Facility Management Glossary

Photographic image taken with an airborne device such as a drone. The information and models obtained can be integrated into an IWMS, such as Geomap, in order to map buildings and assets and planning of the related maintenance activities. The data can also be used for 2D and 3D modeling.

Set of protocols that enable softwares and indipendent solutions to be integrated. 

Drawing that shows the existing dimensions and conditions of a building, space, or area. It is opposed to a design drawing which shows the intended or proposed layout of the building. 

In Facility Management, an asset include all items owned by the facility that provide a benefit to the operation of the facility. For more detailed categories of asset see Facility Asset and Fixed Asset.

Operations and procedures aimed to acquire data (brand, model, serial number, location, etc) of facility and fixed assets in a building or real estate.

Asset management is the process of planning and controlling the acquisition, operation, maintenance, renewal, and disposal of organizational assets. 

Software focused on the management of asset and fixed asset.

Manager responsible for the asset management of a building or real estate.

It contains information such as technical data (brand, model, serial number, etc.) of facility and/or fixed assets, building system as well as its location.

Building or group of buildings constructed in a contiguous area for business, commercial, institutional purposes.

Digital model that contains information about the entire lifecycle of a building, from the design, construction and maintenance up to its demolition and disposal. The use of BIM models in Facility Management, integrated with IWMS/CAFM systems, allows the virtual and dimensional management of infrastructures, building systems, assets and related maintenances without having to be on-site. Leading BIM modelling software is Revit (owned by Autodesk), the format file is .ifc.

Management of all activities aimed at monitoring, periodic inspection, management of breakdown and emergencies as well as logistical support for the execution of maintenance activities of a building or real estate.

Manager responsible for the building management of a building or real estate.

 Critical systems of your facility, such as the Electrical, HVAC, Fire Alarm, Lighting, etc. These systems depend on each other to operate. Each building system involves several components and assets (e.g. Fire alarm system – fire extinguisher, hydrants, sprinkler, etc.)

Technological component of a building.

Software solutions that makes it simple and possible to access, and manage all the information related to a building management through an integrated system. CAFM features include asset management, maintenance management, and much more.

Software solutions that makes possible to manage buildings and related components. It can be deployed on-premise or cloud-based and SaaS.

Digital replica of a physical reality, in reference to the AEC field, of a building. To create a “digital twin,” there must be three main requirements: the physical products in real space, the virtual products in virtual space and, finally, the connections of data and information (through a CAFM/IWMS software) that link the products in these two worlds.

Investigation process of a building or real estate aimed at evaluating the convenience of proceeding with a given transaction.

Management of the activities aimed at optimizing energy services for a building or real estate, through the elimination of waste (energy saving) and the efficiency of building systems (efficiency management).

Facility Asset Components used in creating ideal and safe conditions in the facility, such as the lighting, fire extinguisher, elevators, distribution board, etc.

Profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality, comfort, safety and efficiency of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.

Software used for the management of facilities and maintenances. CAFM/CMMS are Facility Management software.

Manager in charge of the facility management for a building or real estate.

 Long-term tangible piece of property or equipment that a firm owns and uses in its operations to generate income such as computer, desk, chair, etc.

Collection of information about fixed asset such as their location, description, technical data. Fixed asset will be also tagged for a proper asset tracking afterwards.

Alignment of the balance sheet and the fixed asset register based on the fixed asset inventory previously carried out.

Facility services of a building or real estate are outsourced to a unique contractor.

In Real Estate Management, GIS enables to know the exact geographic location (x,y,z coordinates) of assets and components within a floor plan or real estate portfolio.

Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning

Process that involves the implementation of new technologies to improve working conditions, create new business models, manage build environment and maintenance as well as increase building systems productivity. Digital Twin and software solutions for asset management and maintenance (IWMS/CAFM/CMMS) are part of Industry 4.0.

Integrated Workplace Management Systems (IWMS) are software solutions that allow space management, asset management, stock management, and maintenance management tasks to be carried out within a single program. A well structured IWMS enables executives and managers to reduce real estate and facility costs significantly as well as increase business productivity.

World’s largest and most widely recognized association for facility management professionals.

Metrics that indicate performance of services for a building or real estate

 Also referred to as Reality Capture. Tool that enables to measure and capture environments in 3D with speed and accuracy. The output will be a point cloud integrated with 360° pictures. The applications are various such as 3D building and maitenance management (if integrated with a IWMS), 2D modelling and as-built drawings, millimiter measurements, creation of a BIM model, etc.

Cost of a building including all direct and indirect costs involved during its entire life cycle. Life cycle cost of a building can be summirezed into three major categories: initial costs (feasibility study, design, area acquisition, construction, etc.); operational costs (operation, maintenance, etc.); final costs (renovation, upgrading, disposal, etc.).

