What Is Facility Management?

The International Facility Management Association (IFMA) defines facility management as “a profession that encompasses multiple disciplines to ensure functionality of the built environment by integrating people, place, process and technology.” From this definition, we understand facility management to be the coordination of a facility’s operations meant to make the organization as a whole more effective at what it does.

Put another way, think of your facility – the building itself and everything inside, both people and objects – as its own living being. Facilities management is responsible for making sure everything works harmoniously together, and the facility manager is responsible for keeping the facility alive.