More Than Maintenance: How Long-Term Trust Led to a Five-Home Expansion in Care

When continuity of care is the goal, Facilities Management has to deliver more than box-ticking. It needs to bring foresight, consistency, and complete transparency.

"They didn’t come to us with a tender. They just asked us to take on five more homes - because they knew how we worked." – Peter Zambra, COO

In Facilities Management, the best results are rarely seen - and that’s the point.

When the heating works, when the compliance reports are in place, when HIQA inspections go smoothly - that’s when the Facilities Management team has done its job.

But every now and then, a milestone comes along that’s worth pausing for.

For nearly a decade, Frontline Energy has supported three care homes under one of Ireland’s most respected care groups - handling plumbing, electrics, and air conditioning as part of a long-standing relationship built on trust.

This year, that trust translated into something more.

A five-home expansion. A full-service remit. And a digital transformation to match.

The Backstory: Why This Expansion Matters

Back in 2016, the first three homes came under Frontline Energy’s remit. The scope was clear: keep the essentials running, respond fast when something breaks, and ensure the homes were never left waiting when the heat, water, or power was compromised.

It worked.

So when the care group needed Facilities Management on five additional homes in 2024, they needed a partner who already understood the pressure points of this environment - someone they wouldn’t have to train from scratch.

That’s where the relationship deepened.

The first six months were treated as a soft start: Frontline Energy supported these new homes with reactive maintenance only, proving themselves in the day-to-day.

That six-month period is now complete. The remit has officially expanded. And the full portfolio of eight homes is now supported through a single, centralised service agreement - with a significantly expanded scope.

What’s New: A Broader Scope, Built Around Real Risks

The extended Facilities Management contract now includes:

• Fire alarm servicing and gas detection systems
  
  
• Fire blankets, extinguishers, and emergency lighting
  
  
• Kitchen fan and duct cleaning
  
  
• Laundry duct and vent cleaning
  
  
• Inspection-ready documentation for HIQA audits
  
  

These are not “nice to haves.” They are critical life safety systems - and every one of them must be certified, signed off, and ready for inspection at any time.

“We weren’t doing these services in the original three homes. Now we’ve added them across all eight - from fire alarms to ductwork. It all needs to be signed off for HIQA.”

Compliance Is One Thing. Transparency Is Another.

It’s one thing to deliver compliant services.

It’s another to empower your client with real-time visibility into how everything is running - across eight geographically dispersed, high-pressure facilities.

To do that, Frontline Energy rolled out a dedicated customer-facing portal for the care team.

It includes:

• A dashboard showing job status across all homes
  
  
• Real-time upload of photos and technician notes
  
  
• One-click access to fire alarm reports and other compliance certs
  
  
• Job metrics including first-time fix rates and repeat visits
  
  
• Alert system for quote approval or rejection

It also gives management insight into site-by-site spending and service patterns - helping them spot over-reported issues, improve internal processes, and manage costs at a group level.

“So we’re embracing technological innovation here - not just to streamline our side of things, but to give the client clarity and control. They’re not waiting on us to send reports. It’s all there - live, in the portal.” - Peter Zambra

The benefits go beyond convenience. As Peter explained:

“Even their invoices are logged there. If HIQA is on-site and requests something, they can log in, pull the certificate, and move on. It’s ease of access to everything.”

The care group now holds monthly meetings with the Facilities Management team - walking through performance dashboards, recurring issues, and compliance items in a way that’s proactive, not reactive.

One Number. One Team. Full Responsibility.

For a care home, downtime isn’t just costly. It’s potentially dangerous.

There are no off-peak hours in this environment. Hot water failures, air quality issues, or power interruptions affect real people, right now.

That’s why this expansion isn’t about scale. It’s about continuity.

One Facilities Management partner.
One system for tracking and reporting.
One point of contact to resolve issues quickly - and make sure the paperwork is already done before anyone needs to ask for it.

‍Looking Ahead: Technology, Transparency, and Trust

The system now rolled out across all eight care homes is also being introduced to other clients - including retail and airport sites - as part of a long-term plan to make data, documentation, and dialogue central to how Facilities Management works.

Facilities Management isn’t just about fixing things. It’s about owning the quiet responsibilities that allow others to get on with the real work of caring.

That’s what this expansion reflects. And that’s what comes next.

Want to learn how smart Facilities Management supports better outcomes in care? Click here for more.