Our Corner of Space: Maintaining an accurate Facilities Inventory Database
Brittany Van Eck, the new space planner and leasing manager for the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
June 27, 2022
— Brittany Van Eck, space planner and leasing manager
In the previous space column, I introduced my position and some higher level goals. This month I wanted to share some insight into what goes into a Facilities Inventory Database. I’ve gotten to spend time with some of you doing walkthroughs of many buildings on the Troth Yeddha' campus, but for those who I haven’t talked to, or who have seen me from a distance and wanted to know what I’m working on – this one’s for you!
The University of Alaska uses AiM as its facilities management software – it’s the background behind work orders, preventative maintenance, space data, and so much more. Within AiM, there are many modules, but I mainly operate in the property and location profiles. AiM property and location modules store all sorts of information that we use for operations and planning, and is maintained through building walk-throughs, the Functional Use Survey that Statewide Cost Analysis completes, and through general updates that come from the space change process or other larger projects. As you can imagine, with all of the spaces on campus, that’s a lot of data!
In order to maintain accurate information on space, institutions of higher education across the country use standardized space use codes to categorize individual space types. The common language for these comes from the Facilities Inventory and Classification Manual (FICM), which is a manual that lays out how data on space should be collected and categorized. The anchor questions that need to be answered for each space are: 1. amount of square footage, 2. type of space, 3. to whom is space assigned, and 4. how efficiently the space is being used. The manual defines and expands on each of these questions – specifically that current use and user is what determines the space type and assignment. For example, if a space was designed as a classroom and assigned to Bert, but at some point Ernie started using it as an office because Bert wasn’t using it as a classroom, that space is reflected as an office assigned to Ernie.
Having a consistent way to categorize space serves a multitude of functions, from space utilization and directory information to future planning and decision making. It also allows us to report on space, which is an important part of determining our Facilities and Administration (F&A) Rate. While space data collection serves to update floor plans and hold an accurate space database at-the-ready, the purpose of that data is so much more than facilities focused. Space-use data is what institutions use to leverage support for programs while minimizing costs to internal and external users, all the while moving toward their future goals.
FICM recommends the data be updated by someone who understands and can apply the space use codes as intended, and that this person walks each space on campus, asking those four core questions. Once there’s a reliable data set the work isn’t done, in fact they recommend institutions make a plan for having that data updated on a regular basis. As we all know – space needs are constantly changing, and keeping the data up to date is a constant struggle, but not an insurmountable one!
I know that before UAF is in a position to truly leverage space we have to have accurate data on space. Having up to date answers to the main four questions (how much, what kind, who is using it, and how efficiently is it being used) is a baseline expectation for institutions to accurately capture – and one that I’m working to achieve in the next year, building by building. I hope to see you around campus next time I’m visiting your building!
Our Corner of Space is a column focused on optimizing UAF's space through the office of space planning and leasing.