If you’ve ever been on top of a 40-story apartment building and thought who keeps everything below them running smoothly, you already know why high rise building management is one of the hardest jobs in real estate.
There are dozens of interdependent systems working in these self-contained ecosystems at the same time, such as lifts, fire suppression, mechanical ventilation, water infrastructure, entry control, concierge services and energy systems. A compliance failure can happen if you miss one maintenance check. A high-end address could become a source of repeated resident complaints if the building manager and team aren’t well trained, and all the tech and systems aren’t set up in the most optimal way to support them.
What should developers, asset owners and Owners Corporations really look for in a partner for high rise facility management?
Something More Than the Brochure
Get a list of all the buildings that are being managed. More important is what kind of buildings are on that list and how hard they are to build. Managing high-rise services for a 300-apartment skyscraper with multiple building stages, mixed-use tenants and a rooftop plant room is a very different challenge to managing a low-rise apartment complex.
Ask potential FM partners how much experience they have with buildings that are the same size, type of assets and types of people who live or work in them. Has the FM company been engaged to advise on how buildings run during the planning and development stages, so they can help developers solve for issues that appear when operational? Ask about their experience with Build to Rent (BTR) buildings, PBSA or mixed-use areas. A long list of basic skills is not nearly as valuable as the right kind of useful experience.
Details about how important systems work
An important part of high-rise buildings is their foundation for mechanical, electrical and key services. Fire alarms, HVAC, roof drains, pressure zones, car stackers and grey water systems are just a few of the things on the long list.
Good ground management is needed for apartment towers, which means hiring people who know how these systems work. Not just property managers who know which contractor to call, but also technically savvy site workers who can spot a problem before it gets worse and costs a lot to fix.
Find FM service companies that:
- Do internal preventative repair instead of just fixing things when they break.
- As required by Australian Standards, keep track of schedules for vital services.
- Real-time tracking of system performance can be done with technology like sensor-based monitoring.
- Set up a clear way for site crew to contact technical management if something goes wrong.
The best workers won’t just keep your building’s systems running; they’ll also make them work better. That saves money over time, which can be seen in the amount of money saved on things like energy, repairs and new equipment.
People who have lived in apartments before
A big part of facilities management in high-rise buildings and apartments that is often forgotten is how the management of the building affects how people feel about where they live.
People who live in high-end apartment buildings want more than just a clean lobby and working stairs. They want things to stay the same & prompt responses. They expect the same amount of service on a Saturday night at 10 p.m. as they do on a Monday at 7 a.m.
That means the people who work directly for your FM partner, like the concierge, building managers and repair technicians, need to be more than just technically skilled. They need to learn how to treat tenants with respect, deal with problems in a sensitive way and always have the building’s name in mind.
Ask your FM prospects how they hire, train and keep frontline staff. One quick way to make residents unhappy is to have a lot of people move out of a block. Find managers who hire their own workers instead of using labour hire and who help their workers learn and grow all the time.
Following the rules without any gaps
In a high-rise setting, compliance is not a choice and it’s not simple. Just meeting WHS requirements calls for high-tech equipment, regular checks and clearly written steps. When you add in the rules about Annual Fire Safety Statements, lift compliance, flaw management, contractor training and insurance, you can see why compliance is a full-time job and not just a task to be done.
Compliance should be a key part of high rise facility management, not an extra thing that is done on the side. In other words:
- Keeping live compliance schedules that don’t miss any due dates
- Being proactive about site checks instead of just responding to problems as they happen
- Frameworks for governance that protect asset owners from risk
- Developers and Owners Corporations should get regular, clear reports.
Ask for examples of audit records and compliance reports. There should be nothing hidden from a good FM partner. They should have a lot to show you.
News Reports That Really Inform You Of Something
Several FM providers have had trouble with high rise building management reporting in the past. Owners and developers get big PDF papers with lots of numbers that don’t help them make decisions or take action.
The best FM companies now use technology to give you real-time dashboards, live repair tracking and performance benchmarks that show how your building is really doing compared to goals, not just what happened last month.
Before you sign a contract, ask to see examples of the reports your FM partner gives to their present clients. Is it a quick way to check for compliance? Does it draw attention to future CAPEX items before they become important? Does it show patterns in how much energy is used, how much is spent on upkeep and how well the contractors do their jobs? If the answer is a monthly report that doesn’t have any data behind it, that’s something to keep in mind.
As a developer or asset owner, one of the most important things you can do is choose the right high rise facility management partner. The right partner will help you keep your assets safe, stay in line, make things better for your residents and save you money over time. The wrong one will cost you a lot more than what they charge in repairs that need to be done right away, lost tenants, compliance risk and damage to your image.
National Facilities Management, have been helping developers and Owners Corporations across Sydney, Melbourne & Brisbane make these kinds of choices for over forty years. From high-end residential towers to mixed-use areas, our high rise building management strategy is built on technical proficiency, compliance strictness and a genuine people-first service culture.
Ask yourself the above questions before you look for Facilities Management providers for a high-rise residential or mixed-use area. If you ask these questions, the answers will tell you a lot about the operator: will they really know what high rise building management needs? Or will they just be learning on your building’s dime?
Get in touch
The team at National Facilities Management would love to hear from you. Are you planning a new development? Looking over your current FM plans? Or do you just want to see what looks better? We’re ready to help. Contact us.