File picture used for representation
Doha: Qatar’s Facilities Management (FM) sector is witnessing growth, evident by developments in the country.
To ensure sustainable operations and maintenance during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, Qatar Museums (QM) accelerated several projects, said an official during an event.
The event, held under the theme ‘Spotlight on Qatar’s FM ontribution to the World Cup Success and Beyond’ by MEFMA (Middle East Facility Management Association) at Alwadi Hotel Doha MGallery recently, highlighted FM preparations for Qatar 2022.
Dhabya Jamal Sayar, Director of Facilities Management at Qatar Museums, shed light on the topic entitled ‘Qatar Museums FM preparation and experience in FIFA 2022’.
Addressing the event, she said that after Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup in 2010, Qatar Museums, as a promoter of the country’s heritage and culture, commenced rolling out projects, exhibitions, programmes and partnerships to present Qatar internationally. It built more museums, exhibitions and gallery spaces.
Sayar emphasised that facilities management has vast scope and responsibilities and one of its main goals is to support the customer and end user needs. “The responsibilities of Qatar Museums facilities management involve maintenance of MEP systems, fire systems, civil landscape and cleaning services. The hospitality, security, IT and other services were handled by other departments of QM.”
Facilities management department provides maintenance and operation services that ensures upkeep of all physical resources and management of projects throughout Qatar Museums, and deliver a safe, compliant, clean, and efficient working environment.
She further explained that in Qatar Museum the facilities management was divided into major sections namely planning, sustainability, maintenance, quality, health and safety and environment.
“The quality, health and safety and environment section was responsible for standardisation and audits to ensure quality health and safety compliance of all our stakeholders,” she added.
For the preparation of the FIFA 2022, the facilities management department at Qatar Museums did the best to ensure that they have enough resources to manage and fill any gaps for the museums. “For preparations of the World Cup we had budgeting for new resources, recruitment for cleaning and maintenance, the service providers mobilisation with the contractors and building improvements within the museums of Qatar Museums. Also, we did the sustainability initiatives with Qatar Museums - the health and safety standardisation and building certifications such as ISO, LEED and GSAS certificate.”
Starting with 2022 all priority projects were closely monitored to complete within the set deadline for the World Cup. Before the tournament commenced, we had various ongoing contracts and projects like building two new substations and renovations. The biggest projects that have been done with in Qatar Museums with facilities management is the LED screen in Qatar which is the biggest one in Middle East as well. The main purpose of this LED screen was to have media and advertisement of Qatar Museums exhibition, locations, sites and activities.
Speaking about the learnings from the Qatar Museums Facilities Management experiences, Sayar said it included record keeping — with the contractors, stake holders, end users. “We spend time on planning stage for finalising the designs and to mitigate the risk during the project execution. Also, manpower and resources for the projects were required and we considered budget allocation for any additional requirement. We have learned to implement different types of management approach to fit in the situation.”
