Gemini Property Developers will begin evaluating facilities management (FM) companies for Gemini Splendor, a residential project in Dubai’s Mohammed bin Rashid (MBR) City in September 2017.
Speaking with Construction Week, Sailesh Jatania, Gemini’s chief executive officer, revealed that the company aims to evaluate a number of companies in the next couple of months.
“We are going to have several companies to choose from, and we will be looking at them from September to October. By November, the FM company should be on board, [since] the building is expected to be handed over in January,” he said.
Jatania stressed that it is important to engage an FM firm before a project completes the construction phase to avoid complications and confusion during the handover stage.
He explained: “[Gemini] believes that preventive action is always better than reactive action, so the FM team should come in even before the building is completed and handed over.
“That way they will understand the MEP systems and the automation system, so that the transition from the incomplete to complete building is very smooth.”
He added: “What happens to most projects, when the FM company comes, in the first six months, people don’t know what to do. So in our case, we will be appointing FM even before building is completed. That is one way of having a preventive [measure in place].”
READ: Site Visit: Gemini Splendor, MBR City
Talking about what Gemini is looking for in an FM company, he continued: “There are many service providers that specialise in one area – maybe in MEP or in security services. We are looking for a service provider that encompasses all the services and is an expert in all aspects of building management, including MEP, security, facilities, and even concierge.”
Construction works on Gemini Splendor, a G+8 project valued at $76m (AED280m), is nearly 70% complete, according to Global Green Bridge Contracting, the project’s main contractor.
