Reference
Facilities Management Glossary
FM runs on abbreviations, and most of them are used loosely. This glossary gives the plain meaning of the terms that appear in contracts, tenders and compliance records.
EntireFM
Contract and commercial terms
The terms that decide what you are actually buying.
- PPM — Planned Preventative Maintenance. Scheduled work intended to prevent failure, as opposed to fixing it afterwards.
- Reactive maintenance — unplanned work in response to a fault. High reactive spend usually indicates weak PPM.
- SLA — Service Level Agreement. The response and completion times the provider is contractually held to.
- KPI — Key Performance Indicator. What gets measured and reported, which is not always the same as what matters.
- NTE — Not To Exceed. A spend limit above which the provider must seek approval before proceeding.
- SOR — Schedule of Rates. Pre-agreed prices for defined tasks, used to price work without a fresh quote each time.
- TFM — Total Facilities Management. Hard and soft services delivered under a single contract.
- Self-delivery — work carried out by the provider’s own employed staff rather than subcontracted.
Service categories
How FM scope is normally divided.
- Hard services — the building’s engineering and fabric: M&E, HVAC, fire systems, plumbing, lifts, roofing.
- Soft services — services to the occupants and presentation: cleaning, security, grounds, waste, front of house.
- CAFM — Computer-Aided Facilities Management. The system holding assets, jobs, schedules and history.
- Asset register — the list of what is in the building, its condition and its obligations. Without one, a PPM schedule is guesswork.
- Mobilisation — the transition period when a new provider takes over, surveys the estate and stands up the schedules.
Compliance and statutory terms
The obligations that carry legal consequence.
- SFG20 — the industry standard maintenance specification, defining tasks and frequencies by asset type.
- L8 / ACOP L8 — the HSE approved code of practice for controlling Legionella in water systems.
- LOLER — Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations. Governs thorough examination of lifts and lifting equipment.
- LEV — Local Exhaust Ventilation. Extraction controlling airborne contaminants; requires thorough examination and testing.
- EICR — Electrical Installation Condition Report. Periodic inspection of the fixed electrical installation.
- BS 5266 — the standard governing emergency lighting, including monthly function and annual duration testing.
- F-Gas — regulations covering fluorinated refrigerant gases, including leak checking and record keeping.
- Responsible Person — the duty holder under fire safety legislation. The duty can be delegated in practice but not in law.
- MEES — Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards. Sets the minimum EPC rating at which a property may be let.
More reading
Sectors
Facilities management across sectors: what changes, and what does not
Similarities, differences, and why the same scope of work needs a different plan in each.
Opinion
Why regular maintenance and inspection actually pays
Planned maintenance is the easiest line to cut and the most expensive one to have cut. Here is where the money actually goes.
Guide
Hard services in facilities management: a complete guide
The systems that keep a building standing, running and legal — and the obligations attached to each of them.