The ISO 41001 standard amalgamates individuals, locations, and procedures within constructed spaces to improve occupants’ experiences and boost business productivity. However, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) released the ISO 41001 for Facility Management System (FMS) in 2018. The certification is suitable for organisations, including public or private, irrespective of their size, scope, or geographical remoteness. Furthermore, the ISO 41001 standard is crafted to address the growing intricacies of facility management.

ISO 41001 is the first international facility management system (FMS) standard in the world. Facility management is an organisational function that combines people, place, and process to enhance the built environment’s quality of life and the productivity of the company’s main business.

ISO 41001 certification constructs a comprehensive environment for buildings, external works, and infrastructure in a given area. It improves quality of life by raising safety standards and improving working conditions for those who operate in the built environment, for example, walkways, walls, buildings, electrical and mechanical systems, and more. However, implementing ISO 41001 enhances the productivity of core company operations. Furthermore, it focuses on improving societal services, including healthcare, education, retail centres, hotels, condos, and hospitality, among other areas.

ISO 41001 helps organisations adopt an adequate facility management system to build safe communities and attain sustainable growth. Here is a list of organisations that can apply for ISO 41001 standard :-

• Corporate businesses
• Government agencies
• Educational institutions
• Healthcare facilities
• Manufacturing companies
• Retail establishments
• Hospitality industry
• Non-profit organisations
• Transportation and logistics companies
• Energy and utility providers
• Real estate management firms
• Technology companies
• Construction companies
• Financial institutions
• Telecommunications companies
• Pharmaceutical companies

ISO 41001 is an internationally recognised standard for Facility Management systems that improves and modernises an organisation. The ISO 41001 has ten requirements, and out of these, seven requirements are mandatory. These are:

1. Section 4: Context of the organisation

This section deals with understanding the requirements of an organisation for implementing the appropriate Facility Management System. It also helps organisations to tailor the FMS as per the organisational requirements.

2. Section 5: Leadership

This clause focuses on the importance of top management in the FMS implementation. Every individual within the organisation must understand their specific duties and responsibilities to adopt an effective FMS.

3. Section 6: Planning

The planning clause entails risk analysis and system analysis to reduce risks and establish goals for an efficient FMS. It also mandates organisations to examine its interaction with itself at all levels and through various channels.

4. Section 7: Support

This clause mandates an organisation to arrange all the required resources to establish an effective FMS, from implementing a system to overseeing documented information within the organisation to allocating resources.

5. Section 8: Operation

Clause 8 of ISO 41001 addresses the operational specifications for facility management. Moreover, it also entails getting the company ready for any unforeseen circumstance.

6. Section 9: Performance Evaluation

It guaranteed the effectiveness of an FMS. Moreover, this part monitors things to evaluate the system and pinpoint areas that could use improvement.

7. Section 10: Continuous Improvement

Section 10 of ISO 41001 guarantees the effectiveness of the FMS. Organisations ensure ongoing evaluations of their compliance with the ISO 41001 standard.

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has released ISO 41001:2018 as a global standard for the Facility Management System (FM) into practice in businesses. Moreover, it deploys the most upgraded standards for facility management within the organisation. Since the frameworks for ISO 45001, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001 certifications are the same, it is simpler to integrate all of these management systems.