Unraveling the Mysteries of a Criminal Incident Site
In the realm of facility management (FM), outsourcing has become a popular strategy for businesses seeking to reduce costs, access specialized expertise, and improve efficiency. However, as a recent incident at a mixed-use facility reveals, it's crucial to follow best practices to ensure the success of outsourced FM.
Choosing the Right FM Provider
Outsourcing to an integrated facility management partner can yield significant benefits. Such providers offer flexibility, scalability, and expertise, often reducing FM costs by up to 15%. They eliminate the need for businesses to recruit and manage internal staff, freeing up resources for other important tasks[1].
Minimizing Downtime and Liability
Clear contract terms about liability and downtime are essential. In the case of the water damage incident, contracts should have defined who was responsible for failures or damages during outsourced operations. Robust real-time monitoring and reporting tools, such as those that track the health of facility systems and identify issues early, can help reduce downtime and ensure reliability[2].
The Importance of Unbiased Third-Party Monitoring
Having independent, impartial monitors or auditors verify performance and compliance adds trust, ensuring that outsourced FM providers meet contractual standards without conflicts of interest. Such monitoring supports transparency, accountability, and objective evaluation of service delivery, minimizing risks for the building owner[1][2].
Communication and Reporting
Maintaining regular communication, using dashboards, and setting reporting protocols helps the client stay informed and collaborate effectively with the FM provider. In the aftermath of the water damage incident, timely intervention could have mitigated the damage[2].
The Water Damage Incident: A Case Study
On January 28, 2019, a facility experienced water damage due to burst coils in two laboratory air handling units. The preheat valve remained at 25% OPEN while the preheat temperature dropped below the 41°F low-limit setpoint. As a result, two of the four laboratory air handling units' coils ruptured due to freezing of the chilled water flowing through them[3].
Following the incident, several policy measures and BAS programming changes were enacted, including ensuring no equipment is left running in operator mode for extended periods of time and addressing all BAS alarms proactively[4]. The outsourced contractor was held responsible for the damages due to negligence.
Root Cause Analysis and Preventive Measures
Cimetrics, a company providing Analytika service, was able to determine the root cause of the failure using operational forensics. Changes were made to the freeze protection control logic, such as commanding the unit supply fan OFF and the outdoor air dampers full CLOSED when the unit goes into freeze protection alarm. The CHW valve and associated CHW loop pump(s) will now be signaled full OPEN and ON when the preheat air temperature drops below the freeze protection low-limit setpoint[4].
The Cost of Negligence
The costs and liabilities from the incident were substantial, with damages exceeding $60,000. The preheat valve will now be signaled full OPEN when the preheat air temperature drops below the freeze protection low-limit setpoint, and the CHW valve will be signaled full CLOSED during extremely low preheat air temperature conditions to prevent future incidents[5].
The Role of Unbiased Third-Party Monitoring
In this case, an outside, unbiased third-party monitor could have identified the warning signs and inadequate AHU freeze protection control logic that the outsourced facility management engineering staff ignored[6]. The detailed operational forensic analysis by Cimetrics revealed that the engineering staff ignored low temperature or 'freeze stat' alarms and took no action to investigate the cause of the alarms.
The Future of Outsourcing Facility Management
The outsourcing of facility management functions is increasingly common across some industries. As this incident demonstrates, careful vendor selection, well-defined liability clauses, robust real-time monitoring with transparent reporting, and leveraging impartial third-party oversight are essential to balance risk, minimize disruptions, and optimize outsourced facility management outcomes.
- In the realm of outsourcing facility management (FM), partnering with an integrated FM provider can lead to significant cost reduction, providing flexibility, scalability, and specialized expertise that may not be available in-house.
- Leveraging unbiased third-party monitors or auditors can add a layer of trust to outsourced FM service delivery, ensuring that providers meet contractual standards and identifying potential issues before they lead to disruptions or substantial costs.
