• Building management deals with the Supervision of hard and soft services of a built structure
• Another task of building management is to make sure that security, health and safety and maintenance are on a satisfactory level
• Soft services include cleaning, landscaping, security and human-sourced services
• Hard services relate to physical, structural services such as fire alarm systems, lifts
• The subbranches of building management are residential and commercial

A) Residential building management covers supervising of the following staff:

• A team of porters / security officers
• Cleaners
• Electrical and mechanical contractors
• A team of administrative staff

B) Commercial building management – building manager who is involved in the sales aspect ensures that the office space is let at all times

• Buildings being in charge consist of commercial units and offices; the usual tenants are various companies
• With building management the terms of freeholders and leaseholders are in a close connection
• Freeholders are the developers
• They own the freehold of the development, such as communal areas, land site)
• Leaseholders are flat occupiers who can be the occupiers as well as the investors too
• They have the full responsibility for the apartment maintenance
• The leaseholders are to pay an annual service charge

Building Management

Building management (in the UK) is a discipline that comes under the umbrella of facility management. A building manager supervises the hard and soft services of a built structure, ensuring that the security, health and safety, and maintenance of the built structure are in place to a satisfactory level. There are essentially two types of building manager positions: residential and commercial. Hard services usually relate to physical, structural services such as fire alarm systems, lifts and so on whereas soft services include cleaning, landscaping, security and suchlike human-sourced services.
In a residential environment, a building manager will typically supervise a team of porters or security officers, cleaners, electrical and mechanical contractors and depending on the size of the development, a team of administrative staff.

Questions

1. What does a building manager do?
2. What does a building manager need to ensure?
3. What are soft services?
4. What does a building manager do in a residential environment?

Answers

1. A building manager supervises the hard and soft services of a built structure
2. They needs to make sure that the security, health and safety, and maintenance of the built structure are in place to a satisfactory level
3. Soft services include cleaning, landscaping, security and suchlike human-sourced services.
4. In a residential environment, a building manager will typically supervise a team of porters or security officers, cleaners, electrical and mechanical contractors and sometimes a team of administrative staff.