The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has often been accused of being slow to adopt change. Yet the breadth of available technology solutions in the modern AEC industry continues to grow. Companies therefore must be adept at organizational change management; otherwise, the full benefits of technology solutions may never be realized when a company fails to achieve successful change adoption. The objective of this study was to identify the relationships between specific change management practices and organizational adoption of new technology solutions. An industry-wide approach was taken, wherein an online survey methodology was used to collect 167 cases of organization-wide change from AEC firms across the United States and Canada. The method of analysis included a correlation analysis between change management practices and change adoption. Reliability testing and principal components analysis were used to extract a single construct measure of change adoption. Rank-based nonparametric testing investigated if there are statistically significant differences between different groups of participants and technologies. Results include a rank-order of specific change management practices most associated with successful technology adoption. Change-agent effectiveness, measured benchmarks, realistic timeframe, and communicated benefits are the four change management practices that had the strongest association strength with successful change adoption. The discussion addresses how these leading change management practices compare with previous literature. Also, it was found that organization type and job position were correlated with the levels of change-adoption success compared to other listed factors. This study contributes an industry-wide view of change management practices within the context of technology-based change adoption and may assist practitioners to better manage technology adoptions in their organizations.

Facility Condition Assessments (FCA's) in the facility management (FM) profession is a growing area of research. However, the study of who is providing FCA services in the facility management profession has largely not been explored. Thus, this research aims to identify a current state of academic research and industry standards on FCA service providers and AEC stakeholders, which AEC service providers conduct FCA's and how FCA service providers are selected. A study consisting of 303 decision makers in the facility management profession identified which Architects, Engineers and Construction (AEC) service providers are conducting FCA's, hiring preferences of FCA service providers, how FCA projects are procured and awarded and limiting factors to conduct an FCA with in-house personnel. The results of the study identify an industry trend to outsource FCA services to a multi-disciplinary team of AEC professionals, with experience conducting FCA's as a primary hiring preference. Globally, this is the first study of its kind to identify who FM's are hiring to provide condition assessments in facilities or buildings. This research contributes to the body of knowledge by taking the first step towards providing owners and or operators considerations regarding varying service providers when deciding to pursue an FCA project. Further, the apparent lack of asset organization methods, standards and guidelines used in the practice of FCA's in the FM profession presents an opportunity for future research efforts.

The purpose of this research was to identify the technical skills that are necessary for competency as a facility engineering technician (FET) in the healthcare built environment. The Delphi method was used to draw upon the knowledge and experience of healthcare facility engineering managers and technicians to identify and prioritize baseline technical skills, as well as to identify proficiency levels for the skills. A total of 73 skills were identified as necessary for healthcare FET baseline competency including areas of wood, plastic, and composite; flooring; doors; plaster and gypsum board; mechanical support; fire support; plumbing; electrical; and safety and compliance. Of these 73 skills, 35 were deemed key with strong agreement consensus. Successfully recruiting, training, and maintaining a competent FET workforce is essential but challenging for healthcare organizations, in part because of the lack of formal education programs and an unclear path of entry into the profession. The results of this research are valuable in that they can be used to develop training for the healthcare FET workforce. Trainers can use the findings of this research when developing curriculum and determining which skills to emphasize. Healthcare organizations can use the findings to assess current capabilities across staff, to determine whether there are gaps in needed skills and to begin developing strategic programs in response to the challenges of attracting and retaining competent FETs. This research suggests other types of jobs need to be examined to move toward developing a more complete understanding of the skills and capabilities necessary for the spectrum of the facility engineering workforce (from technical to managerial) to address attrition, recruitment, retention, and succession challenges.

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