Managing multiple buildings is complicated enough. Managing multiple maintenance suppliers shouldn’t have to be.
For businesses operating across several locations, facilities management can quickly become a balancing act between cost, compliance, consistency and keeping buildings operational.
One site might have a fantastic local provider. Another might struggle to get anyone through the door. Meanwhile, your internal team is juggling invoices, chasing updates, reviewing compliance records and trying to understand where the maintenance budget is going.
It’s often at this point that businesses consider outsourcing to a national facilities management provider.
But how do you choose the right one?
The biggest name, the lowest price or the longest list of services doesn’t necessarily mean the best fit. Before signing a contract, here are ten questions worth asking.
The ten questions
1. Can they genuinely deliver across all your locations?
National coverage is easy to advertise. Consistent national delivery is another matter.
A provider might have excellent supply-chain relationships in London but limited coverage in other regions. That can lead to longer response times, inconsistent pricing and variable service quality.
Ask how they manage their supply chain, particularly in harder-to-reach locations.
Questions worth asking
Do you have established supply-chain partners covering all our sites?
How do you vet, onboard and monitor your supply-chain partners?
What happens when your preferred partner is unavailable?
How do you maintain consistent service standards nationally?
A strong provider should be able to explain how their coverage works, not simply show you a map of the UK.
2. Who will actually manage our account?
This is one of the most important questions, yet it’s surprisingly easy to overlook.
During procurement, you’ll probably speak with experienced salespeople and senior leaders. Once the contract starts, however, who will be responsible for making sure things actually happen?
Will you have a dedicated contact? Will your helpdesk understand your buildings? Will somebody take ownership when a job goes wrong?
Technology can streamline FM, but accountability still matters. Look for a provider that combines efficient systems with people who know your business and take responsibility for delivering the service.
3. How do you manage reactive maintenance?
Reactive maintenance is inevitable. Even the best-maintained buildings experience unexpected failures. The difference is how those failures are managed.
Consider what happens when a heating system fails, a water leak develops or an electrical issue disrupts operations.
Questions worth asking
How are jobs reported and prioritised?
Is support available outside normal working hours?
What response times can you commit to?
How are emergencies escalated?
How will we know when an engineer has attended and the issue is resolved?
Importantly, establish the difference between an attendance target and a resolution target. An engineer arriving within four hours doesn’t necessarily mean your problem will be fixed within four hours.
Clear expectations at the outset prevent difficult conversations later.
4. What is your approach to planned preventative maintenance?
A good FM provider shouldn’t only appear when something breaks. Planned preventative maintenance (PPM) helps businesses manage asset condition, reduce avoidable failures and meet applicable maintenance and compliance requirements.
Ask how your provider develops maintenance schedules, manages statutory inspections and monitors completion.
Do they understand your asset register? Can they identify missing information? Will they highlight recurring problems or opportunities to improve your maintenance strategy?
If your business doesn’t have a complete asset register, that’s worth discussing too. After all, you can’t manage what you don’t know.
A capable provider should help you understand what needs maintaining, when and why, rather than simply scheduling visits without questioning the underlying information.
5. How will we know what is happening across our estate?
One of the biggest frustrations in outsourced FM is the lack of visibility. Jobs get raised, engineers attend and invoices arrive. But getting a clear picture of performance across an entire portfolio can be surprisingly difficult.
Ask what reporting and system access you’ll receive. Can you see open jobs, outstanding quotations, maintenance expenditure and compliance status? Can you identify repeat failures or sites generating unusually high costs? (Our partnership with Heyfixit is one example of how technology can help with this.)
And, crucially, will the information be useful? A dashboard full of numbers is only valuable if it helps you make better decisions. Good reporting should give you clarity, not another administrative task.
6. How transparent is the pricing?
Facilities management pricing can vary significantly between providers. Some operate on a fixed management fee, others apply a percentage markup to supply-chain costs, and some use a combination of both.
None of these models is automatically right or wrong. What matters is understanding exactly what you’re paying for. (You can see how we approach it on our pricing page section.)
Questions worth asking
Is there a fixed management fee?
Are supply-chain costs marked up?
