FM Taking Centre Stage at the Sydney Opera House

"We didn't set out to change the world," says Stephen Ballesty, Director of Rider Levett Bucknall and Immediate Past Chairman of FMA Australia, "but ..." he says with a smile, "... some think we have, so I don't object to their assertion so much these days."

The world is that of Facilities Management (FM), in which Stephen Ballesty is an acknowledged as a global authority. So committed is he, in fact, that he was recently the first Australian ever appointed to the Board of the IFMA Foundation. He also won one of the FM industry's most prestigious individual awards being named as the Facility Management Association (FMA) of Australia's 2007 Member of the Year.

Stephen Ballesty has given generously of his time to FMA Australia for many years, culminating in his serving as both a national director since 2000 and Chairman of the Board (2005-06). Additional recognition, however, came with his appointment as Deputy Chairman of the Australian Government's FM Action Agenda, a collaboration between the FM industry and the Department of Industry, Tourism & Resources.

The FM Action Agenda produced its strategic plan, entitled, Managing the Built Environment in 2005. This watershed document set out a three year 20-point action plan, to be designed to improve the recognition of FM as a contributor to a more productive and sustainable built environment by means of improved innovation, education and regulatory reform. This was a most admirable endeavour but it was felt that it would be difficult for industry and the public to identify with its complexity. What was needed, therefore, was a project to demonstrate unequivocally the key contribution that FM makes to industry, and so was born the unique and enormously ambitious FM Exemplar Project: Sydney Opera House, for which Stephen Ballesty was also appointed Project Leader.

Utilising Sydney Opera House, one of the world's most recognisable icons, the FM Exemplar Project focused on three key FM research streams: digital modelling, services procurement and performance benchmarking. What made it unique, however, was the project's objective of linking each of these three streams into an integrated FM framework. The project aimed to develop a series of innovative FM strategies that, taken together, would showcase FM performance and promote best practice.

The reasons why Sydney Opera House was chosen for this groundbreaking research study were that:

First, Sydney Opera House's iconic status not just in Australia but throughout the world gave the venture immense and immediate appeal, allowing the FM Exemplar Project to 'leverage off' its profile.

Secondly, and importantly, Sydney Opera House is not just an iconic facility but a complex and successful business enterprise in its own right. It was conceived nearly fifty years ago and requires the highest standard of management to enable it to function as it should. Indeed, Ballesty maintains, "if innovative FM solutions can be adopted in the midst of such demands, then FM can work anywhere!"

Finally, and following on closely from this, the purpose of the FM Exemplar Project was to show not just what FM can do for the world's iconic edifices but to demonstrate the contribution FM could make to the mass of commercial sector enterprises such as office portfolios, shopping centres, hotel chains and public facilities. According to Ballesty "this is where the rubber meets the road and the impact of FM as fundamental economic multiplier is most exciting".

The scope of the study undertaken by the FM Exemplar Project, initiated in April 2005 and completed in November 2006, is clear from the fact that it involved three teams of researchers (25 people in all) from ten different organisations, representing industry and applied research institutions. It was conducted as a Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRC-CI) project and supported by the Australian Government, FMA Australia and industry partners including Rider Levett Bucknall.

The final report of the study, FM as a business enabler – Solutions for Managing the Built Environment, summarises the FM Exemplar Project's methodology and findings and focuses on the three research strands of digital modelling, services procurement and performance benchmarking.

Digital Modelling developed an appropriate Building Information Model (BIM) strategy capable of integrating information from different software systems and hard copy, linking this with spatial 3-D computerised graphics and creating a comprehensive visual representation of the building. Combined with the use of an Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model, this allowed for enhanced interoperability between software systems, thus offering practical structures for the detailed monitoring and analysis of facility performance.

Services Procurement concentrated on the methods used to procure maintenance and cleaning services for the building, comparing in-house and outsourcing procedures and collaborative tendering. It investigated a multi-criteria assessment approach to tendering in order to support decision-making strategies for procurement of such services.

Performance Benchmarking compared the strategic asset management of similar iconic buildings from around the world, with an emphasis on performing arts centres. A two-stage survey of iconic facilities (including the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai and The Royal Festival Hall in London) provided the basis to develop Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) against organisational objectives in order better to control, monitor and improve FM performance. This information also helped to support innovative procurement strategies.

But what made this project so different from other studies was the close collaboration between the three research streams leading to genuine progress towards an integrated FM solution. With so much emphasis being placed now on conservation of resources, sustainable development and other 'green' issues, such integrated programmes have wide applicability within the FM industry.

Stephen Ballesty is rightly proud of the results achieved by the FM Exemplar Project but he is at pains to point out that it was a team effort and is only a start.

"Our Sydney Opera House case study is not a panacea for the FM industry," he says. "We had a broad scope, and only a limited time to complete the project and deliver some high level results. For instance, we did not produce a comprehensive digital model – it's rather like casting a pebble into a pond, and now we see the research ripples are spreading outward, wider and wider." It is worth noting that the study has already been credited with a second digital modelling publication: Adopting BIM for facilities management.

The wider implications are also undeniable as Stephen takes this important story to larger and more disparate audiences, and not just in Australia. This year alone he has presented the FM as a business enabler message in Singapore, China, USA, Korea, and recently met the Prime Minister of Malaysia when presenting his work to an audience of 1200 people, in Kuala Lumpur. Since a strong maintenance culture is not prevalent in that country Stephen was delighted to be able to share his innovative and ultimately money-saving ideas with them. "A whole-of-life approach to our built environment makes excellent business sense, reducing risks and enhancing value," he insists.

So what are the potential benefits presenting themselves to commercial and business enterprises? The results of the study offer evidence for the following:

  • practical structures for monitoring and analysing facility performance
  • multi-criteria assessment procedures to support decision-making strategies
  • developing KPIs to monitor, control, improve and evaluate FM performance
  • an integrated FM approach that supports sustainable
  • it works for the Sydney Opera House – it can work for you!

FM has taken centre stage, and in operatic terms this is only the first act in achieving a more productive and sustainable Built Environment for all.

Stephen Ballesty is a Global Board Trustee for the International Facilities Management Association Foundation (IFMA) and Managing Director of Advisory Services at Rider Levett Bucknall. Stephen can be contacted at stephen.ballesty@au.rlb.com.

For more information on the IFMA, visit www.ifma.org.