FM and MEP, happy bed fellows

The Manhattan, Jumeirah Village, is on track to honour all of its development commitments.

“Facilities management has a key role to play in terms of these issues. It is not just something you ‘plug in’ right at the end, which is a notion that a lot of people have in this part of the world.

It is important to engage with FM at every step of the way, right from the concept design to the final handover. Only then can you begin to appreciate the full value that FM brings to a particular development.”

While green building may represent a new niche market, Gangaramani points out that FM is as old as the construction industry in the region itself.

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“Facilities management has been there for a long time, but maybe a lot of it has not been well defined. I believe that now people are far more aware of improved customer service, which is making its mark.

The FM sector is also engaging with the ‘green’ building movement, which will bring active change to the FM sector.

“The main challenge at the moment is educating everyone – not only the developers, but the clients and consumers as well – on a single, unified platform about what the real issues are.

This will allow the sector to meet global standards and to offer an internationally acceptable service,” concludes Gangaramani.