In India, real estate developers have always been viewed with an element of skepticism. The sector has lacked transparency and builders would often use unscrupulous means to obtain various regulatory approvals. Of late, it the sector, however, has been experiencing a number of changes. For starters, developers have realized the merits of corporatising themselves and enhancing transparency in terms of their financials. While earlier even reputed builders had difficulty accessing formal channels of credit, today almost every bank and housing finance company has tie-ups with developers and are keen to lend to them at competitive rates. Another area in which professionalism has filtered into is the way developers now manage and maintain their projects, be it commercial, retail or residential. The route that most of them are adopting these days is outsourcing. For developers, outsourcing the facilities management (FM) of their township, mall or office complex is the best possible way to ensure that it does not go down the drain, something that government buildings, district centres and co-operative societies suffer from. So much so that today, the concept of facilities management has emerged as an investment into real estate rather than a mere maintenance function. Facilities management involves multiple disciplines to ensure smooth and efficient functionality of the built environment by comprehensive integration of human resources, processes and technology.
The scope of facilities management can be gauged from the fact that it is a Rs 10,000 crore market today. Consider this. The estimated market for fire protection systems in India alone is in the range of Rs 3,000 crores currently. The growth in the past five years has been at a CAGR of 27-30%. Says MC Muthanna, COO, Firepro, which offers engineered solutions in the field of fire safety, electronic security, building management and home automation areas of building technology, ?With the increase in infrastructure (property-related) investments by hi-tech companies in India due to global outsourcing of back office and research operations, there has been an increase in the demand for ?smart buildings?. Multinationals expect buildings and infrastructure capabilities similar to the facilities overseas. Understanding the complexities of technologies used in various operations, architects, consultants, builders, contractors, property managers, and facilities managers today need to understand the new requirements of facilities.?
So great is the need that today facilities management is emerging as a pre-requisite for real estate development and builders are increasingly tying up with such providers to ensure a better selling price for their product. Barely a decade old in the country, outsourcing the task of facilities management allows business owners to concentrate on their core business and yet manage their buildings more efficiently. Many developers have tie-ups with facilities management companies and in some cases have even entered into joint ventures to set up subsidiaries to target the growing business. For instance, DLF and Vipul have tie-ups with WNS and Lang O?Rourke respectively.
Companies like Firepro offer services like intelligent addressable fire detection, fire suppression (water and gas based), electronic access control, video surveillance and storage, integrated building management and home automation and security.
FM is a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology. Most of the management companies offer a comprehensive range of industrial and commercial house keeping services, which are designed to match the requirements of the clients, and customised as per the client?s specifications. In developed markets, facilities management is closely integrated with property management services that include rent collections, lease management as well as event management. However in India, for the industry as a whole, the concept of facilities management has not matured enough to provide complete property management solutions.
Says realtor Vikram Chopra, ?A well-managed building is often an important parameter for most clients whilst looking for space. The fact that all the buildings built today incorporate all modern amenities and professional facilities management is indeed a boon. Previously, builders used to tie up with various stand alone agencies but now most of the developers look at a one stop shop so that it becomes easy to handle business as well as give the client what he wants.?
That?s going beyond the routine broom, mop and housekeeping service.