Facilities Management Association

FMA Certificate Course in Facilities Management

The FMA Certificate is run by the Facilities Society and is the only qualification required in order to be accepted onto the MBA at Sheffield Hallam University. It takes 3 months to complete, and consists of an online course made up of multi-part assignment and an online examination.

Candidates wishing to enroll on the MBA in March 2013 should be signed up and starting the Certificate Course in October 2012. The cost is £750 + vat

The aim of this course is two-fold:
1. To acquire a theoretical understanding of facilities management in support of the core business of organisations.
2. To develop an appreciation of the principles and procedures of facilities management applied to individual organisations.

Skills to be acquired and developed
Intellectual: to understand relevant theory and principles drawn from literature within the subject area (Taught).
Practical: to engage in authentic learning and so develop an ability to offer appropriate criticism of practice (Assignments).
Transferable: to communicate concepts, principles and logical arguments (Assignments).

Learning objectives
After completing the course, students should be able to:
1. Understand the scope and impact of facilities management on the core business activities of organisations.
2. Differentiate between core and non-core business activities and services in the context of facilities management.
3. Appreciate the role of the informed client or customer, the nature of risks faced by the client and the need to provide best value.
4. Explain the importance of a strategy for facilities management and the key stages in arriving at the decision to outsource or retain services in-house.
5. Understand the role of stakeholders and be able to assess their potential impact upon facilities management strategy, policy and operations.
6. Outline a plan for stakeholder engagement and communication.
7. Describe the basis of outsourced facilities management in terms of the main characteristics of service provision and the options for providing them.
8. Appreciate the management implications of both outsourced and in-house service provision for owners (clients), tenants (customers) and other end-users.
9. Recognise the critical success factors in facilities management and the role of key performance indicators.
10. Differentiate between service specifications and service level agreements and explain their role.
11. Outline the process for procuring services and supplies and the means for ensuring the selection of suitably qualified service providers and suppliers.
12. Understand the main types of contractual relationship between clients and service providers and suppliers.
13. Outline the procedure for managing contracts and measuring the performance of contractors.
14. Explain how change can be planned and executed without loss of business continuity.

Content of course – units of study
The course is structured into five units, which cover the following topics:
1. Fundamentals of facilities management (roles, responsibilities, informed client, end-users, value, risks and strategy).
2. People and organisations (managing stakeholders, human resources and organisational behaviour).
3. Processes (procurement, service options and outsourcing).
4. Performance (provision and financial administration of services and supplies, measurement and benchmarking).
5. Innovation (managed change, transition and information systems).

Assessment
A multi-part assignment will be used to integrate and apply learning as well as forming 70% of the final award. An online test prior to the mid-point of the course will form the remaining 30% of the final award. The test is also used to monitor progress.

Reading
In addition to the course materials, participants will be required to read:

Atkin, B.L. and Brooks, A. (2009) Total facilities management. 3rd edition, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell

A selection of articles and scientific papers is included in the course materials and these are also required reading.

Quality assurance
Design, development and delivery of the course are covered by ISO 9001:2008 accreditation.

Management
The Course Leader is Professor Brian Atkin BSc, MPhil, PhD, FRICS, FCIOB.

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