By standardizing training courses, qualification requirements and certification levels internationally, the scope and potential of a career in facilities management (FM) is greater than ever before.

The new IFMA-RICS career map delivers unprecedented clarity and internationally-recognized authority on the required skills, training and experience necessary for all professional stages and goals. It is one of many resources coming out of the collaboration designed to accelerate career development and build recognition for FM professionals as strategic leaders in the built environment.

Says TC Chetty, country manager for South Africa for RICS: “With the guidance and credibility of the first-ever career map for professional recognition in facilities management, the careers of professionals are expected to advance further and faster across multiple global markets, including South Africa and the rest of the African continent.”

“A unified FM industry, for example, means more opportunity to make sure smart buildings operate correctly, green technology actually works and innovative designs are useable,” says Sean Tompkins, RICS Chief Executive Officer. “The career map sets a course for FM professionals to internationally align on objectives, critical metrics and best practices which ultimately deepens their expertise and value to the built environment.”

The more than 25 million FM professionals in the world represent about US$1.12 trillion annually. Their role is to connect people, place, process and technology so that the buildings in their care operate as they should. For decades, FM professionals have been restrictively classified as tactical support due in large part to the lack of global uniformity in how the FM industry defined and measured itself.

“Shared global FM standards open a stronger, more marketable pathway for FM leaders,” says Tony Keane, President and CEO from IFMA. “By eliminating fragmentation, we are building a stronger, more impactful international FM community, unified by a common professional language, even when its constituents speak different languages.” 

The IFMA-RICS collaboration, launched in April this year (2016), is making ground-breaking strides in driving professional recognition in the FM sector. To learn more about the united career map and how it is energizing careers in FM, visit http://define.fm.