Since its first edition, Facilities Economics has established itself as the leading reference work for information on the economics of workplace performance. This new and enlarged edition is substantially rewritten and enhanced. Corporate managers, facility professionals, workplace designers and facility providers will all find something of interest and relevance. It includes detailed coverage of space and facilities audits, whole life facility cost assessment and management, and the process of facility acquisition, redevelopment and relocation. The authors have also expanded their description of the key role of the Intelligent Client, providing new guidance on the role and the resources needed to support it. However, this new edition goes much further. It seeks to break new ground by taking a European view of the emerging Facilities Management market, estimated to be worth € 1,000 bn this year. The text now includes comprehensive information comparing different EU states on issues such as the terms of freehold and leasehold occupation, property taxation and workplace legislation. Associated with this are detailed case studies illustrating the pitfalls that these differences create when trying to benchmark facilities costs across Europe. Yet despite the best efforts of the authors, this edition is only a first step to achieving their aim. Europe is a complex mixture of cultures and languages. The different ways of doing business in Southern, Eastern and Northern Europe and their impact on workplace design and management are not explored in any detail. The role of the public sector in Europe is barely discussed, and in the otherwise excellent glossary no attempt is made to provide French, German or Italian equivalent terms. The significance of employee involvement through workplace councils is not explored. And despite the fact that from the beginning of the EU, concerns about employee welfare and safety have been the main focus of legislation, in this account, Health and Safety is relegated to a minor part of the section on facility services. Despite its European aims, the account remains resolutely Anglo-Saxon. Nevertheless, the authors are to be congratulated on the first serious step to develop a European resource of this kind. This European edition deserves to be on the bookshelves of all practicing facility professionals.

Phil Roberts
Visiting Professor in Facilities Management at the University of Salford