OM

Question 1

Best practices

Answer 1

Techniques, approaches, or methods of conducting business
in a manner that has been widely recognized by peers and
the industry as generally being the most effective and
consistently provides the desired results.

Question 2

Building automation system (BAS)/Building management system (BMS)

Answer 2

Integrated, automated system that control several aspects of
building operations such as HVAC, lighting, energy, elevators,
fire suppression and security. Also known as building
management system (BMS).

Question 3

Building structures

Answer 3

The construction elements that are designed to support the
architecture of a building. These elements generally consist
of foundations, frames, slabs, permanent stairs, ramps and
related elements relative to a building’s architectural
integrity. Generally this structure is not visible to
observation

Question 4

Building systems

Answer 4

The complete, physical facility including all equipment,
materials, and components.

Question 5

Churn

Answer 5

The amount of movement and relocation of occupants within
an organization within a specified period. It is the ratio of the
number of employees moved annually compared to the total
number of employees in an organization.

Question 6

Codes

Answer 6

Systems of regulations that define scoping requirements. It
implies prescriptive requirements and is generally given
statutory force.

Question 7

Commissioning

Answer 7

A planned and integrated systematic process of verifying and
documenting that all building systems perform interactively
according to the design intent and the owner’s operational
needs.

Question 8

Communication

Answer 8

The two-way process of creating and sending messages and
receiving feedback with the goal to influence the opinions,
actions, and decisions of the intended audience.

Question 9

Computer-aided facility management (CAFM)
system/Computerized maintenance management system
(CMMS)/ Integrated work management system (IWMS)

Answer 9

An automated, information technology (IT) tool that includes
the hardware and software needed to store, manage,
distribute, and use information that is critical to an
organization’s mission, such as coordinating operations and
maintenance. Also known as computerized maintenance
management system (CMMS) or Integrated work
management system (IWMS).

Question 10

Corrective maintenance

Answer 10

Any activity that is required to correct a failure that has
occurred or is in the process of occurring.

Question 11

Emergency maintenance

Answer 11

Any activity that requires immediate repair because of
impending danger to the occupants, their business processes,
the building, or a building system.

Question 12

Emergency preparedness

Answer 12

The state of being prepared for all types of emergencies and
ready to respond to save lives and property and to support a
return to normalcy as soon as possible.

Question 13

Escalation

Answer 13

The pre-planned determination of how to respond to specific
conditions with prescribed levels of intensity.

Question 14

Facility exterior

Answer 14

The building envelope as well as structures separate from the
main building. The building envelope is a common term for
the system that keeps the weather and noise out and the
heat and cooling in

Question 15

Foundation

Answer 15

The structural components of the building frame that accept
and transfer the massive load (or weight) of the building unit
into the surrounding soils.

Question 16

Green cleaning

Answer 16

The practice of using cleaning methods, products, and
ingredients that preserve health and the environment.

Question 17

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning systems (HVAC)

Answer 17

The systems within a building that control and maintain
temperature, humidity, and air quality.

Question 18

Installed equipment

Answer 18

Equipment affixed to the owners’ buildings and maintained
by the facility manager (not the landlord, the functional
operator, or line manager).

Question 19

Level of service (LOS)

Answer 19

A quantitative description of the provider will support service
through availability, serviceability, performance, operation,
or other attributes

Question 20

Life-cycle cost (LCC)

Answer 20

Process of determining (in present-value terms) all costs
incident to the planning, design, construction, operation and
maintenance, and disposition of an asset over its useful life.

Question 21

Life safety systems

Answer 21

Government regulations and building code requirements for
building relative to seismic, fire, and accessibility standards

Question 22

Maintenance

Answer 22

Assuring all of the elements of the infrastructure are serviced
so they operate efficiently and are reliable and safe. This
includes scheduling and conducting regular, periodic
predictive, preventive and corrective maintenance activities.

Question 23

Operations

Answer 23

Assuring that the facility’s infrastructure and how it is used
and managed provides a satisfactory work environment, is in
compliance with laws and regulations, meets financial
performance goals, reflects efficient utility services and costs,
and protects the surrounding community and environment.

