How to Choose a Facility Management Company: Buyer Checklist

Your current provider’s contract is up for renewal, and you no longer trust the monthly report. Three proposals sit on your desk. All three promise “full-service facility management.” One is clearly cheaper. No two price the same scope, and only one says who will actually work on your chillers.

This guide shows how to choose a facility management company from that position, for owners about to issue an RFP or replace an incumbent in DC, Northern Virginia or Maryland. It covers pricing models, 26 questions with what a good answer sounds like, official license lookups, a contract checklist, a scoring matrix and the red flags.

Use it to test every bidder the same way, including us. For a reference scope, see our facility management services page.

How to choose a facility management company, step by step

To choose a facility management company, define the scope and service levels first, shortlist bidders close enough to respond, walk each one through the building, ask all of them the same questions, verify licenses and insurance yourself, score proposals with published weights, and sign a contract that protects your data and your exit.

1. Define the scope: systems, services, assets and the service levels you want.
2. Shortlist bidders based close enough to respond.
3. Issue an RFP with a fixed pricing format so bids are comparable.
4. Hold site walks and ask every bidder the questions below.
5. Verify licenses, insurance and subcontractors on official lookups.
6. Score proposals with a weighted matrix, price last.
7. Negotiate the contract and agree on a dated transition plan.

The sections below show how to evaluate facility management companies at each step.

What does a facility management company do?

A facility management company runs the physical side of a building for its owner. It plans and performs maintenance, manages cleaning, security and other services, keeps inspections and certificates current, handles repairs and emergencies, supervises trade contractors, and reports on condition and cost so the owner can make capital decisions with real data.

The International Facility Management Association uses the ISO definition: facility management is “an organizational function which integrates people, place and process within the built environment.” In practice, a provider does three kinds of work:

• Performs routine work with its own technicians, such as preventive maintenance and minor repairs.
• Coordinates licensed trades, specialty vendors and projects.
• Documents every task, reading, photo and invoice in a record you can audit.

What services should a facility management company provide?

A facility management company should provide, or manage under one contract, five groups of facility management services: hard services for building systems, soft services for occupants, regulatory compliance and inspections, project and capital work, and technology and reporting. The right mix depends on the building, but each group needs a named owner in the contract.

Service group	Typical scope	Ask the bidder
Hard services	HVAC, electrical, plumbing, roofs, fire and life safety, elevators	Which trades do you self-perform?
Soft services	Janitorial, security, pest control, landscaping, snow, waste	Who supervises each vendor?
Compliance	Inspection calendar, permits, certificates, energy reporting	Who tracks due dates?
Projects	Tenant improvements, capital replacements, construction oversight	How are projects priced?
Technology and reporting	CMMS, work orders, PM schedules, asset register, reports	Can I log in and export my data?

Our guide to hard services vs soft services explains how the split shapes contracts. A provider can manage a service it does not perform, but someone must own each line. “Vendor coordination” with no vendor list is a scope nobody owns.

When should you hire a facility management company instead of staffing in-house?

Hire a facility management company when the building needs more trades, coverage hours or compliance tracking than your own staff can supply, or when nobody on your team owns maintenance planning. Keep the work in-house when one large site has enough steady work to keep dedicated technicians busy and you can recruit, supervise and back them up.

Signals that outsourcing fits:

• Night and weekend calls go to whoever picks up, with no record afterward.
• Inspections come due without anyone noticing until the inspector or insurer does.
• You pay several trade vendors directly, and nobody compares their work.
• Equipment history lives in one person’s head or inbox.

Facility management outsourcing vs in-house is rarely all or nothing: your engineer can stay while the provider adds planning, specialty trades and after-hours coverage. Our in-house vs outsourced facility management comparison walks through the fully loaded math.

How do facility management companies charge?

Facility management companies usually charge in one of five ways: a fixed monthly management fee, cost-plus or pass-through billing, a rate per square foot, time and materials, or a hybrid of these. The model matters less than the scope definition behind it and the rules for pricing and approving work outside that scope.

