Members of the Ghana Chapter of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA) have asked government to enforce legislations regarding the design and use of environmentally friendly materials in the construction of public buildings.

It wants government to adopt Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model to ensure long term maintenance and sustainability of public facilities.

Ahead of the celebration of World Facility Management Day on May 11, 2022, the association emphasised the need for professionalism in the management of public spaces.

World Facility Management Day is to celebrate the successes of professional facility managers and help address challenges that persist in the sector.

Mr. Sampson Opare-Agyemang, President of the Ghana Chapter of IFMA, speaking at the launch of the celebrations on Wednesday, said outsourcing facility management to professional organisations “is the best practice.”

Facility Management, he explained, involved “building management from the design stage to enhance its overall life cycle,” hence the need  for the government to establish a facility management department or agency for proper “infrastructure management and regulation” in the country.”

“Facility management influences the health, safety, productivity and well-being of people who “utilise the built environment.

“The challenge today in our built environment is not just lack of maintenance culture rather lack of understanding of the value of facility management by governments, business owners and financial institutions,” he noted.

Mr. Opare-Agyemang said the Ghana Chapter of IFMA would focus on “the earth, health and well-being in a post-COVID hybrid working environment” in the country as it joined the worldwide celebrations in a few weeks.

Activities for the celebrations in Ghana are Round table discussions on the strategic role of facility management as well as a tour of the Bulk Oil Storage and Transport Company (BOST) among others.

The International Facility Management Association, founded in 1980, is the recognised association of facility management professionals which has about 24,000 members in over 106 countries.

The Ghana Chapter of IFMA was approved in August 2009 and currently has over 200 professional members. The Association recently entered a partnership with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to introduce a Master of Science (MSc) programme in Facility Management.

Mr. Opare-Agyemang said the association intended to partner other institutions to help train more facility managers.

By Ernest Nutsugah