The Facility Management RFP Template

Most facility management bids can’t be compared because no two vendors priced the same thing. One quotes a lean self-perform model, another a management fee over subcontractors, a third bundles projects into the monthly rate — and the “cheapest” number wins a contract that costs more within a year. A good RFP fixes that by defining the scope once and making everyone price it the same way.

This template is the structure we’d want to receive as a bidder: specific enough to price accurately, structured enough to compare, and honest about what’s fixed versus pass-through. Download the Word document, fill in the bracketed sections, and send it out. It’s vendor-neutral — nothing in it points back to us.

The sections, and why each one matters

1. Building and portfolio profile. Address, size, use, occupancy, hours, and a short asset inventory (major HVAC units, elevators, fire systems, roof age). Bidders who price without this are guessing, and guesses become change orders. Attach a rent roll or stacking plan if you have one.

2. Scope of work. The heart of the document. Break it into hard services (HVAC, electrical, plumbing, life safety), soft services (janitorial, grounds, security, pest), and management (vendor oversight, reporting, compliance tracking, emergency response). For each, state whether you expect it self-performed or subcontracted, and what “included” means.

3. Service specifications and SLAs. Response times by priority, PM frequencies, inspection cadences, and reporting expectations — as a table bidders acknowledge line by line. This is where you convert “good service” into something measurable and enforceable. Define the emergency response window explicitly; it’s the number that matters most at 2 a.m.

4. Pricing schedule. Structured so proposals are comparable: a fixed monthly management fee, a labor-rate card, a subcontractor markup percentage (state it — an undisclosed markup is where margins hide), and a separate line for project and after-hours work. Ask for the annual total and the components, so a low headline fee with a high markup can’t disguise itself.

5. Insurance, licensing, and compliance. General liability and workers’ comp minimums, additional-insured requirements, and the trade licenses relevant to your building. In the DMV, be specific about which regulated work (electrical, fire/life-safety, elevators, backflow) must be performed by licensed specialists — for both compliance and honest bid comparison.

6. Transition plan. How the incoming vendor will take over without a service gap: knowledge transfer, vendor and warranty assignment, the first PM cycle, and how existing open work orders get resolved. A weak transition answer is a real risk signal.

7. Evaluation criteria. Publish the weighting before bids open. A defensible default: capability and staffing, price, service model fit, references, and technology/reporting. The template includes a scoring matrix so the award survives scrutiny — useful whether you answer to a board, an owner, or an investment committee.

Two things people leave out

A mandatory site walk. Put a date in the RFP and require attendance. It filters out vendors who won’t invest an afternoon before signing a year-long contract, and it kills the “we didn’t know about that” change order.

A reporting and technology ask. How will you actually see what’s happening in your building each month? Ask what the reporting looks like, whether you get portal access, and how work orders and asset history are documented. A vendor who can only send a PDF summary is a different proposition from one who gives you a live record you can audit — and that difference is worth scoring.

After the bids come in

Score against your published criteria, not the headline price. Check references with pointed questions — response time on emergencies, how change orders were handled, what the transition was like. Then interview the top two, because you’re hiring a team you’ll talk to every week, and fit is real. If you want the longer walk-through of running the process, the companion guide covers it end to end; this template is the document you actually send.