FACILITIES MANAGEMENT JOURNAL JOBS
FM CAREERS - CAREER LADDER / COMPLIANCE
Name: Cheryl Whiting
Current role:
Head Concierge/
Caretaker, Encore Estate
Management
Lives: Brentwood
FMJ chats to a facilities
professional about how they got
into the sector and takes a look
at their career path. This month
we talk to Cheryl Whiting, Head
Concierge/Caretaker, Encore
Estate Management
What was you first job in the
FM sector?
I was working in a Residential Home when
I was 23, taking care of the cleaning team,
parking and security teams there.
What made you choose FM as a
career?
I love the challenges it presents and
satisfaction it gives me when projects are
completed to a high standard.
How did you progress through the
profession to your current role?
By showing Encore’s management team
that no matter how long I have been doing
this type of job, I will keep fighting to learn
new skills, and work hard to make sure that
whichever Encore-managed site I am lucky
enough to look a er is kept to an extremely
high standard.
Do you have any qualifications or
training in FM and related areas such as
health and safety? And how have you
benefited from them?
Encore has provided me with a great deal
of training since I joined, including sessions
on Health and Safety, building maintenance
and management of Fire Systems. I’ve even
received specialist training due to the nature
of the building I look a er (it’s a specialist
conversion). Formal training is something
that Encore encourages all sta to undertake
on an ongoing basis to provide them with the
expertise and knowledge to carry out their
duties e ectively, and the whole team here at
The Galleries have benefited from this policy.
What is your greatest contribution to
the FM sector, or your current role?
I feel my biggest contribution to date has
been enabling the whole team at The
Galleries to flourish. Team morale and
productivity are at an all-time high because
I believe that every member of the team is
equally important and that everyone works
better with encouragement and praise when
a job is done well.
What’s changed most since you
started in FM?
The biggest changes are the service quality
and expectation between now and then,
expectation is much higher and the internal
and external works needed have to reach a
much higher grade.
What personal qualities do you think
are most needed for a successful career
in FM?
Being able to work well in a team and
realising that each member is equally
important. Being able to make on the spot
decisions under pressure (problem solving),
patience and a sense of humour are definitely
a must.
If you could do one thing di erently in
your career in FM, what would it be?
I think I would have completed courses in FM
and Hospitality rather than starting with no
training; that would have made it easier on
myself. Luckily I am stubborn and fought to
be in the career I love.
What would make the biggest
di erence to the FM sector?
Structured progression or training course
and qualifications specific to the residential
property sector.
Are you a member of any FM
association or body and if so what
benefits do you think they provide?
I am not a member of any association and
luckily I get all the support I need from
my team and my employer. As a nonmember
I can’t comment on the benefits
of membership, but I believe that any FM
association or trade body can help the
industry as a whole by promoting the work
that FM professionals do – and the high
standards we all strive for.
What advice would you give to young
people coming into the profession now?
Get stuck into everything and anything
you get the opportunity to do to give you
experience early on; this will serve you well in
the future.
What are your long-term goals for the
next seven to ten years?
To continue to build on the great work my
team and I have done so far.
What do you predict could be the main
changes to the FM sector over the next
few years?
Increased use of technology will see the
management of systems and buildings more
integrated.
COMPLIANCE
WIRING REGULATIONS
Chris Cerisola, NICEIC Qualified Supervisor (QS) at Artic
Building Services looks at some of the changes made
from the 17th to the 18th Edition Wiring Regulations.
RCDs (residual-current device) is every electrician’s
favourite subject in the designing of new electrical
installations or additions to existing installations. As per
the 17th Edition, socket outlets required the additional
protection of a 30mA RCD on circuits 20 amps and under, this
has now been changed, under the 18th Edition, to socket
outlet circuits 32 amps and under (BS7671:2018 page 59 reg
- 411.3.3). Interestingly, “NOTE 3” suggests “luminaire track
systems, etc.” is not regarded as a socket outlet.
Installation of Cables
Regulation 521.10.202 (page 138), covers the clipping of
wiring systems with metallic clips, saddles, etc. We can only
assume that this regulation has been highlighted by the
tragedy of Grenfell and other such incidents as it is widely
known that everything is acted upon on a reactive opposed
to proactive basis. This regulation did previously exist in the
17th Edition 3rd amendment as Regulation 521.11.201 notes
1 and 2 but only covered wiring systems over “escape routes,”
this has now changed in the 18th Edition to ALL “wiring
systems.” NOTE 4 of Regulation 521.10.202 covers the types
of fixing that would meet this requirement for supporting
cables, listing supports previously mentioned and more.
Surge protection devices (SPDs)
This is an area that has drawn a lot of attention and the IET
have obviously spent a lot of time on. This is also an area
that is to be taken seriously as most businesses require large
communications requirements for their day-to-day running
and SPDs are great additional protection for such costly
equipment.
Most manufacturer’s instructions give an average
life expectancy of SPDs of 7 to 10 years, this, for the FM
companies reading, will generate a visual PPM and remedial
works in the installation of SPDs or the replacing of “out-ofdate”
SPDs, whereas, for the estates teams reading this article
they have the peace of mind that there is an additional item
of protection that will safe guard the sensitive equipment
they deem to be business critical. The selection of such
equipment should be determined by Regulation 443.3 points
“i – iv” page 101.
Types of SPDs to be used in di erent locations around the
installation from the origin to the circuit containing sensitive
equipment are descripted in Regulation 534.4.1 page 161.
Finally, a pointer for testers and testing, the insulation
resistance testing of SPDs is covered by Regulation 643.3.2
page 232 paragraph 4 states “(SPDs)….such equipment
shall be disconnected before carrying out the installation
resistance test….”
www.articbuildingservices.com
To obtain a copy of the 18th Edition Wiring
Regulations please visit https://bit.ly/2DrRSD2
62 MAY 2019
/2DrRSD2
/www.arcticbuildingservices.com
