The Malaysian Institute of Property and Facilities Management have read news reports regarding the Facilities Management fiasco at The Kuala Lumpur High Court and wish to officially respond as follows:
On the cleaning issue, MIPFM would like to note that whilst payment to the cleaning contractor had been made until the end of the year, the cleaning contractor has not fulfilled their obligation by providing the number of cleaners required and further had not paid their cleaners, leading to the strike by the cleaners.
Additionally, MIPFM would like to highlight that;
1) FM contracts whilst agreed as a lump sum for particular services, should be paid monthly in arrears and should have provisions to deduct for services not rendered for a particular period.
2) FM contracts should have provisions for KPIs (Key Performance Index) and SLAs (Service Level Agreement) and where when a contractor continuously fails to meet them should be warned and if repeated terminated.
3) The management should have taken immediate and swift action when such breaches occurred and not allowed the situation to deteriorate until the Judges had to undertake a gotong royong and their own cleaning.
On the breakdown in air-conditioning, it is indeed unacceptable to note that 84 courtrooms have had a breakdown in air conditioning for some time which had not been rectified. A FM contract would typically detail the preventive maintenance plan for the air conditioning systems and a SLA would specify the service required and response time in fixing any breakdown. Mobile air conditioning units are only a temporary solution and repair or maintenance of the central air-conditioning system must be carried out without delay.
The case on serious cracks and leakages request for a structural report for engineers to thoroughly inspect the building, MIPFM urges an independent Building Condition report be carried out by a competent Building Surveyor or Architect specialising in this area. This is a specialised area that not only requires input by engineers but also from allied professions mentioned above.
Currently, The Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) is calling for registration of FM service providers with them whilst the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (BOVAEAP) are calling for registration of Property Managers with them. The provision of Property Management Services and Facility Management are closely interrelated and both CIDB and BOVAEAP must take strict disciplinary action including removal from the list of those errant. Property and Facility Managers who fail to carry out their services and put the lives of people in danger. Building owners should only contract with registered property or facility managers to ensure that there is an avenue for action against the FM/PM service provider.
Image sourced from NST Online
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