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Frequently Asked Questions – Facility Management

Frequently Asked Questions

What is facility management?

International Facility Management Association (IFMA) defines Facility Management (FM) a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.

FM ensures that the organisation’s built environment, enhances its productivity and supports its set objectives and goals. It is important because well-managed buildings help organizations function effectively and efficiently.

 

What are the benefits of having a facility manager?

Facility Management services grow profitability, reduce business risks, grow competitiveness and allow organizations to focus their efforts on their core business and key competitive advantage as well as increase the lifespan of their assets.

What are the duties of a facility manager?

Answer1:

I am building a facility, when do I need a facility manager?

Facility Management is much concerned with ensuring the total comfort, safety and productivity of occupants. In the design and construction of a facility, the owner should appoint an FM to ensure that everything is in place right from the beginning for effective management of the facility upon completion.

What makes Listening Bureau stand out among other Facility Management firms?

Our facility owners benefit from our broad background and expertise. We don’t just manage facilities and properties but actively market and project the brands of our clients.

Facility occupants and users are always assured of a safe, comfortable and secure environment that doesn’t interfere with their core business activities.

We value client experience and therefore has a dedicated department for client relationship management and communicating all reports and other relevant information promptly.

What is your track record?

Listening Bureau started as a real estate agency working with private individuals and SMEs, eventually, based on our track record and recommendations, we progressed to broker for leading property developers including Regimanuel gray Limited, which is the largest real estate company in Ghana.

A milestone in our success story is when Listening Bureau in 2013, worn the bid to work with an international investor on a 102-unit housing project – Chain Homes, Airport Valley, as its exclusive Agent.

We worked on this project from its inception right from the design phase with a strategy to sell off plan to interested buyers. You can imagine what it would take to convince buyers to invest in a new project especially when the developer is not known.

But through our marketing efforts and collaboration with both international and local experts, we successfully created an award winning brand. Chain Homes was awarded the by the Ghana Property Awards – AS THE DEVELOPER OF THE YEAR; UPPER INCOME LUXURY CATEGORY IN 2017.

The miles stones we achieved by collaborating with such developers led us onto the international platform to work for leading global developers including Damac Properties and Emaar Properties who are the two leading property developers in Dubai.

Through the experience we gained providing brokerage services for commercial facilities we were introduced to a commercial facility in Dawhenya, Community 25, Tema, to find tenants for the Building. However, based on our assessment of its location, viability, and design we decided to project and market it as a mall – Community 25 Mall.

We created a good customer mix required of a mall by bringing together tenants from various industries including retail – restaurant & supermarket, telecom, banking, insurance, clinics – dentistry etc

Through creating a good customer mix and our objectives to ensure our occupants satisfaction and productivity, we were introduced to the world of the facilities management. That is when Facilities Management started with Listening Bureau.

We have over the years provided services to various corporate clients locally, including Women’s World Bank Ghana (WWBG), MTN, Fidelity Bank, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, A & E Supermarket, Accra Metropolitan Assemebly, Ministry of Trade and Industry among others.

We also manage strategic government facilities such as the Accra Metropolitan Assembly City Hall.

We have always adhered to quality service delivery based on international standards and practices that brings optimum value to our clients. This makes the facilities attractive to both international and local clients

Are you a member of an international organization?

In our quest to become the best facilities management company in Ghana, we have ensured that two of our management team members are trained and certified as Facility Management Professionals (FMP) by the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA).

What types of facility do you manage?

We management all types of facilities. From residential buildings, commercial spaces and malls to offices and public event centers.

What services do you provide as facility managers?

As facility management service provider of choice, we deliver the following world class services to our clients:

  • Leasing
  • Property Maintenance and Service
  • Ground Maintenance
  • Fire Fighting and Health & Safety Management
  • Waste Management
  • Energy Management & Environmental Sustainability
  • Security
  • Marketing
  • Administration and Dispute Resolution
  • Handover and Inspection
  • Rent/Revenue Collection and Lease Management
  • Reporting and Financial Management
  • Banking Service
  • Property Insurance
  • Legal Guidance
  • Support Services (i.e. Front Office, Back Office, Labour Supply).
  • Cleaning Services (i.e. Daily cleaning, Periodical Cleaning, Special Cleaning).
  • Security Services (Physical Security, Surveillance, Technical Installations, Workplace Emergency Mgmt., Consulting Services.
  • Catering Services (i.e. Contract Catering, Vending Services, events Catering, Confectionery services.

