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This paper aims to examine the concerns and implications of the recently enacted Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626) (PMSO) of Hong Kong.

A review was undertaken to identify the characteristics of the property management-related legislation of common law jurisdictions similar to Hong Kong, which include Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Then, the development of the property management-related ordinances in Hong Kong and the key features of the PMSO were examined. Finally, a case study was conducted to demonstrate the potential problems of the PMSO.

There are various kinds of legislative controls on property management services in the above common law jurisdictions. The PMSO, which is the first to regulate property management services providers through a licencing system and introduce control on training and professional development, imposes limits on freedom of contract and self-regulation of professionals. Potential problems with the implementation of the PMSO are also revealed.

This research analyses four common law jurisdictions. Property management services contracts in these jurisdictions are subject to governance by their case laws and market operations.

By virtue of the new licencing system of the PMSO, property management services contracts in Hong Kong become a new kind of specific contracts.

This paper illustrates the relationship between freedom of contract and public benefit. It contributes knowledge to the area of government policy formulation in property management.

This paper aims to report on a study that aims to establish a list of systematically classified key performance indicators (KPIs) that are useful for hospital facilities management (FM).

A review of literature was conducted to identify indicators that are applicable to hospital FM. Each indicator was classified using a phase–hierarchy (P-H) model, which is a two-dimensional matrix comprising three phases (input, process and output) of facilities services delivery and three hierarchical FM levels (operational, tactical and strategic). The classified indicators were further shortlisted via a focus group study.

From the literature review, 61 indicators were identified as applicable to hospital FM. Most of the indicators, according to the P-H model, are for evaluating the FM input or output phase, at the strategic or tactical level. Further refinement and shortlisting of the indicators by the focus group experts resulted in 18 KPIs, which fall into 4 aspects: “physical”, “safety”, “environmental” and “financial”.

The study illustrates that the P-H model is useful for classifying the performance indicators systematically along the two fundamental FM dimensions – phase and hierarchy. Further research may use this model to classify performance indicators in other contexts.

The method of this study can be adapted for use in identifying, classifying and shortlisting FM performance indicators for other types of buildings. The shortlisted KPIs can be used for assessing the FM performance of hospitals.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that used the P-H model to classify hospital FM performance indicators.

Facilities management (FM), which is crucial for the operation and sustainability of buildings and infrastructure across the world, covers a wide range of competencies that may vary across regions. Focusing on Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, this study aims to reveal and compare the importance and current competency levels of FM competencies in these regions, based on which appropriate education and training can be formulated to enhance the growth of their FM sectors.

After an extensive literature review, 12 FM competency attributes (CAs) were identified. A questionnaire survey in Sri Lanka and Hong Kong solicited the industry practitioners’ perceived importance and current levels of the CAs. The survey responses, 126 from Sri Lanka and 148 from Hong Kong, were analysed by a modified Importance-Competency Analysis matrix, followed using the Mann−Whitney U test to identify any differences in the responses between the two regions.

Between Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, significant differences were found to exist in the importance and current competency levels of over half of the CAs. Among the CAs requiring priority attention, “operation and maintenance” and “leadership” are the top two in Sri Lanka while the top two in Hong Kong are “technology” and “leadership”.

This study yielded insightful results on the importance of FM competencies and the current competency levels in a developing region and a developed region, which are useful for the development of FM education and research.

This paper aims to review standards on or related to retro-commissioning (RCx) and policy measures that are applicable for fostering wider adoption of RCx in existing buildings. In addition to engendering broader polemic debate to address the respective gap in the prevailing body of green building knowledge, the research outcome signposts future directions of works required for developing the needed standard and policy.

Following an integrative review approach, RCx-related literature, statutes, publications of public and professional organizations and standards published by institutions including the International Organization for Standardization and other peer organizations in the USA, the UK, Canada and Germany were reviewed.

