The platform should include career paths for everyone, from the most junior member of staff on the supply side of the industry to the most senior in-house facilities practitioner.
At a meeting to be held next month, the two associations hope to sign up support from other interest groups within the sector.
'We want to see a pyramid of educational needs with the joint collaboration of everyone in the industry,' BIFM chairman Ian Fielder told The Facilities Business. BIFM would bring to the partnership the strength of its 6,000-plus membership, he said, and BSA its lobbying skills.
The protocol, which will set out the aims of the educational framework, follows a review intended to identify current gaps in education, from NVQs to post-graduate study.
'The protocol says we should pull together a route that can take you from the Coshh safety qualification for those in the chemicals industry, right through to how to be a good facilities director,' said Fielder.
Obstacles to be overcome include reservations about education, said Fielder. Cleaning contractors, for example, often take a 'jaundiced view' because they can lose newly trained staff after a three-year contract, due to the Tupe rules governing the transfer of staff.
Once the framework is finalised, the bodies will lobby government to have it formally recognised. Employers will be asked to support the framework and use suppliers who support it.
Earlier this year Pru Redfern, chair of the Business Services Association, called for a confederate approach by facilities management bodies to tackle the skills crisis in the sector.
Source
The Facilities Business
