Your Guide to Facilities Management KPIs

If you want your facility to perform at its best, you need to first define what success looks like for you. Once you’ve done that, you can build a roadmap to guide you. But without accurate data or key metrics, you may not know where to begin. That’s where key performance indicators (KPIs) come in handy. 

KPIs can help you take proactive measures to track performance, set long-term goals, and measure successes within your facility. Without KPIs, you won’t know how well your facility is performing, let alone what objectives you should set for improvement. 

What is a KPI?

A KPI, or key performance indicator, is a metric used to track performance over time. A KPI establishes quantifiable, measurable targets for teams, individuals, or organizations to aim for and mark success. In that vein, KPIs should be specific and align with business goals or long-term objectives. 

KPIs are utilized across industries, and facilities management is no exception. Facilities management KPIs deal mainly with workplace efficiency and maintenance performance. They often measure maintenance costs, work completion times, equipment performance, and utility usage, among other things. 

How to determine the priority KPIs as a facilities manager

Although most facilities have similar big-picture priorities (safety, efficiency, productivity, economizing, etc.), it is up to each management team to determine the top priorities for their facility. From there, you can determine which KPIs to track to monitor and support those goals or initiatives. 

If, for example, your school would like to hire an additional custodian, you should track the number of custodial work requests, average ticket turnaround times, the number of late or incomplete requests, and the associated costs. Tracking these KPIs might help you justify hiring a new team member.

What’s the difference between key performance indicators and facilities management metrics?

Although similar, KPIs are different from metrics. A metric is a singular data point, whereas a KPI is a measurement often used to compare data points. 

Why track KPIs?

In short, KPIs enable meaningful action. You can’t start driving until you know where you’re going, right? Think of each KPI as a point on your map. The more information you have about the road ahead, the better you’ll be able to anticipate and navigate the course before you. 

KPIs allow us to track workplace performance and measure data projections and goals. As a result, KPIs help organizations make data-driven decisions that drive positive, impactful outcomes. Those outcomes can impact anything from safety to reliability, cost-effectiveness, or sustainability.

Ultimately, the more you know, the more you can do as a facility manager.

What facilities management KPIs should I track?

There are endless possibilities regarding what you can track within your facility. We’ve narrowed it down to the most common and meaningful KPIs, listed below. 

1. User satisfaction 

You should always have a good pulse on how your employees, customers, or other users feel about the system your team follows, as well as their performance. Whether you use CMMS (computerized maintenance management system), small-scale tracking software, or old-fashioned pen and paper, usability is crucial. If you hear a common complaint, it could indicate a more significant issue that’s leading to inefficiencies, safety risks, or employee turnover.

User satisfaction is typically measured through surveys or feedback forms using a rating scale or questionnaire to assess the satisfaction level of facility users.

Benchmark: High user satisfaction is often indicated by a score of 80% or above on the satisfaction scale.

2. Planned maintenance vs. reactive maintenance ratio

Ideally, most of your maintenance should be planned to save time and money. Tracking the ratio between planned and reactive maintenance work can help you determine if you need to invest more time or funds in planned work.

This ratio is often associated with the planned maintenance percentage, which can be calculated by taking the number of planned maintenance hours, dividing it by the total number of maintenance hours, and multiplying it by 100. 

Benchmark: A typical standard is 80% planned maintenance and 20% reactive maintenance. However, very few organizations can achieve that standard. We recommend aiming for a healthy mix of 60/40 planned vs. reactive.

3. Preventive maintenance compliance 

Most folks in the facilities management sector know that preventive maintenance saves your bottom line in the long run. Tracking how much of your expected preventive maintenance is actually performed can help you identify areas with room for improvement or cost savings and determine acceptable timeframes for future maintenance work.

To find the preventive maintenance compliance percentage, take the total number of preventive maintenance tasks completed on schedule, divide by the total number of preventive maintenance tasks, and multiply by 100. 

Benchmark: Ideally, preventive maintenance compliance should be close to 100%, though this is extremely difficult. A benchmark standard could be set at a minimum of 90% compliance.

