Faculty Thoughts | RICS School of Built Environment

Post Graduate Diploma In Facilities Management (PGDFM) at RICS School of Built Environment

Written by Prof. G K Grover | Apr 24, 2019 10:13:01 AM

If you are the kind of person who likes wake up to new challenges every day, loves to interact with people, work in a tech-saavy environment, ready to imbibe the technological advancements revolutionizing the workspace, this is for you!

 

Opportunities for Facilities Management professionals are directly proportional to the space built in the country & approximately 700-900 million square meters of commercial and residential space is being built each year. As per RICS Research report of November’ 2011 on Real estate and Construction Professionals in India by 2020, it is estimated that total annual demand of professional and support staff related to facility management in 2010 was approximately 1,20,000 which was anticipated to increase to about 1,52,000 in 2020.

The annual demand at management level itself being 18,000 to 20,000, there is a huge disparity between demand and supply when it comes to trained FM professionals in India, and the gap is widening with a shortfall of 5000 with every passing year. It is relatively recession proof & Facilities Managers will always be in high demand.

The one year Post Graduate Diploma in Facilities Management (PGDFM), offered at RICS School of Built Environment, NOIDA is open to graduates from all streams- engineering, architecture, Hotel Management, social sciences & humanities graduates.

The FM professionals require both hard & soft skills. If you are a person who is outgoing, loves meeting people & likes to interact with people & solve people’s problems, this is the profession for you. Some key qualities that you need to be a successful FM professional are - Ability to multi task, Good people skills, Patience, Flexibility, Ability to meet deadlines, Problem solving skills & a High level of enthusiasm. 

In accordance with the requirements of RICS & International Facilities management Association of USA., this is the only UGC accredited Facilities Management course in India helps students develop various competencies such as:
 Project Management & Project Finance
 Leadership & Strategy
 Quality
 Facilities Operations & Management
 Business continuity and risk management
 Sustainability

The objective of the post graduate diploma programme is to provide knowledge in:

  • Building pathology
  • Power supply
  • Heating
  • Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
  • Soft aspects
  • Legal aspects
  • Other related disciplines

The curriculum also integrates learning by use of information technology keeping in mind the increasing integration of buildings with information technology. Automation and communication are key to the effective management of facilities. We introduce students to building information modelling (BIM) & FM, data analytics and internet of things (IoT) in the course. 

The course focusses on all types of asset classes such as commercial, retail, hospitals, residential, institutional, etc. in both public and private sector. With this, Graduates would enter the workforce with a well-rounded knowledge base and the skills to work effectively in multidisciplinary project teams and across all roles in Facilities Management industry.

Some of the specific objectives of the programme are:

To provide an advanced level of understanding of the facilities management at operational, managerial & strategic levels.
To provide an understanding of the key factors, techniques & methods used in facilities management that contribute to effective & efficient property maintenance & quality of life in the building with a view to enhance employee satisfaction & productivity.


The program is spread over two semesters of six months each in one-year duration. Amongst the courses included in the Program are general management, computer applications, communications, Management of Building Services, Property Management,   Strategic facilities management, Project Finance & Project Management. Students are required to undergo three months industry training during the second semester of the program.



The school has commitment from leading Indian and International companies in real estate, construction and infrastructure who have offered to hire graduates from the RICS School of Built Environment. This offers employment opportunities for students with international property consulting firms, construction and infrastructure contractors, professional services firms, real estate development firms, banks & housing financial institutions, private equity funds, valuation firms, and facility management firms.

The syllabus is cleared by an Industry Board to ensure industry-ready subjects. The educational programme is designed with Industry Training of 08 weeks. Industry professionals have been engaged as adjunct professors in the faculty and thus bring in direct industry experience and expertise. A number of special lectures are organized regularly from the Industry. Industry representatives are part of all critical management bodies of the school.

While undergoing the Program, students acquire knowledge, skills & understanding of the Facilities Management necessary for shouldering the responsibilities of a Facilities Manager.

Teaching Methodology:

While teaching theory remains fundamental, the teaching methodology followed at RICS SBE is practice led and case study oriented, predominantly based on real life case studies of Indian and multinational companies and often delivered by industry professionals, to make the experience enriching and practical for students. This approach allows immense   opportunities to students to interact with industry professionals who will deliver guest lectures based on real life experiences. Industry contribution of real life case studies helps students develop ability in analytical thinking and reflective judgment by reading and discussing complex, real-life scenarios in addition to enhancing problem solving techniques, self-directed learning strategies, team participation skills, and disciplinary knowledge. RICS School of Built Environment’s unique pedagogic methodology consists of 3 months of internship and on job training assignments. Thus, the program not only provides practice based learning opportunity, but also a first-hand experience of the rigors of the real work environment.

Teaching and learning is given utmost importance and face to face contacts are designed with interactive sessions. It is interesting to note:

  • The faculty members use different ways of teaching through role plays, games, presentations and feedback during the lecture hours.
  • Enough support is offered through tutorial classes, where more time is dedicated to individual and team interactions on course works and projects.
  • The school uses Learning Management System (LMS) to publish learning materials, course announcements, assessments, blog writing that act as a vehicle for learning.
  • Tutorial hours particularly help them to get further guidance on problem solving methods, report writing and presentations.
  • Practical hours are hands on experience of work methodology through use of software. These are conducted in laboratories equipped with necessary hardware and software. The teacher demonstrates the use of software in analysing and problem solving using software and the students work on assigned tasks.
  • Regular site visits and cases are used to deliver the subjects.
  • Guest lecture from industry and leadership lectures from senior leaders of larger companies are invited to deliver industry competency.

 It is an Industry led course & students are made capable of hitting the ground running. You can work with employers across various categories be it:

  • International Property Consultants like JLL, Cushman & Wakefield, CBRE, Knight Frank
  • Home grown property consultants like Vipul, Novel, Clean India, A La Concierge
  • Corporate Real Estate firms like Vestain Global, IBM
  • Developers like Unitech, Hiranandani Group
  • Banks like HSBC, JP Morgan, Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank

By opting for Facilities Management now, you gain the early bird advantage in one of the fast changing, challenging and rewarding professions in the country.

The students passing out from the programme have already taken up the responsible positions in the industry and over all, the feedback from industry has been extremely good.