Question 24

Planned maintenance

Answer 24

Any maintenance activity for which a pre-determined job
procedure has been documented, for which all labor,
materials, tools, and equipment required to carry out the
task have been estimated, and their availability assured
before commencement of the task.

Question 25

Predictive maintenance (PdM)

Answer 25

Any maintenance activity for which a pre-determined job
procedure has been documented, for which all labor,
materials, tools, and equipment required to carry out the
task have been estimated, and their availability assured
before commencement of the task.

Question 26

Preventive maintenance

Answer 26

A type of planned maintenance having an equipment
maintenance strategy based on replacing, overhauling, or
remanufacturing an item at a fixed interval, regardless of its
condition at the time.

Question 27

Raised floor/Access flooring system

Answer 27

A strut-supported removable panel flooring system allowing
for cooling and cabling duct space beneath the floor,
generally used for computer or server rooms and data
centers. Also known as access flooring system.

Question 28

Regulations

Answer 28

Laws or rules prescribed by an authority to regulate conduct;
an official governmental regulatory act that transmits a
stated purpose.

Question 29

Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM)

Answer 29

A maintenance strategy which determines the best mix of
preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, proactive
repairs, and run-to-failure approaches.

Question 30

Run-to-failure

Answer 30

A maintenance strategy in which no routine maintenance
tasks are performed on the equipment. The only
maintenance performed on the equipment is corrective
maintenance, and then only after the equipment has
suffered a failure.

Question 31

Security

Answer 31

With regard to safety, it is the freedom from danger, doubt,
or fear.

Question 32

Service level agreement (SLA)

Answer 32

Document which has been agreed between the demand
organization and a service provider on performance,
measurement and conditions of service delivery.

Question 33

Service quotient

Answer 33

A measurement of how satisfied occupants are with their
service at a given point in time.

Question 34

Standards

Answer 34

A statement of the minimum level of acceptability that
incorporates the technical installation requirements of the
code when/where referenced; the prescribed, accepted level
of service and product performance. These apply to the
facility itself (buildings, structures, interiors, exteriors and
grounds), operations and maintenance and contractors and
service providers (reception, cleaning and catering). A A
formal expression of rules, guidelines or characteristics for
activities or their results.

Question 35

Standing operating order (SOO)

Answer 35

A work order (WO) for a predictable, routine services that
can be planned in advance and occur on a regular basis.
These may include inspections and established preventive
maintenance. Some facility managers include non-core
services such as custodial, waste collection, food services,
and grounds maintenance as standing operating orders that
are automatically included as work reception inputs.

Question 36

Standing work order

Answer 36

A work order (WO) that is left open either indefinitely or for a
pre-determined period of time for the purpose of collecting
labor hours and/or supplies/materials costs for which it has
been decided that individual work orders should not be
raised. Examples would include standing work orders raised
to collect time spent at safety meetings, or in general
housekeeping activities.

Question 37

Statement of work (SOW)

Answer 37

A listing of the specific tasks the supplier is to perform

Question 38

Sustainability

Answer 38

Development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs.

Question 39

Tactical plan

Answer 39

A detailed set of steps needed to accomplish a goal in the
strategic plan.

Question 40

Total cost of ownership (TCD)

Answer 40

A financial management strategy that accounts for the
complete life-cycle costs of a product (both direct and
indirect) from acquisition to disposal

Question 41

Unplanned maintenance/Unscheduled maintenance

Answer 41

Any maintenance work that has not been included on an
approved maintenance schedule prior to its commencement.
Also known as unscheduled maintenance.

Question 42

Useful life

Answer 42

Expected time that a component can be left in service,
before it will start to experience a rapidly increasing
probability of failure.

Question 43

Work management center (WMC)/Help desk/Work desk

Answer 43

A typical place or activity where all scheduled and unplanned
work is screened and evaluated so that work assignments
and activities can be communicated to individuals or teams
and trades with specific tasks, expectations of time required
to complete the job, and date/time for doing the job. Also
known as help desk or work desk.