4. Average response time for work order resolution 

Tracking the time to completion for work orders is possibly the most common facility management KPI. Discover how long work order resolution takes and use that data to discover seasonal trends, justify new hires, or initiate new, more efficient protocols.

The average response time can be found by taking the total time taken to resolve work orders, divided by the total number of work orders.

Benchmark: The standard for average response time varies depending on the facility and industry. However, a common target is to aim for a response time of less than 24 hours.

5. Gross facilities management costs

This broad KPI can be intimidating, but use this information to compare it to the anticipated facility costs of similar institutions and see where you fall. Average facility management costs vary by industry, but finding comparable metrics can help you identify areas of success and improvement.

The gross facilities management costs can be calculated by adding up the total costs associated with managing and maintaining facilities, including labor, materials, equipment, and overhead expenses.

Benchmark: Ideal gross facilities management costs can vary significantly based on facility size, industry, and location. To find an accurate benchmark, look at similar facilities in your industry.

6. Operations cost per square foot

Determining operations costs can help you monitor workforce efficiency, asset usage, equipment performance, and more.

To calculate your operation costs per square foot, add up your total operations costs and divide the total by the square footage of your facility.

Benchmark: Standards for operations cost per square foot vary based on the facility type and industry. Compare the averages of similar facilities to determine an average.

7. Utility cost per square foot

By tracking the cost to keep your facility running (electricity, heating, cooling, etc.), you can identify any disproportionate costs and begin deciding where to economize or upgrade. After you track this KPI for several months, you can more easily spot anomalies in the data and enact change quickly.

To calculate the utility cost per square foot, add up your utility costs (e.g., electricity, water, gas) and divide the total by the total square footage of the facility

Benchmark: The standards for utility cost per square foot can vary depending on your facility’s location, size, and energy efficiency measures. An average utility cost per square foot can range anywhere from $1.00 to $2.50 or more.

8. Cleaning cost per square foot

If your facility’s cleaning costs rise quickly, it might indicate a problem with custodial processes or the equipment itself. On the other hand, a decrease in cleaning costs may be a sign of effective change, but an unexplained or significant dip might indicate an unwanted decline in necessary cleaning tasks.

Calculate your cleaning cost per square foot by adding the total cleaning expenses and dividing by the square footage of your facility.

Benchmark: The standards for cleaning cost per square foot can vary based on the facility type, level of cleanliness required, and industry, but can average anywhere between $0.10 and $0.25 on average.

9. Security cost per square foot

Monitoring security costs can help you pinpoint trends and identify potential weaknesses. Ultimately, this can drive important changes, whether that means increasing security measures or switching to a different security solution.

Calculate your average security cost per square foot by adding your total security costs and dividing them by the total square footage of your facility.

Benchmark: Standards security costs change depending on the level of security required, facility location, and industry. Generally, you can expect to pay about $1.00 per square foot or more.

10. Renovations, new construction, and major maintenance costs

Tracking each type of major maintenance spending can help you determine where to allocate funds. Depending on the time and cost, you can make more informed decisions when comparing the benefits of refurbishing or starting fresh with future projects. 

Benchmark: Standard pricing for renovations, construction, and other major maintenance expenses depends on the size, complexity, location, and industry of the facility. For example, pricing can range anywhere from $30 per square foot to $300 or more.

Please note that the benchmarks provided are general guidelines and may vary depending on the specific context, industry, and facility requirements.

Using facilities management software to track KPIs and other metrics

Tracking and managing key performance indicators can be overwhelming. There are countless assets and metrics to manage and even more data to store as the years go by. To keep things organized, consider a facilities management software solution.

FMX can help you manage and track your facility’s performance and provide a detailed report summarizing your data and enabling actionable insights. Whether you’re looking closely at asset maintenance KPIs or searching for equipment maintenance insights, we can help. 

Learn more about our facilities reporting and analytics software to discover what we can help you track for your facility.