Pricing model	How it works	Watch for
Fixed management fee	Set monthly fee for a defined scope	Exclusions; how changes are priced
Cost-plus / pass-through	Actual cost plus a fee or markup	Markup on every dollar; audit rights
Per square foot	A rate times the building area	What the rate includes
Time and materials	Hourly rates plus materials	Weak incentive for efficiency; needs a cap
Hybrid	Fixed fee for core scope, other billing for the rest	Where “core” ends

Federal buying rules show why incentives matter. The Federal Acquisition Regulation says a time-and-materials contract “provides no positive profit incentive to the contractor for cost control or labor efficiency” and requires a ceiling price (FAR 16.601), and it bans cost-plus-a-percentage-of-cost contracting (FAR 16.102). Those rules bind only federal contracts, but the lesson travels: cap any percentage a provider earns on spending, and keep audit rights.

Ask every bidder to mark each of these “included” or “billed extra”: after-hours labor, materials markup, subcontractor markup, emergency call-outs, consumables, software fees, inspection fees and project management fees. Then benchmark with our guide to facility management cost per square foot.

What questions should you ask a facility management company?

Ask a facility management company questions that force specific, checkable answers: who does the work, how preventive maintenance is planned and proven, how subcontractors are licensed and insured, how emergencies are handled, what you can see in the system, how work outside the base fee is priced, and what happens to your data when the contract ends.

These questions to ask a facility management company are grouped by theme. Each “good answer” is the shape of a strong reply, not a script.

Staffing and accountability

1. Who is my day-to-day contact? Good answer: a named person, the other sites that person covers, and a named backup.
2. Which work do your employees perform, and which do you subcontract? Good answer: a trade-by-trade list naming the firms that do licensed work.
3. Where are your responding technicians based? Good answer: a real location and a realistic travel time, rush hour included.
4. How do you check technicians’ and subcontractors’ work? Good answer: supervisor spot checks with photos, logged on the work order.
5. Can I have a manager or subcontractor replaced? Good answer: yes, through a written process.

Maintenance and compliance

6. How will you build the PM schedule? Good answer: from an asset inventory and manufacturer guidance, adjusted for condition.
7. How do you prove a PM task was done? Good answer: a timestamped work order with readings, parts and photos, not a checked box.
8. Who tracks inspection due dates? Good answer: a named person and a calendar by asset, with certificates attached.
9. What concerned you on the walkthrough? Good answer: specific findings, such as a unit, a roof drain or a missing tag.
10. How do you handle inherited deferred maintenance? Good answer: a baseline report with photos and priorities, then a plan.

Subcontractors, licenses and insurance

11. Will you send license numbers for every licensed trade? Good answer: yes, before award, so you can check them.
12. Will you send certificates of insurance and the endorsements? Good answer: both, naming the parties your lease and lender require.
13. How do you vet a new subcontractor? Good answer: license, insurance, workers’ compensation and references checked first.
14. Do you mark up subcontractor invoices? Good answer: a stated percentage or fixed fee in the price schedule.
15. Do your technicians hold the required certifications? Good answer: named credentials, such as EPA Section 608 for refrigerant work.

Response and communication

16. How are work orders prioritized? Good answer: written priority levels, each with response and completion targets you set.
17. What happens when a tenant calls at 2 a.m.? Good answer: a live path to someone who can dispatch, and a work-order record.
18. How do tenants submit requests? Good answer: one simple channel that accepts photos and shows status.
19. When will you tell me about a major failure? Good answer: a defined notice rule, with a call first and a written record after.

Reporting, technology and data

See what “CMMS included” means before you ask.

20. Can I log in to your maintenance system? Good answer: a live demo with real records, not screenshots.
21. Is the software billed separately? Good answer: a clear line in the price schedule, including any seat fees.
22. Who owns the data? Good answer: you do, with exports in a standard format during the contract and at exit.
23. Can I see a sample monthly report? Good answer: a redacted example whose numbers trace back to work orders.