In addition, we deliver the following services where applicable:

  1.  Supervise all Service Providers
  2. Enforce Health and Safety Standards
  3. Enforcement of Security Regulations/Standards

Do you provide consultancy services?

Yes, our team provide expert advisory and consultancy real estate brokerage, investment, property management and facility management services to clients. We give advisory on all aspects of security, maintenance and energy management within the built environment.

Does your company outsource some core services?

To ensure that we efficiently manage the facilities given to us, we sometimes outsource some services to specialized institutions that maintain excellent standards  to meet our requirement. In doing this, we monitor the third-party contractors through the strict adherence to service-level-agreements (SLAs) with full contractual force.

 

What are your operating hours?

We operate from Monday to Sunday, 8am to 6pm at all service locations except our head office which is opened only on weekdays from 8am to 5pm

Do you work overnight and weekends?

We have technical staff on 24/7 call to take care of all facilities during weekends and nights. We also have on standby, support staff to take care of all emergency situations in the facilities we manage.

How often do you perform quality control inspection on your facilities?

Quality control checks on Facilities are done on regular schedules of hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, etc basis for various aspects of every facility we manage. At Listening Bureau, we consistently satisfy the needs and exceed expectations of our valued Interested Parties by providing professional real estate brokerage services and facility management services for our clients. We are fully committed to the provision of Quality Property and Facility Management Services in line with acceptable International Standards and Best Practices.

Who do I contact when I have issues with my facility?

Our facility management offices are always open to take care of our client needs. If there are problems talk to them and they will attend to it immediately. You may also contact or customer relations via +233 264 54 8764 or crm@listeningbureau.com 

I need something fixed, it’s an emergency. Who do I contact?

In a case of an emergency, the client or occupant first need to fill and incidence report form and submit it to our onsite FM office under the classification ’emergency’. Our officers will escalate the report to all relevant personnel and a response is activated immediately.

How soon will Listening Bureau Respond to an emergency call?

It is our policy to ensure that clients enjoy complete attention from our team of experts. We therefore provide priority responses to all client emergencies within the same hour. This is our service promise and we hold it as an important aspect of our facility management services.

What health and safety regulations do you adhere to?

Answer1:

What waste management techniques do you adapt?

Listening Bureau believes in waste recycling as a means of saving our planet from human destruction. We therefore adopt waste segregation techniques for all solid waste in facilities we manage. Where applicable we put in place an effective liquid waste management plan.

What environmental sustainability plans do you adapt?

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What energy management techniques do you adapt?

Answer1:

How do I book a facility for my event?

There are two ways to book the Accra City Hall for an event. You can either visit the Facility Management Office inside the Accra City Hall, AMA Offices, Kinbu Accra or do so online by clicking  here to fill in required details and our team will contact you immediately.

How do I arrange for assistance from facility management for my event?

Answer1:

What is your fees structure?

We offer different pricing regimes for each class of service we provide, below are details of our fees and charges:

Facilities Management:

For our facilities management services, we are entitled to a management fee negotiated with our principals (property owners) based on reports from facility audit conducted by our team.

Brokerage Services:

Sale of property:

For the sale of residential and commercial properties, we are entitled to a commission of 3% – 5% of the gross sales value.

Lettings:

For commercial and residential lettings, we have two categories of fees based on length of the lease:

a) Leases up to one (1) year:

For this duration of leases, we charge a commission of one (1) month rent.

b) Leases from two (2) years to five (5) years:

For leases in this category, we are entitled to a commission of 5% of the gross lease value for the term.

Can I pay online for your services?

At the moment, we don’t take payments online. You can contact us to make payment arrangements for services here.

How do I arrange for assistance from facilities for special events?

We have onsite offices in all our facilities and also event coordinators for places where we rent out event spaces. Our FM team is always on standby to cater all issues that arise during events. An event booking form can be filled online to begin the process on our website.