1.2 Facilities Management Professionals

Successful facilities management requires a team of many professionals to ensure the comfort, safety, security, and efficiency of the place, processes, and people working on the property. Professionals you will work with often, sometimes daily, include custodians, security personnel, members of the maintenance team, and waste disposal workers. You may interact with others less frequently or not at all. This group could include architects, engineers, skilled trades, such as plumbers, electricians, gasfitters, millwrights, HVAC and interior designers, and service contractors, such as pest control professionals.

Each professional provides a specific required skill necessary to continue successful facilities management. It is common for Nutrition and Food Service Managers to work with the following facilities management professionals on a daily or weekly basis.

• Custodians are responsible for the surface cleanliness of the physical space. You might see them sweeping or mopping floors, washing walls, shelves, and high-touch surfaces, or cleaning washrooms and common areas, such as lunchrooms. Custodians are experts in cleaning and disinfecting, which reduces infection transmission in the workplace.
• Security personnel are often found stationed at the entrances and exits of a building. It is the role of the security to monitor, patrol, and control access to the building, but they are also trained to provide safety education, first aid, emergency response, and de-escalation services when required on site.
• Members of the maintenance team are involved with safety inspections, small-scale installations, such as a new tile floor in the dining room or extra shelving in the storage area, and general repairs. The type and amount of work that can be performed by the maintenance team depends on the training and skill set of these handy people.
• Waste disposal personnel can include garbage removal, recycling, composting, and septic waste care if the property is rural and not connected to city sewage services.

There are more professionals who contribute to successful facilities management. If a Nutrition and Foodservice Manager is working for a company that is involved in building or rebuilding a facility, then an architect may be involved in designing the physical space. An architect provides blueprints, which are plans and instructions for the construction of the physical space. Interior Designers work closely with Architects to select decor, such as lighting, furniture, paints, wallpapers, and window coverings, that create a functional and safe space.

Engineers also create blueprints and plans for the construction. However, where an architect focuses design on aesthetics and appearance, an engineer focuses on technical and structural aspects. They are often required to complete the work on sewage or electrical systems.

Skilled trades workers are other professionals who support facilities management in a new building or existing location. Plumbers have expertise in installing, repairing, cleaning, and maintaining pipes and fixtures used to supply and dispose of water. Electricians install, repair, and maintain the safety of electrical wiring, fixtures, and equipment. Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning or HVAC technicians install, repair, and provide maintenance to the systems that regulate air quality in the building. In the food service department, this includes hood vents, return air, refrigerators, and freezers. Gasfitters install, inspect, and repair gas lines and equipment, such as gas ranges. Millwrights read blueprints and schematics to assemble mechanical equipment and machines, such as a commercial dishwasher. Unless you are working for a larger company, such as a hospital, it is unlikely that you will have a plumber, electrician, HVAC technician, gasfitter, or millwright on staff. This means that you will be reaching out to a local contractor for these services.

Other contract services include pest control, hood vent cleaning, and grease trap cleaning.

• Pest control professionals educate, inspect, and create a plan for long-term pest control at the premises. Long-term pest control supports food safety by preventing the infestation of rodents, bugs, and other insects.
• Hood vent cleaning services work to remove grease and debris from the exhaust system—an important part of routine maintenance that may need to be contracted out.
• Grease trap cleaning services work to remove fats, oils, and grease buildup from the water system. See the example below that outlines the process for grease trap cleaning.

Example: Grease Trap

Grease trap cleaning is a service routinely contracted out to service professionals. The grease trap is located under the floor, usually by the dishwasher, in commercial kitchens. The job of the grease trap is to collect fats, oils, and grease before the disposal of water into the sewage or septic systems. Cleaning the grease trap is an important part of maintaining a clean and safe work environment for your staff.

Image Description

An illustrated cross-sectional diagram of a grease trap. The grease trap includes an inlet pipe on the left, where wastewater flows in, and an outlet pipe on the right, where treated water exits. The trap is divided into two chambers, with the first chamber collecting fats, oils, and grease floating on the surface above, with settled sludge at the bottom. The second chamber primarily contains clear water, with additional sludge settling at the bottom. The system features clean-out pipes on both sides for maintenance and a manhole frame and cover at the top for access. A clean-out cap is positioned between the chambers.