Pricing, contract and transition

24. What exactly is in the base fee? Good answer: an inclusion and exclusion list that matches the price schedule.
25. How much can you spend without my approval? Good answer: a not-to-exceed amount you set, with emergency exceptions defined.
26. What will you hand back if we part ways? Good answer: data exports, documents, keys and access credentials.

How do you verify licenses, insurance and subcontractors?

Verify a facility management company by checking each license on the official state or District lookup, reading the insurance endorsements instead of trusting the certificate alone, confirming workers’ compensation coverage, and asking for the same proof for every subcontractor who will work in your building. Run the checks yourself; a forwarded PDF is not verification.

Self-performed work needs the provider’s own licenses; subcontracted work needs each subcontractor’s. The trade list from question 2 tells you which to look up.

Check	DC	Virginia	Maryland
Trade licenses	DLCP license search	DPOR License Lookup	Maryland Labor licensing queries
Examples covered	Electricians, plumbers, gasfitters, refrigeration and AC, elevator trades, steam engineers	Contractors by class and specialty; electrical, plumbing, HVAC and gas tradesmen; backflow workers, elevator mechanics, sprinkler inspectors	Electricians, HVACR, plumbers, stationary engineers
Workers’ comp	Ask for the certificate; confirm with the carrier	VWC Insurance Coverage Search	WCC coverage verification

In Virginia, a contractor license has a class, which sets the monetary value of contracts allowed, and a specialty, which sets the type of work. Check both. In DC, DLCP says all businesses must be licensed, and its Scout tool verifies business licenses. In Maryland, the Workers’ Compensation Commission notes that a search with no result does not necessarily mean the employer is uninsured.

Certificates of insurance are summaries, not coverage. Virginia law requires a certificate to carry a statement, or a substantially similar one, that it “is issued as a matter of information only” and “does not extend, amend, or alter the coverage” (Va. Code § 38.2-518). Maryland’s Insurance Article § 19-116(i) makes the same point. If your lease requires additional insured status, ask for the endorsement itself. See our guide to certificate of insurance requirements.

In Virginia, a subcontractor’s gap can become the contractor’s problem. The Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission explains that under Va. Code § 65.2-302, a contractor can be liable for a subcontractor’s employees, and tells contractors to keep proof of coverage for every subcontractor. Ask to see that file.

Also useful: EPA Section 608 rules require technicians who maintain, service, repair or dispose of equipment that could release ozone-depleting refrigerants to be certified, and OSHA’s public Establishment Search lists enforcement inspections, and any citations, by establishment name.

What should a facility management contract include?

A facility management contract should include a precise scope with service frequencies, service levels the owner defines, KPIs and a reporting schedule, pricing and approval limits, insurance terms, subcontracting rules, data ownership with export rights at exit, termination terms, and a transition-out obligation. Anything the contract leaves out tends to return as a change order or a dispute.

Clause	What it should say
Scope	Asset list, services, frequencies and exclusions as exhibits
Service levels	Priority definitions with response and completion targets you set
KPIs and reporting	Which measures, how each is calculated, how often reported
Pricing	Fees, hourly rates, markups and escalation method
Approvals	A not-to-exceed amount and an emergency exception
Subcontracting	Your approval of key subs; licenses and insurance flowed down
Insurance	Coverage your lease, lender and insurer require; endorsements
Key personnel	Named account lead; notice before any change
Data and records	You own the data; export formats; delivery at exit
Termination	For cause with a cure period; for convenience with notice
Transition out	Records, keys, access and cooperation with the next provider

Set service levels yourself, by priority, and measure them from system timestamps. Our guide to facility maintenance KPIs shows which measures to write in and how each gets gamed. For scope and pricing exhibits, start from our guide to writing a facility management RFP and the facility management RFP template.

This checklist is practical guidance, not legal advice. Have counsel review the final terms.

How do you compare facility management proposals?

Compare facility management proposals by normalizing them to the same scope, converting every pricing model into one annual cost estimate under the same assumptions, and scoring non-price factors with a weighted matrix before anyone looks at price. The lowest number on a cover page often reflects the narrowest scope, not the best value.

