Walls-900×500.jpg

5-15% of total project cost

Contingency covers unforeseen conditions and changes

Mowing, edging, fertilization, weed control, pruning, mulching, seasonal planting.

Trees require periodic inspection by arborist for damage and disease.

Systematic evaluation of building physical condition across all major systems.

Documents deficiencies, estimates correction costs, and assigns condition ratings.

Policy states what required; procedure explains how to carry it out.

Both necessary: policies set standard, procedures define method.

A variance tracks spending; a KPI tracks whether the operational outcome was delivered.

An organization can stay on budget while still failing on its KPIs.

The budgeted amount, the actual spending, and the variance between them.

Most reports show year-to-date figures alongside the period figures.

Put each risk on the party best positioned to manage it.

Misallocating risk penalizes the wrong party and damages the working relationship.

Strategic sourcing evaluates the full service portfolio rather than one service at a time.

Subtopic 4.2 covers the transaction-level question; Topic 5A covers the portfolio view.

Monitoring deliverables against the scope of work through a system that flags gaps.

The FM needs a log or report, not personal inspection of everything.

A set price for a defined scope, regardless of actual time and materials.

Cost-overrun risk sits with the vendor; best for stable scopes.

It establishes terms for a longer-term vendor relationship without committing to a specific scope.

Covers insurance, liability limits, payment terms, and dispute resolution.

Senior reviewers ask what the organization is exposed to if FM funding drops.

They are not checking how the janitorial contract was priced.

A planning tool, typically covering three to five years, mapping where FM costs are heading.

It supplements rather than replaces the annual budget.

Within the first week of the month it is issued.

Prompt review is the discipline behind early problem detection.

Three to five months before the fiscal year begins.

A January 1 fiscal year usually means building in August or September.

Costs that stay the same regardless of the building's activity level.

Examples include base rent, HVAC baseline draw, and guaranteed-hours guard contracts.

A structured argument that a particular financial decision is the right one for the organization.

It is not a budget request, project plan, or vendor proposal.

What the organization owns and owes at a specific point in time.

It shows position at a moment, not activity over a period.

The ability to read financial information, use financial vocabulary correctly, and contribute to financial conversations.

It means being a credible partner, not a passive presenter.

Budget-vs-actual summary, variance commentary, capital project status, vendor spend summary, and forward outlook.

Each element serves a distinct purpose for the reader.

Decomposition — asking why the variance occurred and what it means going forward.

The practitioner asks what happened; the senior FM asks what it signals.

The trend, the exception, and what it means for pending decisions.

The routine monthly report is designed for the finance partner instead.

Bearing wear, shaft imbalance, and misalignment in rotating equipment.

Uses accelerometers measuring speed, strength, frequency of vibration patterns.

Written record setting contract scope including tasks and intervals.

Lists assets, tasks, service intervals, response times, licenses, safety, records required.

Item name, make, model, serial number, purchase date, cost, location, department, condition.

Room-level location makes audits faster; vague floor-level assignments are difficult.

Indoor Environmental Quality.

Conditions inside building affecting health, comfort, performance: air, thermal, lighting, acoustics.

Log recording every entry and exit event.

Critical security and compliance tool; spots unusual patterns before serious problems.

Path from request through review, assignment, completion, closeout.

Understanding each stage is first step toward managing work effectively.

BIM is database with smart objects; CAD produces drawings with geometry only.

BIM elements know material, fire rating, thermal performance, relationships to other systems.

Occupant survey, focus group, service audit.

Together give full picture of where service program stands today.

Plan, Do, Check, Act.

Most widely used continuous improvement framework; repeats creating learning cycle.

Fixtures, Furnishings, and Equipment.

Movable assets removable without structural trades work.

Deferred maintenance cost divided by the facility's current replacement value.

Chapter 8 taught FCI at the building level; Chapter 9 applies it portfolio-wide.

Typically five to ten years, maintained as a rolling forecast.

Near-term years carry higher confidence; outer years are refined each cycle.

The project manager, who owns scope, schedule, and budget decisions.

The FM is rarely the project manager on a project of significant scale.

Maintenance identified as needed but not yet performed, usually for lack of funding.

Deferred work rarely becomes less expensive as it waits.

It meets the capitalization threshold, lasts beyond one year, and improves an asset.

Thresholds run about $5,000 in mid-size organizations and $25,000 or higher elsewhere.

Component fails and technician fixes it; also called run-to-failure.

Most cost-effective for non-critical, low-cost equipment with no failure risk.