Cities such as Hong Kong and New York in the world’s two largest economies (China and the USA) have been proactive in the pursuit of energy-efficient buildings. Various US cities have imposed statutory requirements on RCx. The need for an international standard on RCx and a bespoke policy for driving the uptake of RCx was also identified.

Drawn from the research includes the need for further policy research studies to direct how an appropriate policy could be established to engender wider RCx adoption internationally.

Practical implications center on the identified need to develop a specific standard of RCx works. Making such a standard available to facilities management practitioners is pivotal to realizing the goal of green buildings.

This study provides new insights, especially the future directions in developing bespoke RCx standards and policy for greening the existing buildings.

The purpose of this paper (Part 1 of 2) is to classify and map, in a systematic manner and from a facilities management (FM) perspective, the performance indicators that are applicable to evaluating facilities operation and maintenance (O&M) in commercial buildings.

Forming part of a multi-stage research project, the applicable performance indicators that had been identified from an extensive literature review were consolidated and defined. Based on a phase-hierarchy (P-H) model – a fundamental classification framework comprising three phases of facilities services delivery and three hierarchical FM levels – the indicators were systematically classified, and a map showing their distribution along the phase and hierarchy dimensions was obtained.

The P-H model enabled systematic classification of the 71 applicable indicators. Mapping the indicators with the model showed that more indicators concern the input or output phase of facilities services delivery. Indicators at the strategic level, which have a wide span of control, are small in quantity, compared to the large number of indicators at the operational level.

The P-H model, which proves useful for classifying performance indicators for facilities in commercial buildings, may be applied to similar research on other types of buildings or infrastructures.

The method of classifying the performance indicators and the mapping result of the indicators are useful reference for different levels of FM practitioners.

This paper illustrates a novel attempt that made use of the P-H model to classify O&M performance indicators.

This paper aims to reveal and compare the characteristics of the facilities management (FM) education programs in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea (i.e. the Four Asian Dragons) and makes suggestions for their future development.

A team consisting of academics from the Four Asian Dragons held a face-to-face meeting to discuss and define the scope and framework of the review, followed by an extensive search to identify literature and information germane to the study. Individual parts of reviews, prepared by the team members for their respective places, were cross-reviewed before refinement and consolidation into the current paper.

The term “facility (or facilities) management” appears in most of the programs reviewed, but terms such as “environment” and “property” also appear in some programs’ titles. The programs reviewed range from certificate level to doctorate level; those between diploma level and master level are more common. Most of the programs have obtained professional accreditations, but some are accredited by FM-related rather than FM-specific professional bodies.

Further research should investigate issues such as the performance of the programs reviewed, extent to which they have met the market needs and how they compare with the counterparts in other regions (e.g. Europe, America). For such research, the process of the study reported here and its findings about the status quo of the programs can serve as references.

To strengthen FM as a well-established discipline, it is imperative to have the programs accredited by FM-specific professional bodies.

Providing the first-ever international review on the major FM programs in Asia, this paper is useful to program planners, educators and researchers in the FM field.

This study aims to establish a rigorous model that can pragmatically evaluate the facilities management (FM) performance of hospitals.

Among the applicable performance indicators that were identified from extant literature, a focus group study shortlisted ten key performance indicators (KPIs) in four categories (safety, physical, financial and environmental) and verified their practicality. Using the analytic network process (ANP) method to process the focus group’s responses yielded importance weightings for the KPIs and developed the intended evaluation model. This model was then validated by a case study.

From the empirical data collected, two types of FM performance data and two scenarios of KPI scores were identified. To process these data and scores, a robust calculation method was devised and then proved useful in obtaining an overall score for holistic hospital FM performance. The case study confirmed the appropriateness and validity of the model developed.

Through illustrating how the ANP method could be applied to develop an FM performance evaluation model, the study contributes knowledge to the multi-criteria decision-making domain. Despite the geographical limitation of the model established (i.e. centered around a group of hospitals investigated in Hong Kong), the study can serve as a reference for developing performance evaluation models for other buildings or infrastructures globally.

