BSRIA has launched its free-to-download topic guide on Soft Landings and Business-Focused Maintenance (BFM).

This guide aims to inform those involved in the design, construction and operation of a building about how an effective BFM regime can be developed and achieved through the soft landings approach.

Nick Blake, the guide’s co-author and principal consultant on facilities management, said: “It is fundamental to involve the facilities managers (FMs), where known, from early on in the design stage. The knowledge and experience of the FMs can inform better design of systems and make BFM more readily adoptable and easier in operation.

“Maintenance can have a major impact on the success of a business and, therefore, can deliver a competitive advantage. It shouldn’t be considered as an overhead – but as a way of adding value to the business. Each building, therefore, should have its own bespoke maintenance programme, which can enable the FM to prevent asset failures through a more pragmatic approach.”

He added: “BFM can help the team to first decide which assets are crucial in achieving the business goals and the end users’ needs. Then, soft landings success criteria in terms of the availability, accessibility and manageability of those assets can be set. And the asset strategy and maintenance schedules should be gradually developed during the project and be completed and available at the pre-handover phase.”