International Facility Management Association
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| International Facility Management Association | |
|---|---|
| Name | International Facility Management Association |
| Formation | 1980 |
| Type | Professional association |
| Headquarters | Houston, Texas |
| Region served | Worldwide |
| Membership | Facility managers, corporate real estate professionals |
| Leader title | CEO |
International Facility Management Association
The International Facility Management Association is a global professional association for facility management that connects practitioners across sectors such as United States Department of Defense, United Nations, Microsoft, Google, and General Electric. It serves as a hub for standards, credentialing, and networking used by members drawn from corporations like IBM, Siemens, Honeywell International, Caterpillar Inc., and institutions including Harvard University and Stanford University. IFMA works with industry groups such as American Society of Civil Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, Building Owners and Managers Association International, and regulatory bodies including Occupational Safety and Health Administration, International Organization for Standardization, and National Fire Protection Association.
History
The association was founded in 1980 amid collaborations between professionals from Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, AT&T, Dow Chemical Company, and Lockheed Martin who sought to professionalize facility management alongside organizations like American Institute of Architects and National Association of Manufacturers. Early milestones involved partnerships with U.S. General Services Administration, British Council, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Bureau of Indian Standards, and prominent practitioners from Carnegie Mellon University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. IFMA’s timeline includes influences from events such as the Oil crisis of 1979, the expansion of corporate campuses like Bell Labs and Xerox PARC, and the rise of sustainability initiatives championed by United Nations Environment Programme and World Green Building Council.
Organization and Governance
Governance is overseen by a board of directors drawn from corporations including Walmart, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, AbbVie, and Pfizer. Executive leadership collaborates with committees that include representatives from International Labor Organization, European Commission, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and universities like University of Michigan. Legal and policy counsel liaises with bodies such as Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Emergency Management Agency, European Court of Justice, International Criminal Court, and think tanks including Brookings Institution and Heritage Foundation.
Membership and Chapters
Membership models mirror associations like American Bar Association, Project Management Institute, Institute of Management Accountants, Association for Talent Development, and Society for Human Resource Management, with chapters in regions comparable to European Commission, African Union, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Organization of American States, and Gulf Cooperation Council. Local chapters operate in cities such as New York City, London, Tokyo, Dubai, and Sydney, and collaborate with institutions like Columbia University, University College London, University of Tokyo, University of New South Wales, and University of Toronto.
Education and Certification
Credentialing programs are designed alongside academic partners including Cornell University, University of California, Berkeley, Texas A&M University, Imperial College London, and National University of Singapore, and align with standards from International Organization for Standardization, British Standards Institution, American National Standards Institute, Underwriters Laboratories, and National Institute of Standards and Technology. Certification paths reference professional models used by Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Royal Institute of British Architects, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Institute of Engineering and Technology, and American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Conferences and Events
Annual conferences attract delegates from corporations such as Amazon (company), Apple Inc., Facebook (Meta Platforms), Intel Corporation, and Tesla, Inc., alongside public sector participants from World Health Organization, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, United Nations Development Programme, and regional agencies. Specialty events and expos are analogous to trade shows like Hannover Messe, CES, Greenbuild International Conference and Expo, Climate Week NYC, and COP (Conference of the Parties), featuring speakers from Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Christine Lagarde, Greta Thunberg, and academics from Yale University.
Publications and Research Studies
IFMA publishes research reports, white papers, and benchmarking studies similar to outputs from McKinsey & Company, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young, and Boston Consulting Group, and collaborates with academic journals and publishers such as Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley-Blackwell, Taylor & Francis, and Oxford University Press. Topic areas include sustainability influenced by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, resilience studies in cooperation with RAND Corporation and Center for Strategic and International Studies, and workplace trends aligned with research from Pew Research Center and Gallup.