The pandemic has altered the life of business centers in a major way, strengthening the existing trends and creating new ones: i.e., the number of requests for outsourcing office operation and maintenance to professional management companies is growing.
The number of office management contracts transferred by tenants to MCs has grown: in Q1 2021, it increased by 30% in O1 Standard alone. Prior to the pandemic, many tenants serviced their offices independently or engaged an external MC, while during the pandemic, the number of requests to the building’s MC increased.
Management companies are expanding the range of services provided, which are no longer limited to the maintenance of common-use building systems, but include the operation and maintenance of tenants’ offices, sanitary and epidemiological measures, control of repair work, landscaping, and so on.
Transferring an office under the service of a single building management company has a number of advantages for the tenant: for example, there is no need to keep employees who conduct supplementary work on staff. The range of an MC’s onsite personnel qualifications, as well as the resources and materials available to perform operational tasks, are far more extensive than would be feasible for a company to service its office. Clearly, the employees of a building’s MC have a deep understanding of the specifics of its life support systems, which means that in the event of an emergency situation, they can eliminate it faster and with fewer losses.
Working with the building management allows you to solve a wide range of issues under a one-stop principle, without wasting time on authorization. This is especially important for tenants whose employees are still working remotely for the most part. An MC can perform a wide range of work independently, or by engaging a permanent contractor pool – from painting the walls to the redevelopment of an entire office to comply with a tenant’s new tasks. Considering the shortage of personnel in contractor companies and the rising costs of construction and finishing materials, an MC can offer more favorable conditions by saving on scale. Finally, a professional management company can carry out work in an office, as well as offer modern solutions aimed at increasing employee comfort. For example, it can audit an office’s compliance with international environmental performance standards (BREEAM, LEED) or even evaluate it in terms of its impact on employee well-being, i.e., using the Fitwel system.
