The facilities management market in Denmark

Purpose: To present the results of market surveys in Denmark, which have been based on and used to test a proposal for a new European standard for a taxonomy of Facilities Management (FM). Design/methodology: The market research included surveys of both the client side and the provider side and was carried out by a management consultant company by telephone interviews based on definitions developed from drafts for the European FM taxonomy standard by a university researcher, who is a member of the standardisation work group.

Findings: The proposed taxonomy for FM is in general a good basis for researching the market but particular the definition of space including acquisition as well as development, administration, operation, maintenance and utilities in the same main product is problematic. Research limitations/implications: The market research is limited to the Danish market, but the results of the test of the proposed European standard for a FM taxonomy has implication for all of Europe.

Practical implications: The results of the test of the proposed European standard for a FM taxonomy should lead to adjustments in the way space is treated in the taxonomy before it becomes accepted as a new European standard. Originality/value: This is the first time that the proposed taxonomy standard for FM has been tested in empirical research.