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Facilities manager
Hours
40 per week
Starting salary
£25,000 + per year
These managers make sure that buildings and their services meet the needs of their occupants. They manage services such as cleaning, security and parking. They also manage building maintenance such as heating and air conditioning systems. If you can develop good working relationships with a wide range of people and enjoy organising, this could be a great profession for you.
To do this job, you should have good organisation skills. You will need good spoken and written communication skills. You will also need customer and client management skills.
WorkDesc
The work
You could work as a facilities manager in either the public or private sector. Your duties would vary widely depending on the job, but would normally include:
- managing refurbishment, renovations and office moves
- managing general upkeep and maintenance
- making sure that the building meets health and safety standards and legal requirements
- advising on energy efficiency
- managing services such as cleaning, waste disposal, catering and parking
- managing budgets and keeping records of payments
- negotiating the best deals with contractors and suppliers
- managing security
- managing office systems, which may include IT and office equipment.
You could work for a facilities management company that is contracted to manage facilities for a number of organisations. In small companies, facilities management may be part of a general management role.
You may have another job title such as business services manager, support services manager or contracts manager.
HoursDesc
Hours
You would work around 40 hours a week, usually 9 am to 5 pm, but you may sometimes need to do extra hours, for example to deal with emergencies.
You would be office-based but you would probably need to do some travelling, particularly if you work for a large, multi-site company.
IncomeDesc
Income
Facilities managers can earn from £25,000 to £45,000 a year.
Senior or regional facilities managers can earn £60,000 a year or more.
Figures are intended as a guideline only.
EntryRequirementsDesc
Entry requirements
You would need to have technical skills related to property as well as relevant management skills, such as business strategy, budget and cost control, and people management. You could gain these in one or more of the following ways:
- a foundation degree, HND or degree in facilities management or another relevant subject such as management or business studies
- relevant professional qualifications, such as surveying
- experience in a relevant field, such as construction, building services, engineering, accountancy, hospitality or healthcare.
If you have strong administrative and organisational skills and experience, you may be able to work your way up to a facilities management position. For example, some people take on wider responsibilities after working in a management job in areas such as cleaning, catering or security. For this route, you may not need formal facilities management qualifications. However, you could develop relevant skills by completing the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) Level 3 in Facilities Management. See the ILM website for details.
You can also do part-time or distance learning courses, or Masters degrees, after gaining a first degree or relevant experience. These may help you to progress in your career. Some courses are recognised by the British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM). See the BIFM website for details of providers of accredited courses.
Having health and safety qualifications could help you, such as those offered by the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health (NEBOSH) and IOSH – the chartered body for health and safety professionals. These may be essential for some jobs.
There is also an Advanced Apprenticeship in Facilities Management. To find out more, see the Apprenticeships website.
TrainingAndDevelopmentDesc
Training and development
Once you are employed in facilities management you could complete British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) or Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) qualifications at levels 4-6. The qualification you start with will depend on your level of experience and responsibility. BIFM also offers short courses on all aspects of facilities management. See the BIFM and ILM websites for details.
Membership of the BIFM could benefit your career development, such as by going to the institute's regional continuing professional development (CPD) events and annual conferences. See the BIFM website for more information.
If you are a surveyor with membership of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), you can use the title Chartered Facilities Management Surveyor provided you meet the RICS criteria. See the RICS website for details:
SkillsAndKnowledgeDesc
Skills and knowledge
To be a facilities manager, you should have:
- good organisational skills
- good spoken and written communication skills
- the ability to develop working relationships with a wide range of people
- customer and client management skills
- the ability to manage a varied and complex workload
- technical knowledge of building services
- management skills
- the ability to control large budgets
- problem solving and decision making ability
- STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths).
