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Building Managers on the Hook for Lead Paint Safety Requirements

Property management companies (PMC) performing or offering to perform regulated renovations without U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification in pre-1978 housing or child-occupied facilities will be subject to stronger enforcement and compliance regulations of the lead-based paint Renovation, Repair, and Painting (RRP) Rule in the future, according to a Nov. 4 EPA news release. “Health impacts from […]

Solving the Facility Management Document Storage Problem

Plans, O&Ms, inspections, warranties, and other documents touch the daily lives of everyone on the facilities team, from those at the executive level to the technicians in the field. There is a fundamental need to capture, document, retain, locate, and share information in every facility. Each facet of the job―handling operations, keeping on top of […]

OSHA Won’t Enforce Vaccine Rule While 6th Circuit Weighs Consolidated Challenges

After the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued an emergency temporary standard (ETS) on mandatory COVID-19 vaccines on November 4, 2021, a number of lawsuits were filed challenging the agency’s ability to enforce the rule. After the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the cases (or put them on hold), the 6th Circuit […]

Three Very Good Reasons for Installing Floor Mats

Entrance floor mats are crucial in helping to keep facilities clean, safe, and healthy throughout the year. And with colder, wetter, and icier weather right around the corner, their value is more important now than ever. Because of this, all building owners and facility managers should know how important floor mats are. While there are […]

National Lab’s ‘BETTER’ Tool Offers Low-Cost Energy Retrofits for Facilities

Building operations account for a whopping 35% of U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and renovating them is a key strategy for combating climate change, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). However, less than 1% of buildings are retrofitted each year, partly stemming from the high cost of identifying what retrofits a building―or especially […]

Houston Concert Tragedy Casts Crowd Management into the Spotlight

Update 11/15/21: The death toll has risen to 10 after a college student and 9-year-old boy critically injured at the event later died. Over the weekend, tragedy unfolded at NRG Park in Houston, Texas, when eight young concert goers, between the ages of 14 and 27, were killed when reported crowd surges occurred during the Astroworld […]

How to Build a Sustainable, Climate-Resistant Facility

The future of construction revolves around sustainability and long-lasting materials. This prevents waste and allows for the reuse of materials. In general, construction is extremely damaging to the environment, with the construction industry contributing to over 50% of landfill waste.  It is important to work with your climate to build a sustainable facility that features […]

What Makes a Successful Facilities Manager: Core Traits and Skills

Facilities management is a diverse, exciting industry for the capable individual. It’s also an exciting time to be in the facilities management industry. Why? Think growth. In 2020, the U.S. facilities management market was valued at $40.41 billion, with a forecast market value of $81.49 billion by 2026, according to Mordor Intelligence. That equates to […]

13 Questions and Answers About OSHA’s New COVID-19 Vaccination Standard

Here is the skinny on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) much-anticipated emergency temporary standard (ETS) on COVID-19 vaccinations for large employers. Released on November 4, the policy requirements take effect December 5 and must be fully implemented by January 4, 2022. What Large Employers Need to Know Who is covered? The ETS covers all […]

How Buildings Can Optimize Visitor Management with Digitization

When the pandemic disrupted most facets of life as we knew it, it also accelerated a shift in visitor management (VM) to a more frictionless―and especially touchless―experience. For many companies and organizations, VM is a cumbersome manual process, with security personnel maintaining a physical entry log in which visitors would fill out a paper form […]