In 2015, the United Nations (UN) adopted the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development, which set out 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 targets and 231 unique indicators as a significant initiative towards socio-economic development. The SDGs provide the construction industry with a new lens through which global needs and desires can be translated into business solutions. This paper explores the role of the construction industry in achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. The paper uses an explanatory sequential design with an initial quantitative instrument phase, followed by a qualitative data collection phase. Following a comparative review of the literature on the 17 SDGs, a questionnaire was designed and administered among 130 respondents, and 105 responses were received. These data were then validated through semi-structured interviews with 16 sustainable construction experts. Data obtained from the semi-structured validation interviews were analysed through side-by-side comparisons of the qualitative data with the quantitative data. The findings show that the construction industry has a critical role in achieving almost all the 17 SDGs. The roles were, however, prevalent in 10 key SDGs, namely: sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11); climate action (SDG 13); clean water and sanitation (SDG 6); responsible consumption and production (SDG 12); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9); life on land (biodiversity) (SDG 15); gender equality (SDG 5); good health and well-being (SDG 3); affordable and clean energy (SDG 7); decent work and economic growth (SDG 8). The study confirmed the role played by the construction industry in achieving these SDGs. The findings from this study provide further insights into the ever-increasing state-of-the-art regarding the construction industry’s role in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

The management problems of Facilities Management (FM) outsourcing relationships occur because of provision of low quality analytical, managerial, cooperative, and professional services. On selection, the ideal service providers for specific FM outsourcing contractual procurement needs is of paramount importance to achieve high quality FM services. This paper aims at reviewing the concept of outsourcing in relation to facilities management and dealing with the importance of outsourcing success. Factors of outsourcing strategies from the perspectives of clients and service providers are examined and analysed through the Delphi technique in Hong Kong. The results reveal four main drivers of FM practice through evaluation of thirty-five outsourcing critical success factors identified by clients and service providers. Evaluation of the critical success factors from FM drivers shows that there is an inclination towards FM competence, measurement of performance, cost effectiveness, etc. from clients, whilst there is an inclination to the core skills, measurement of performance, allocation of human resources, cost effectiveness, customers’ satisfaction, etc. from service providers. The result of the study reveals an interesting understanding that the impact of outsourcing critical success factors can be strategically implemented into the outsourcing strategies in Hong Kong’s FM practice.

Purpose: – This paper aims to test the nine corollaries concerning the determinants of outsourcing relationship dimensions, strategic manoeuvres, clients’ and service providers’ evaluation regarding outsourcing category and outsourcing relationship types.The paper has the purpose of reviewing the concept of outsourcing in relation to FM, dealing with service providers’ performance and its effect on clients before providing a comprehensive discussion of outsourcing.Design/methodology/approach: – A conceptual approach is adopted, suggesting that a study of outsourcing relationship between clients and service providers from these theoretical perspectives is used to develop corollaries about the relationships between the strategic manoeuvres identified and the different dimensions of outsourcing relationship. The corollaries are examined using non-parametric tests.Findings: – The model of the facilities management (FM) outsourcing relationships presented in the paper shows performance of outsourcing services through evaluation of outsourcing categories on current and future FM contracts of clients and service providers. As a template of outsourcing relationships, the model is the context for predicting the important outsourcing categories to the future four FM outsourcing contracts, such as building maintenance, security, cleaning and catering. On prediction of those FM contracts, there is an inclination to the types of in-house and technical expertise on category of FM outsourcing relationship types from clients, whilst there is an equal inclination to the type of in-house outsourcing category from service providers.Originality/value: – Management on outsourcing relationships between clients and service providers is now essential for effective outsourcing in FM. This paper provides an intriguing insight into how the effect of outsourcing relationships can be strategically implemented into the performance of service providers.

This viewpoint paper aims to discuss sustainable digitalisation of facilities management (FM) through the implementation of the newly recognised International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards within the ISO 41000 series. This viewpoint paper provides a review of the literature of the recent ISO documents and academic study. The content is also dependent on the authors’ opinions and interpretation. FM is currently shifting emphasis towards a strategic focus through the adoption of the new recognised international ISO standards that consider sustainable digitalisation in business decisions. However, the FM sector is encountering potential risks to the implementation of the new recognised international ISO standards. Digitalisation is one kind of force that has shaped the management of the built environment and FM recently and rapidly, especially in the Covid-19 period. This is impacting the FM industry. As standardisation aims at establishing a constantly evolving baseline of proven practices, standardisation can be considered a part of sustainable FM. It is believed that standardised and strategic level support is crucial for the smooth adoption of sustainable FM practices and processes. Standards such as the ISO standards, applied to the global FM industry, help in objectively quantifying the added value of FM to the core business. Advanced technology and digitalisation can contribute to the sustainability of any profession and industry, but it also requires a community to tackle the problems. This paper contributes to the FM industry by making recommendations for improvement in the use of digitalisation. In summary, the significant finding of this viewpoint paper is that digitalisation offers both possibilities and problems in the application of the new recognised international ISO standards within the FM industry.

The Contingency Outsourcing Relationship (CORE) model originated from the Four Outsourcing Relationship Types (FORT) model; the CORE model is used in the globalized Facility Management (FM) industry, while the FORT model is originally used in the global information technology industry. The purpose of this paper is to thoroughly analyse the simulated case studies of the four different categories (i.e., in-house, technical expertise, commitment and common goals) of the CORE model from the perspective of the various clients. This study builds on the previous work on the outsourcing relationships between a client and a globalized FM service provider. It further explores the application of this model with the aid of artificial neural networks (ANNs) towards a sustainable future. A quantitative methodology through a survey is used to analyse eight outsourcing strategies for the four outsourcing relationships. A set of revised rules of the CORE is introduced and discussed regarding the approaches to investigate the four simulated outsourcing relationship systems. The study further reveals that an interesting understanding of the four outsourcing categories can be systematically and efficiently implemented into the FM outsourcing relationships through the methodology of scientific Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is concluded that FM outsourcing categorization may help to define the appropriate relationships. This further detailed outcome generated from the ANN can be clearly considered a strong and solid reference to define and explain the existing outsourcing relationships between the stakeholders and the service providers with the aim to assign an outsourcing category to the FM relationship between the client and service provider based on the learnt rules.

The purpose of this article was to validate the published artificial intelligence (AI) facilities management (FM) outsourcing relationships system by real business cases in the working environment. The research aims to inspire the modern FM professionals in different industries with some challenging and innovative concepts about FM outsourcing relationships between facilities owners and service providers. First, it will briefly introduce the theory of the FM outsourcing relationships system on how it can help the FM seniors and strategists to design their FM daily strategies wisely and make their business more effective and productive. Second, it will also introduce what the research is practically doing in the stage of case study for test and verification. It is concluded that FM outsourcing categorization may help to define the appropriate relationships. This further detailed outcome generated from the AI can be considered a solid reference to define and explain the existing outsourcing relationships between the stakeholders and the service providers to assign an outsourcing category to the FM relationship between the client and service provider based on the learnt rules.