The model constitutes a practical tool for evaluating the FM performance of hospitals. Using this model on a regular basis will enable performance benchmarking and hence, continuous improvement of FM services.

The ANP model established is the first of its kind tailored for evaluation of hospital FM performance.

This paper (Part 2 of 2) aims to shortlist performance indicators which are used in evaluating facilities operation and maintenance (O&M) in commercial buildings.

A three-session focus group meeting, with the use of a customized questionnaire and audio recording, was convened to solicit opinions from O&M experts. Their quantitative responses (ratings on the importance of the indicators) and the qualitative ones (reasons for having the indicators selected or excluded) were taken for analysis, followed by mapping the shortlisted indicators based on the phase-hierarchy (P-H) model for facilities management (FM).

From a total of 74 performance indicators (71 identified from the literature and three added by the focus group), 17 indicators were shortlisted, and time constraint was the most common reason for having those indicators excluded from the shortlist. Mapping the shortlisted indicators with the P-H model revealed that the performance evaluation focus of the experts was at the tactical level, on the output phase of facilities services delivery.

The shortlisted indicators serve as a keystone for establishing a performance evaluation scheme for engineering facilities in commercial buildings. Research on other areas may follow the approach of this study to shortlist key performance indicators (KPIs).

Professionals of the other building types (e.g. residential, industrial and healthcare) or sectors with diverse FM organizations may conduct a similar study to identify indicators for performance evaluation purposes. In particular, the process of shortlisting the O&M KPIs may be used to shortlist KPIs for the other FM services.

The focus group study demonstrates how to rigorously select KPIs for use in managing facilities.

The study aims to reveal the state of building operation and maintenance (O&M) manpower in Hong Kong. In addition, the study included supply and demand of O&M practitioners, gaps between their required and possessed competences and ways to meet the manpower needs.

After developing a model that integrates manpower levels (L), trades (T) and natures (N) of O&M works (named as “LTN” model), a full spectrum of O&M jobs were established followed by collecting data of 75 organizations and 402 stakeholders through two surveys.

Besides the large O&M workforce, vacancy rates of the jobs were found to be significant. For the different trades and natures of O&M works, the knowledge/skills levels perceived by the stakeholders were lower than the corresponding importance levels.

The methodology of the study can be used in future research for revealing the state of O&M manpower in Hong Kong and cities alike. The way in which the “LTN” model was developed may be used as a reference for constructing similar models for manpower research in other industries.

The findings and the measures for improving the O&M manpower can assist policymakers and human resources departments to formulate necessary education and training courses for the building industry.

The study is the first of its kind focusing on building O&M manpower. The state of the manpower it unveiled forms a basis for comparison with similar findings in future.

The purpose of this study is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for badminton halls and, through a case study, illustrate how the facilities performance of a university badminton hall can be evaluated from the user perspective.

After a desktop literature review, the findings were discussed by a focus group, and the discussion result formed the basis for establishing an analytic hierarchy of facilities performance for the badminton hall. Then, interviews were made with 169 badminton hall users to solicit their perceived facilities’ importance and performance levels of the hall. Using MATLAB, a computer program incorporated with an Analytic Hierarchy Process was devised to compute the importance weights of the performance attributes under assessment. The outcomes were interpreted using an importance-performance evaluation matrix.

A facilities performance hierarchy, comprising nine KPIs, was established for the badminton hall. The factors influencing the users’ perceptions, the importance and performance levels of the KPIs and the areas of the hall requiring improvements were identified.

Future studies can take a similar approach of this study to develop KPIs and facilities performance hierarchies for other types of sports venues.

The method used to identify the improvements required for the badminton hall can be applied to investigations on other sports facilities.

The methodology of this research was first applied to study a badminton hall – as reported in this paper.