Facilities @ Management

Appendix B Facility Management (FM) Education

FM Education

Many FM associations provide some form of education for their members, whether through formal programs, at conferences, through chapter meetings, online, virtually, etc. The education programs may lead to a certificate, certification, or professional recognition. Some FM educational programs in many countries have a number of offerings in a number of languages, while some have a few and are growing. There are also a number of educational companies, consultants, and continuing education departments in universities that offer FM educational programs, some with testing, and some without testing.

IFMA Education

In October of 1980 the facility management profession was fortunate to have 16 founding members who met in Houston, Texas, USA, to begin and charter the National Facility Management Association (NFMA). In 1982 the NFMA changed its name to the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) to accommodate new members and the chapter from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

One of IFMA’s early goals was to develop one-, two-, or three-day FM education courses based on the eight FM core competencies adopted in 1984:

• Long Range and Annual Planning
• Financial Forecasting & Management
• Telephone, Security & Administration
• Interior Space Planning & Space Mgmt.
• Architecture & Engineering
• New Construction & Renovations
• Maintenance & Operations
• Real Estate

Initially many of these early IFMA core courses were developed and presented ...