Learn how to handle today’s engineering and maintenance concerns. This course covers all major facility systems, including food service equipment and design. Non-engineers can learn how to understand and speak the language of suppliers and maintenance/engineering staff. You’ll also learn techniques to reduce expenses and increase efficiency, and learn how the latest technology can streamline operations.

Syllabus

Prerequisites: None

Course Description: Provides hospitality managers and students with information they need to know to manage the physical plant of a hotel or restaurant and work effectively with the engineering and maintenance department.

Objectives: At the completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Identify a number of important roles played by hospitality facilities, the two primary categories of facility operating costs, the components of each category, and various factors that affect those costs.
  2. Describe several types of maintenance, state the goals of maintenance management systems, and describe computerized and Internet-based facilities management.
  3. Identify the basic facilities-related concerns associated with guestrooms and corridors, public space, recreation and exterior areas, back-of-the-house areas, and the building’s structure and exterior.
  4. Describe sustainability and its role in the overall business strategy of a hospitality operation, and state some of the principal measures facilities managers can take to minimize and manage waste.
  5. Describe how to reduce occupational injury rates in the hospitality industry and outline how building design and maintenance affect safety.
  6. Outline water usage levels and patterns in the lodging industry, and describe the basic structure of water and waste-water systems.
  7. Explain various aspects and components of electrical systems, cite important considerations regarding system design and operating standards, and identify elements of an effective electrical system and equipment maintenance program.
  8. Describe the basic elements of human comfort and how HVAC systems affect this comfort.
  9. Define basic lighting terms, explain how natural light can be used to meet a building’s lighting needs, and describe common artificial light sources.
  10. Describe laundry equipment and explain factors in selecting laundry equipment and locating an on-premises laundry.
  11. Describe food preparation equipment, cooking equipment, and sanitation equipment.
  12. Describe the nature of and typical problems associated with a building’s structure, finishes, and exterior facilities, including the roof, exterior walls, windows and doors, structural frame, foundation, elevators, parking areas, storm water drainage systems, utilities, and landscaping and grounds.
  13. Summarize the hotel development process.
  14. Explain the concept development process for food service facilities, outline the makeup and responsibilities of the project planning team, and describe food service facility layout.
  15. List typical reasons for renovating a hotel, summarize the life cycle of a hotel, and describe types of renovation.

Group Teaching Guidelines: This course is designed with fourteen chapter sessions that can be combined or broken down to meet a variety of scheduling needs. Class activities are included in the Instructor’s Guide.

Evaluation: The student must complete a comprehensive final examination.

Learning Resources: Hospitality Facilities Management and Design, Third Edition, by David M. Stipanuk.