Commonly Used Facility and Building Services Terms
An online glossary of facility management and building services terms
HOME > BUILDING SERVICES > GLOSSARY
Accreditation: recognition issued by a national accrediting organization to companies for their compliance with the established evaluation criteria for service quality
Amenity Area: any area in a facility used for non-work activity, such as employee dining rooms, vending areas, lounges, day-care centers and fitness or health centers
Bill of Materials: a detailed list of the parts and their respective quantities required to complete a service project
Breakdown Maintenance: maintenance performed on equipment that has broken down, faulted, or otherwise cannot be operated
Common Area: a room or area that is designed for the use of multiple visitors, employees, or inhabitants
Corrective Maintenance: neccessary work that occurs when a problem is detected while completing a preventive maintenance, inspection, etc.
Custodian: a caretaker, generally in an institution, who has general building maintenance duties in addition to cleaning
Day Porter: employees who are responsible for making sure a company facility is presentable to the public. They perform basic maintenance tasks during business hours including trash removal, front lobby support, and restroom restocks
Deferred Maintenance: repairs to infrastructure and assets that get delayed and backlogged because of budget limitations or lack of funding
Emergency Maintenance: a type of reactive maintenance that is used to prevent an immediate threat to your property or facility
Handyman: A handyman is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home or workplace. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, and maintenance work. Sometimes described as "side work", "odd jobs" or "fix-up tasks"
Janitor: a worker who cleans and maintains a building
Lean Six Sigma: a process that aims to systematically eliminate waste
Maintenance Backlog: a measure of required maintenance work that has not been completed
Maintenance Log: a document that records activities that have been performed
Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO): includes all the components required to keep a company focused on its core mission, which includes all aspects of facility maintenance and repair
Periodic Maintenance: service activities to be performed based on a set time interval
Planned Maintenance: the process of determining what work needs to be completed and how it is to be done
Proactive Facility Maintenance: maintenance services that perform corrective actions to conditions that can lead to unsafe conditions or expensive repairs
Remediation: activities undertaken to reduce or eliminate contaminants so that property and groundwater are not in violation of applicable environmental standards
Root Cause Analysis: a systematic process of identifying the origin of an incident
Routine Maintenance: the regular inspection and servicing of your facility that keep operations running smoothly
Schedule Compliance: a metric that measures the percentage of time that scheduled work orders are completed over a period of time
Scheduled Maintenance: repair/upkeep work performed within a set timeframe that details when maintenance tasks are performed
Service Areas: all areas set aside for the use of occupants, tenants and/or the public (such as loading bays, internal car-parking areas including their access ways)
Service Level Agreement: agreement between the customer and the service provider on performance, measurement and conditions of services delivery
Strategic Facility Planning: the process by which a facility management organization envisions its future by linking its purpose to the strategy of the overall organization and then developing goals, objectives, and action plans to achieve that future
Subcontractor: a firm providing specific goods or services under contract to a prime contractor, usually a general contractor, who holds the prime contract with a building owner, or a corporation represented by a facilities manager
Triple Bottom Line: A performance model that considers environmental, social, and financial performance, which is referred to as the triple bottom line
Triple-net Lease: a leasing arrangement in which a landlord is responsible only for paying any indebtedness on the building and (usually) for major structural repairs. The tenant is responsible for paying separately for property taxes, insurance and minor repairs, housekeeping and general maintenance, all in addition to the base rent
Useful Life: an estimate of the number of years an asset will remain in service
Work Order: a formal document that describes approved maintenance work
Work Request: a formal document that describes maintenance or work that still needs to be completed
An online glossary of facility management and building services terms
HOME > BUILDING SERVICES > GLOSSARY
Accreditation: recognition issued by a national accrediting organization to companies for their compliance with the established evaluation criteria for service quality
Amenity Area: any area in a facility used for non-work activity, such as employee dining rooms, vending areas, lounges, day-care centers and fitness or health centers
Bill of Materials: a detailed list of the parts and their respective quantities required to complete a service project
Breakdown Maintenance: maintenance performed on equipment that has broken down, faulted, or otherwise cannot be operated
Common Area: a room or area that is designed for the use of multiple visitors, employees, or inhabitants
Corrective Maintenance: neccessary work that occurs when a problem is detected while completing a preventive maintenance, inspection, etc.
Custodian: a caretaker, generally in an institution, who has general building maintenance duties in addition to cleaning
Day Porter: employees who are responsible for making sure a company facility is presentable to the public. They perform basic maintenance tasks during business hours including trash removal, front lobby support, and restroom restocks
Deferred Maintenance: repairs to infrastructure and assets that get delayed and backlogged because of budget limitations or lack of funding
Emergency Maintenance: a type of reactive maintenance that is used to prevent an immediate threat to your property or facility
Handyman: A handyman is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home or workplace. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, and maintenance work. Sometimes described as "side work", "odd jobs" or "fix-up tasks"
Janitor: a worker who cleans and maintains a building
Lean Six Sigma: a process that aims to systematically eliminate waste
Maintenance Backlog: a measure of required maintenance work that has not been completed
Maintenance Log: a document that records activities that have been performed
Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO): includes all the components required to keep a company focused on its core mission, which includes all aspects of facility maintenance and repair
Periodic Maintenance: service activities to be performed based on a set time interval
Planned Maintenance: the process of determining what work needs to be completed and how it is to be done
Proactive Facility Maintenance: maintenance services that perform corrective actions to conditions that can lead to unsafe conditions or expensive repairs
Remediation: activities undertaken to reduce or eliminate contaminants so that property and groundwater are not in violation of applicable environmental standards
Root Cause Analysis: a systematic process of identifying the origin of an incident
Routine Maintenance: the regular inspection and servicing of your facility that keep operations running smoothly
Schedule Compliance: a metric that measures the percentage of time that scheduled work orders are completed over a period of time
Scheduled Maintenance: repair/upkeep work performed within a set timeframe that details when maintenance tasks are performed
Service Areas: all areas set aside for the use of occupants, tenants and/or the public (such as loading bays, internal car-parking areas including their access ways)
Service Level Agreement: agreement between the customer and the service provider on performance, measurement and conditions of services delivery
Strategic Facility Planning: the process by which a facility management organization envisions its future by linking its purpose to the strategy of the overall organization and then developing goals, objectives, and action plans to achieve that future
Subcontractor: a firm providing specific goods or services under contract to a prime contractor, usually a general contractor, who holds the prime contract with a building owner, or a corporation represented by a facilities manager
Triple Bottom Line: A performance model that considers environmental, social, and financial performance, which is referred to as the triple bottom line
Triple-net Lease: a leasing arrangement in which a landlord is responsible only for paying any indebtedness on the building and (usually) for major structural repairs. The tenant is responsible for paying separately for property taxes, insurance and minor repairs, housekeeping and general maintenance, all in addition to the base rent
Useful Life: an estimate of the number of years an asset will remain in service
Work Order: a formal document that describes approved maintenance work
Work Request: a formal document that describes maintenance or work that still needs to be completed