1. Build a scope grid: services in rows, bidders in columns, each cell marked included, excluded or unclear. Clear every “unclear” in writing.
2. Build one cost model: base fee, assumed out-of-scope hours at each bidder’s rates, markup on an assumed pass-through amount, and any software fees.
3. Score non-price criteria first, each evaluator alone, then as a committee.
4. Open price last and score it from the cost model.
5. Verify the finalists and call references from similar buildings.

Example weighted scoring matrix. Adapt the criteria and weights to your building.

Criterion	Weight	A high score means
Scope understanding	20%	Specific site findings; no gaps in the scope grid
Staffing and supervision	15%	Named people; nearby responders
Compliance and risk controls	15%	Licenses, endorsements and sub files current
Reporting, technology and data	15%	Live demo passed; export rights in writing
Transition plan	10%	Dated plan with an owner for each step
Price (normalized)	25%	Lowest cost under your model

Score each criterion 1 to 5, multiply by its weight, and add. For price, the lowest normalized cost scores 5; each other bidder scores 5 times the lowest cost divided by its own.

Illustrative facility management proposal comparison (fictional bidders and scores):

Criterion	Weight	Bidder A	Bidder B	Bidder C
Scope understanding	20%	4	5	3
Staffing and supervision	15%	3	4	4
Compliance and risk controls	15%	4	5	3
Reporting, technology and data	15%	3	5	4
Transition plan	10%	3	4	3
Price (normalized)	25%	5	3	4
Weighted score (out of 5)	100%	3.85	4.25	3.55

Here the cheapest bidder, A, scores below B on every non-price criterion and loses overall. Our RFP guide uses a slightly different default; either works if you publish it before proposals arrive.

What are the red flags when choosing a facility management company?

The main red flags when choosing a facility management company are a price quoted without a site walk, a vague scope, refusal to name subcontractors or share license numbers, certificates without endorsements, no live system demo, unclear data ownership, and contract terms that make leaving expensive. Any one of them deserves a direct question before award.

• No site walk. A bidder who never saw your mechanical rooms priced a different building.
• “We do everything in-house.” Ask how. Subcontracting licensed trades is normal if disclosed and supervised.
• No license numbers before award.
• A certificate without the endorsement your lease requires.
• Screenshots instead of a live demo.
• Hesitation about data ownership or export formats. That is a lock-in signal.
• Response promises without priority definitions or timestamps.
• Uncapped markups on materials or subcontractors.
• You never meet the account lead before award.
• Hard exits: no termination for convenience, or fees to get your records back.

Should you choose a local or a national facility management company?

Choose a local facility management company when on-site response, local trade relationships and knowledge of local rules matter most. Choose a national firm when you need one contract and one reporting standard across many regions. Neither is better by default. The most useful test is distance: ask where the people who will respond to your building are based.

Factor	Local or regional firm	National firm
Response	Depends on where its people are based	Depends on its local office or subs
Local rules	Often deep in one region	Varies by market team
Multi-region portfolios	May need several providers	One contract, one standard

What changes in DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland

DC, Virginia and Maryland each have their own licensing, workers’ compensation and insurance rules, and their energy rules differ. As of October 2026:

• DC: DOEE’s Building Energy Performance Standards Cycle One covers privately owned buildings over 50,000 square feet and ends December 31, 2026, with the final year of energy-use data due to DOEE by May 2027 (DOEE).
• Maryland: the state BEPS program requires commercial and multifamily buildings of 35,000 square feet or more, with listed exemptions, to submit an annual benchmarking report.
• Montgomery County: the county requires most buildings of 25,000 square feet and larger to meet energy-efficiency standards by set deadlines.

Ask each bidder which programs cover your building and who files the reports. See also our Northern Virginia and Maryland pages.

What should you expect in the first 90 days with a new facility management company?

In the first 90 days, a new facility management company should take over records and access, build or verify the asset inventory, load preventive maintenance schedules, set up the compliance calendar, and deliver a baseline condition report. By day 90 you should see stable reporting and a prioritized list of what the building needs.