MoreInformationDesc
More information
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) 
Parliament Square
London
SW1P 3AD
Tel: 020 7334 3875
www.rics.org
Asset Skills
2 The Courtyard
48 New North Road
Exeter
Devon
EX4 4EP
Tel: 01392 423399
Careers Advice: careers@assetskills.org
www.assetskills.org
British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM)
Number One Building
The Causeway
Bishop’s Stortford
Hertfordshire
CM23 2ER
Tel: 0845 058 1356
www.bifm.org.uk
Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM)
Stowe House
Netherstowe
Lichfield
Staffordshire
WS13 6TJ
Tel: 01543 266867
www.i-l-m.com
OpportunitiesDesc
Opportunities
You could find work with a wide range of organisations as an in-house facilities manager. You could also be employed by specialist contractors, or by large multi-service companies that provide a full range of design, building, finance and management services. With experience you may be able to progress to a senior or regional management job.
You may find the following links useful for vacancies and further reading (links open in a new window):
Job profiles are based on the latest information supplied to us by industry bodies, such as Sector Skills Councils. Please be aware that with the introduction of the Qualifications and Credit Framework there has been, and will continue to be, changes to vocational qualifications. For more information, please check with industry bodies directly.
We do not accept responsibility for the content of external sites.
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Related industry information
Industry summary
The facilities management industry is part of the housing, property and planning, cleaning and support services, and parking sector, which is represented by Asset Skills Sector Skills Council. The sector workforce has continued to grow since 1998 and represents 3% of the total UK workforce.
The facilities management industry covers all types of management of services which includes: ‘hard’ services, such as property and estates management, building maintenance, energy management, environmental protection; and ‘soft’ services, such as cleaning, security, reception and customer care. The lack of understanding around facilities management roles makes both career pathways and qualification structures difficult to define. However, progression routes continue to be developed and there is now a range of work‐based qualifications allowing candidates to study from level 3 upwards.
Key facts:
- The UK market for facilities management contracts is estimated to be between £10‐173 billion per year.
- There are 136,900 people working in the facilities management industry in 14,400 companies.
- 91% of all facilities management organisations have 10 or less employees.
- Facilities management is seen as a relatively new sector and companies seem positive with 74% expecting to grow.
Jobs in the industry include: assistant facilities coordinator; facilities manager; support services manager (such as cleaning, catering or security); building maintenance personnel; and emerging jobs such as environmental management, sustainability in response to legislation and changes to building design and risk management.
National and regional data
The following provides a breakdown of the number of facilities management sector employees in each of the Nations and English regions.
| East Midlands |
5,900 |
The East Midlands employs 5% of the facilities management workforce. A significant proportion of the workforce is employed on a part‐time basis (62%) |
| East Of England |
11,500 |
The East of England employs 5% of the facilities management workforce, with employment evenly distributed between full‐ and part‐time work |
| London |
29,900 |
London is the largest employer of the facilities management sector in England (26%). A high proportion (76%) of the workforce is employed on a full‐time basis and the majority (74%) is male |
| North East |
3,100 |
The region has 3% of the facilities management workforce, with the majority aged 25‐54 (94%) |
| North West |
12,700 |
The North West region employs 11% of the facilities management sector. The majority of the workforce (85%) is aged between 25‐54 |
| South East |
15,500 |
The South East employs 13% of the facilities management workforce. A significant proportion of the workforce is employed on a full‐time basis (76%), with men making up 62% of employees |
| South West |
11,200 |
The South West region employs 10% of the facilities management sector. A significant proportion of the workforce is aged over 55 (42%) |
| West Midlands |
10,000 |
The West Midlands has a high proportion of its workforce employed on a full‐time basis (85%). The majority of the workforce is aged 25 and over |
| Yorkshire & The Humber |
15,100 |
Identical to the South East, the Yorkshire and the Humber region employs 13% of the facilities management workforce. This region accounts for the highest proportion of full‐time employment (91%). |
| Scotland |
19,200 |
Scotland employs 14% of the facilities management sector workforce across the UK. The majority of the workforce is employed on a full‐time basis (75%), is aged 25‐54 (81%) and is female (64%) |
| Wales |
2,800 |
Wales employs 2% of the facilities management sector workforce across the UK. The majority of the workforce is employed on a full‐time basis (83%), is aged 25‐54 (70%) and is male (77%) |
| Northern Ireland |
* |
|
Source: Annual Business Inquiry, 2008
* Due to a low sample size, information on the number of employees and characteristics of the facilities management sector in Northern Ireland has been excluded.
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