Early involvement of FM-competencies in building projects facilitate long-term value creation

Purpose: In Norway, commercial properties and publicly owned buildings in average serve for approximately 60 years. A significant part of these buildings’ value creation for owners and users take place during the use phase. The present research investigates how involvement of Facility Management (FM) competencies in early phase and transfer of information and documentation during phase transitions in the building process may improve the building’s value creation for owners and users. Methodology: The present research is based on a cross-sectional observational design. Data were collected from June to September 2016 through a national online survey (N = 1034). The most important analytical methods are descriptive statistics and analyses of correlation. Key findings: There are significant relations between early involvement of FM competencies and transfer of information during phase transitions, and the buildings’ value creation for owners and users. Intended impact: Early phase planning represent only a marginal fraction of a building’s total life-cycle costs, but many of the most important decisions concerning a building’s fit for its intended purposes, operational costs, life-cycle costs, and value creation for owners and users are determined during the early planning phase. Thus, smart building owners and users involve FM competencies in early phase planning, and emphasise transfer of information and documentation during the building process’ phase transitions.