Mawed, M (2026) Insight into facilities management market in the UAE: Trends, drivers, and threats. Smart and Sustainable Built Environment, 15(1), pp. 182-202. ISSN 2046-6099
Abstract
Purpose – The UAE is among the fastest-growing facilities management (FM) markets globally. Nevertheless, conclusive evidence on this market is scarce in the literature. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an in-depth insight into the FM market in the UAE. Design/methodology/approach – Fourteen interviewees were purposively selected to provide insight into FM status through their field experiences. A SWOT analysis of their answers held place. Findings – Interviewees revealed that the main trends of FM in the UAE include interests in sustainability, integration of technology, health and safety, outsourcing FM, switching to total facilities management (TFM), and performance management systems use. Besides, the quality of the service in the FM market is driven by the real-estate boom, services sophistication, the increasing awareness of FM and focus on the quality of services. Furthermore, the interviews found that the recruitment of poorly skilled labors can threaten the FM market to meet the allocated budget, misperception of FM, the value of money, the lack of continuous follow-up with recent advancements in technologies and the lack of performance measurement models. Originality/value – This paper highlights the major trends, drivers and threats of the FM market in the UAE, and the implications of its findings can direct FM organizations and researchers in their practices.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | barriers of facilities management; facilities management; facilities management market in the UAE; key drivers of facilities management; opportunities of facilities management; trends in facilities management |
| Index terms: | quality of service, recruitment, markets, outsourcing, performance management, performance measurement, facilities management, evidence, methodology, integration, health and safety, total facilities management, skilled labour, interview |
| Subjects: | service delivery, public and environmental health, performance measurement, management, organizational analysis, business, data collection methods, health safety and environment, research methods, evaluation and assessment methods, economic analysis |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Organizational Design, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Quality Management, Project Management, Health and Safety, Procurement |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here