhairy, vice president, Engineering and Events Services, has also been helping move the process forward. “I have been speaking to Jamal Lootah, CEO, Imdaad, regarding an audience with the Ruler’s Court here in Dubai.

“He has taken on the responsibility of arranging the meeting and suggests we put together a presentation on the importance of FM in the Middle East, the importance of managing and maintaining the built environment, and the role FMs play in sustainability and energy saving.

“It’s very important the message is clear and well thought out; we need the authorities to understand what we do and the depth of our social responsibility to the environment,” said Al Muhairy.

The fmME Breakfast Club was born of the lack of any dedicated Middle East association or body for facilities managers. fmME is published by ITP Business, publisher of ConstructionWeekOnline.com.

For more on this month’s meeting of the fmME Breakfast Club, read July’s edition of facilities management Middle East.