A reasonable sequence follows. Actual timing depends on the building and the records you hand over.

Phase	What happens	What you receive
Before day one	Records, keys, vendor contracts, open work orders and warranties move over	Handover checklist with gaps marked
Early weeks	Walkthrough, asset tagging, tenant introductions	Draft asset register
Middle weeks	PM schedules loaded, compliance calendar set, vendor reviews	PM and compliance calendars
By day 90	Baseline condition report; first full reporting cycle	Prioritized repair and capital list

The baseline report matters most. It separates inherited problems from new ones and gives your capital plan a starting point.

How Levaru answers these questions

This checklist is meant for every bidder, so here are our own answers to seven of its questions.

• Who performs the work? Our team self-performs routine work. Licensed trades, such as electrical, plumbing, fire and life safety, elevators and backflow, are performed by licensed subcontractors under our supervision.
• Can I log in? Owners get seats in our client portal showing work orders with photos, PM schedules, inspection pass/fail results, the asset register and invoices. The seats are read-only apart from submitting service requests with photos.
• Is the software extra? Our in-house CMMS is included with the service, with no separate software fee.
• How are assets recorded? In an asset register, with QR asset tags on equipment.
• How do tenants submit requests? With photos, and they can follow the status.
• What happens to my data if we part ways? Owners can export the asset register and work-order history.
• Where are you, and what happens after hours? We are headquartered at 5510 Cherokee Ave Ste 300, Alexandria, VA 22312, in Fairfax County, and serve DC, Northern Virginia and Maryland. The office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, and a 24/7 phone line covers building emergencies at the properties we manage.

Ask us the other questions when you request a proposal, then ask every other bidder the same ones. Our how we work page shows how we approach onboarding.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to transition to a new facility management company?

The time to transition to a new facility management company depends on the building’s size and complexity, the records the outgoing provider hands over, the notice period in the old contract, and how many vendor agreements must move. Ask each bidder for a dated transition plan, and check the incumbent’s termination notice before setting a start date.

What technology should a facility management company provide?

A facility management company should provide a CMMS that records every work order and preventive maintenance task, an owner portal you can log in to, an asset register for the building’s equipment, and a channel for tenant requests. The contract should state that you own the data and can export it. Ask for a live demo with real records before award.

How much do facility management companies charge per square foot?

The rate facility management companies charge per square foot depends on scope, building type and age, service hours, on-site staffing, and whether the rate includes janitorial, utilities or subcontracted trades. Two quotes with the same rate can cover very different work. Normalize scope first, then use our cost-per-square-foot guide to benchmark the result.

What are the benefits of outsourcing facility management?

The main benefits of outsourcing facility management are access to more trades than one in-house hire can cover, coverage outside office hours, a system that keeps maintenance history when staff change, and one party accountable for results. The trade-off is less direct control over individual workers, which clear service levels and owner access to the system help offset.

Do facility management companies do the repairs themselves?

Many facility management companies do routine repairs themselves and subcontract specialty work. Preventive maintenance, minor repairs and common-area inspections are often self-performed. Licensed work such as electrical, plumbing, elevators and fire protection is often done by licensed subcontractors. Ask for a trade-by-trade list and check the license of whoever performs each trade.

What is the difference between a facility management company and a property management company?

A facility management company maintains and operates the building and its systems, while a property management company handles leases, rent collection, tenant accounting and owner financial reporting. Some firms provide both. In DC, “Property Manager” is a license category under the District’s real estate licensing, so if one firm does both jobs, ask which license and contract cover each.

Does a facility management company need ISO 41001 or IFMA credentials?

ISO 41001 certification and IFMA credentials are voluntary, so a facility management company does not need either to operate, and capable firms may have neither. ISO 41001 is the international standard for facility management systems, certified by independent bodies rather than ISO itself. IFMA’s CFM and FMP are individual credentials. Treat both as evidence of method, not proof of performance.