Clients demand better performance from m&e maintenance contractors

BSRIA’s fifth annual satisfaction survey of clients shows plenty of room for improvement for m&e maintenance contractors.

The survey gave a mean score of 6.4 out of 10 for overall satisfaction, where the client was asked to consider 8 or more a good performance.

A further area of concern for contractors is energy efficiency, where satisfaction was scored at 5.6. This is an increasingly important area for clients who are likely to become ever more demanding for improvements.

Nigel Anderson, head of design and fm innovation at BSRIA comments, “Our research has shown that clients are looking for much more than lowest cost. We found that management of the contract, communication, trust and honesty, a positive relationship, being proactive and showing initiative are highly influential on satisfaction levels.”

The best performing areas for the industry were managing health & safety and reactive response, which had the only mean satisfaction scores of 7 or more.

BSRIA also produces the annual suite of KPIs for m&e installers, where overall satisfaction is currently 7.5 out of 10. This demonstrates that improved scores are achievable and that maintenance contractors can catch up.