Are emergency and out-of-hours works priced differently?
Are there minimum charges or additional administration fees?
What services are included in the management fee?
How are variations and additional works approved?
A transparent commercial model should make it easy to understand both the cost of maintaining your buildings and the cost of managing the service.
Not sure how your current arrangement compares? Talk to us about your estate and we’ll talk it through with you.
7. How do you manage compliance and the competence of your supply chain?
Compliance shouldn’t become a box-ticking exercise. Depending on your buildings and assets, maintenance obligations may involve electrical systems, gas installations, water hygiene, fire safety equipment and other specialist services.
Your FM provider needs a clear process for ensuring suitably competent supply-chain partners are appointed and relevant documentation is maintained. Ask how qualifications, insurance, training and certification are checked, and find out what happens when documents expire or a statutory inspection identifies remedial works.
Appointing an FM provider doesn’t necessarily remove your organisation’s own responsibilities, so it’s worth being clear about what stays with you and what the provider will manage.
You need a partner who understands the importance of maintaining a clear, auditable record of what has been completed, what remains outstanding and who is responsible.
8. Can your systems work with ours?
Changing FM providers shouldn’t automatically mean replacing every system your business already uses. Some organisations have established CAFM platforms, internal reporting processes or financial systems that need to remain in place.
Ask whether a prospective provider can work within your existing arrangements, integrate where technically possible or offer a suitable alternative. Consider how information will move between systems, how updates will be communicated and who owns the data.
The goal should be less administration and better visibility, not technology for technology’s sake.
9. How will you manage mobilisation?
Even a brilliant FM proposal can fall apart without a well-managed mobilisation. Transferring responsibility for multiple buildings involves far more than agreeing a start date.
Asset information, supply-chain arrangements, statutory maintenance schedules, open jobs, access requirements, emergency procedures and stakeholder communications all need consideration.
Ask to see a proposed mobilisation plan. Who will lead it? What information will you need to provide? How will service continuity be protected?
A good provider should be asking you plenty of questions too. If they’re promising a completely seamless transition without first understanding your estate, it’s worth exploring how they intend to achieve that.
10. Will they challenge us when something could be better?
The best FM relationships shouldn’t revolve around simply processing jobs. A good provider should be willing to identify recurring issues, question unnecessary expenditure, highlight operational risks and suggest improvements.
That might mean recommending a different maintenance approach, reviewing underperforming assets or identifying opportunities to reduce administrative workload.
You want a partner who understands the bigger picture: someone who can explain not only what happened, but why it happened and what could be done differently next time.
Because good facilities management isn’t just about keeping buildings running today. It’s about making them easier, safer and more cost-effective to manage tomorrow.
Choosing the right fit for your business
There isn’t one facilities management model that suits every organisation. Some businesses need a fully outsourced solution. Others already have an experienced estates team and simply need a reliable partner to coordinate maintenance delivery.
The right approach depends on your portfolio, internal resources, operational priorities and budget. Before appointing a provider, be clear about what you want to improve.
Is it response times? Compliance visibility? Supply-chain management? Cost control? Or simply reducing the amount of time your team spends chasing maintenance jobs? Once you understand the problem you’re trying to solve, it becomes much easier to identify the right partner.
A different approach to facilities management
At Theia FM, we believe facilities management should be straightforward, transparent and personal.
We support businesses with hard FM services, reactive maintenance, planned maintenance and coordinated service delivery across UK property portfolios. Our approach combines experienced FM leadership, a managed supply chain and technology designed to improve visibility and reduce unnecessary administration. We also offer interim and fractional FM support where it helps.
We recognise that no two organisations operate in quite the same way, which is why we focus on understanding your existing arrangements before recommending a solution. Whether you’re reviewing your current FM contract, expanding your property portfolio or looking for a more responsive maintenance partner, it starts with a conversation.
Considering a new FM provider?
Let’s talk about your buildings, your challenges and what better facilities management could look like. Get in touch with Theia FM.
About the author
Christy Smith is the founder of Theia FM, with more than 15 years of experience in facilities management, from starting on an FM helpdesk to progressing into senior leadership. Read more about Christy and Theia.