Portion of an operating budget that is set aside in a single fiscal year for maintenance activities on the organization’s assets.

List of recurring tasks that have to be carried out, in a building, for facility assets in order to control their functioning and potential breakdown status.

It occurs when an unplanned event undermine and stop the production for a period of time. Maintenance downtime in particular is when an equipment or a machine is not operating or being productive due to required maintenance work.

Management of services, activities and policeis aimed at planning, organizing, executing, controlling and monitoring the maintenance of a building or real estate.

Document containing the maintenance requirements/tasks that needs to be carried out on an components and equipments in order to keep their optimal status

Document that includes information regarding all repair and maintenance work previously carried out on a building system, asset or equipment.

Operations and activities necessary to maintain a component or asset in optimal condition:
– Corrective or Reactive Maintenance: The tasks performed, as a result of failure, to repair an equipment or asset to its optimal condition. This type of maintenance may or may not be scheduled. It can be known also as Emergency Maintenance.

– Condition-Based Maintenance: Process of taking quick action on a machine or component that is in the early stages of failure.

– Deferred Maintenance: Tasks that will be postponed due to lack of funds or not available parts.

– Operational Maintenance: Minor tasks of equipment using procedures that do not require technical knowledge.

– Periodic Maintenance: Planned routine maintenance of facilities, machinery and equipment to ensure their optimal and correct functioning as well as minimum breakdowns.

– Preventive Maintenance: Operations carried out to retain an item or asset in its optimal condition by providing planned inspections, detection and prevention of emerging failure.

– Predictive Maintenance: Tasks performed by replacing parts based on predictions using a tool.

– Proactive Maintenance: Activities undertaken to extend the life of an equipment as well as improve its performance.

– Programmed or Scheduled Maintenance: Maintenance to be carried out within a specific period.

– Routine Maintenance: Tasks performed on a daily basis.

– Urban or City Maintenance: Activities carried out to keep public facilities and environment—buildings, spaces, roadways, pipelines—in optimal and functioning condition.

Average time to an asset operates before it fails.

Average time it takes to repair an asset or component. It involved the repair time as well as the testing one.

Set of data points that represent objects or space. Point clouds are generally created using 3D laser scanners (or LiDAR). A point cloud offers many advantages such as take very accurate measurements (under 1 mm), updating of floor plans, 3D visualization of the mapped area.

A document that a company and contractor enter into for the carry out of a service to be performed at the company’s premises.

Daily oversight and control of residential, commercial, or industrial real estate by a third-party contractor

Manager in charge of the property management for a building or real estate.

Stands for Quick Response Code is a type of matrix barcode that enables to associate information to an asset, component or room. When a component is tagged with a Qr-Code is possible to scan it with a smartphone and access to a data sheet including information such as location, brand, model, scheduled maintenances, ticket, etc. that allows to manage it efficiently.

Real estate is private property in the form of buildings and land. Real estate can be used for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes, and includes any resources on the land such as water or minerals.

Please see “Laser Scanning”.

Please see “BIM”.

It stands for Radio-frequency identification. It enables to identify and track tags attached to objects, assets, and components. When triggered by an electromagnetic interrogation pulse from a nearby RFID reader device, the tag transmits data previously associated to it such as brand, model, documents, etc. RFID technology is used especially in the management of fixed assets.

It is a space or environment part of a building unit.

Problem solving method used often to identify the root causes of faults or breakdowns.

Professional body (UK-based) aims to promote and enforce the highest international standards in the valuation, management and development of land, real estate, construction and infrastructure.

Management of all activities aimed at ensuring the safety of a building or property (design of safety plans, management and control of procedures, verification of compliance with sectoral regulations, etc.).

Manager in charge of the safety management for a building or real estate.

Management of the surveillance activities of a building or real estate

Manager in charge of the security management for a building or real estate.

Commitment between a service provider (or general contractor) and a client about the quality of the services that will be provided. CMMS/CAFM solutions enable the management and control of SLA.

Component period of use in service. It ends up when the component is no longer fixable after a breackdown.

Implementation and use of technology in a building or real estate in order to achieve the maximum efficiency. IWMS, IoT and laser scanning are solutions that will enable to automatize procceses and have a better management resulting in a smart building.

 Software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted. It is also known as “on-demand software”.

Space Management involves the management of a company’s physical space. It is related with specific details such as which room is occupied and by whom, what areas of a building are under or over utilized. Proper Space Management has to be flexible and able to keep an organization on top of the changing space needs.

Manager in charge of the space management for a building or real estate.

Reporting of failure or malfuctioning of a building system, asset, or component. It is the first step towards the resolution of the reported issue.

A submitted ticket generates a work order. It is a work order to notify the right technicians of the problem or breakdown and the steps to follow to fix the issue.