The economic significance of facilities management
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20 January 2020
Maintenance expenditure represents just under 3% of UK GDP according to a report from BCIS1.
The BCIS life cycle cost benchmark estimates2 indicate that maintenance (fabric and services maintenance and decorations) represents around 40% of total facilities management costs, including cleaning and utilities.
This would value the FM market at around 7.5% of UK GDP.
The report estimates total maintenance expenditure to be £64bn, of which £33.3bn is spent on housing and £30.7bn is spent on non-housing.
At constant prices, this up 1% on the previous year and 16% in the past six years.
In 2018, the value of the gross capital stock of building and works, at replacement cost, was £5,884bn. This suggests that spending on maintenance represented 1.09% of the value, at replacement cost, of the stock of the building and works maintained. Non-housing maintenance represents 1.17% of the value of the of the relevant stock of buildings and housing maintenance represents 1.02%.
The BCIS economic significance of maintenance report estimates the annual national expenditure on maintenance work on a consistent basis, and compares the results with the value of the stock of buildings and works to be maintained and the general level of national expenditure (GDP).
The estimates have been compiled from a variety of sources. Adjustments have had to be made to produce estimates that show the overall trends in maintenance expenditure.
Where possible, the information has been taken from official sources – mainly the various departmental reports from ONS. In some instances, BCIS has had to produce estimates based on the combination of a variety of information sources. The following should be noted:
- The figures for both maintenance expenditure and stock include civil engineering works as well as buildings. However, the term 'building' has been used throughout for simplicity.
- Construction output figures for repair and maintenance are compiled on two different bases – housing includes all work to existing dwellings, including alterations and improvements; non-housing includes only repair and maintenance work
- Estimates of maintenance relate to Great Britain, while the figures for the capital stock of buildings and for GDP are for the UK as a whole. While this will produce an underestimate of the overall level of maintenance relative to these comparators, it should not distort the trend in the results.
- The latest figures for Northern Ireland (2017) showed that contractors' repair and maintenance output at current prices was £1,033m. This compares with £56bn for Great Britain, showing that Northern Ireland's output is less than 2% of the total UK output.
- Figures from some sources take a long term to be confirmed. The latest available estimate is therefore for 2018.
1 Economic significance of maintenance, BCIS, January 2020, published as part of the BCIS Building Running Costs online service.
2 Life cycle costs. Part of the BCIS Building Running Costs online service. It provides benchmark estimates for the maintenance, cleaning and utilities for most types of buildings.
