What is CAFM software? Definition, benefits and distinction
CAFM is a term that comes up often in facility management but is rarely clearly explained. This article clears things up: what's behind the abbreviation, what does CAFM software do and how does it differ from classic facility management?
What does CAFM mean?
CAFM stands for Computer-Aided Facility Management, in plain terms computer-aided building management. It refers to software that supports the administration, planning and management of buildings and facilities. Instead of keeping information on paper and in scattered Excel spreadsheets, CAFM software brings the relevant data together in one place.
The abbreviation is borrowed from the family of English "Computer-Aided" terms, which also includes CAD for computer-aided drawing. CAFM came about in the 1980s, when floor plans first became available digitally and people began to attach additional information to the drawing: room number, use, floor covering, area. Over the years, the drawing with additional data became a database in which the building is represented as a structure. Today the plan is only one of several views of the same data.
Important for understanding this: CAFM is not a protected product designation and not a standardised set of functions. The term describes a category. Two solutions that both call themselves CAFM can have very different focuses, one on technical plant, another on cleaning and maintenance. Anyone looking for software should therefore never decide on the term alone, but on the tasks that actually arise. You will find a short overview of the term in the glossary entry on CAFM.
CAFM and facility management: the difference
Facility Management (FM) is the discipline, i.e. everything involved in the operation and maintenance of properties: cleaning, servicing, security, areas, costs. CAFM is the digital tool that supports this management. In short: FM is the task, CAFM is the software for it.
From this follows an insight that is often missing in practice: software does not resolve unclear responsibilities. If nobody has decided how often a school corridor should be cleaned, even the best software will not answer that question. But it makes the question visible, calculates the consequences of each variant and records the decision. That is exactly where the value lies: CAFM turns assumptions into verifiable figures. More on the discipline itself can be found in the glossary entry on facility management.
Distinction from related terms
In discussions with administrations, systems regularly come up that are confused with CAFM. The distinction is worth making, because otherwise you invest twice or expect the wrong thing.
Building management systems
A building management system controls and monitors plant in real time: heating, ventilation, lighting, access. It works with measured values in seconds and minutes and intervenes in operations. CAFM, by contrast, works with master data and planning figures over weeks, months and years. The two systems complement each other: the management system reports a fault, CAFM organises who fixes it and what it costs.
ERP and finance software
An ERP or finance solution handles accounting, accounts payable, payroll and procurement. It knows which amount was posted to which account, but not which area and which service the amount relates to. CAFM supplies these reference figures: square metres, hours, FTE percentages, frequencies. Only together do they produce a cost calculation that you can explain to a committee.
Ticketing system
A ticketing system takes in reports and tracks how they are handled. That is part of CAFM, but only one part. A pure ticketing system does not know the asset inventory, does not calculate workloads and does not produce annual planning. Anyone who only wants to organise reports does not need CAFM. Anyone who wants to know whether the maintenance effort of a property is within the normal range needs more than tickets.
Property management
Software for property management revolves around tenancies, service charge statements and income. It views the building as an investment asset. CAFM views the same building as an operational asset: how much work does it cause, who does it, when and at what cost. Municipalities and institutions that use their properties themselves need above all the second view.
What CAFM software does
The range of functions varies by solution and focus. In the area of cleaning and maintenance of public infrastructure, these typically include:
- Recording of areas and asset inventory.
- Objective calculation of cleaning and maintenance needs.
- Planning of workloads, routes and maintenance.
- Creation of quotes and reports.
- Task and defect management.
The following overview shows these areas of responsibility along the six easyCAFM modules and names in each case who works with them in a municipality or a cleaning company. The order is not random: each area builds on the data of the previous one.
| Area of responsibility | What CAFM software does | Who works with it |
|---|---|---|
| Objects & areas | Record buildings, floors, rooms and outdoor areas in a structured way; capture area, use, floor covering and equipment for each room; store plans and derive areas from them. | Caretaking, property management, external survey |
| Cleaning calculation | Calculate the time required per room from area, covering, use and frequency, based on standard values instead of estimates; calculate and compare variants. | Administration, calculation, quotation office |
| Workloads & allocation | Convert the calculated time required into FTE percentages and distribute it across people or teams; make over- and under-coverage visible. | Caretaking, team management, HR department |
| Route & annual planning | Create weekly schedules and routes, take holidays and school weeks into account, spread deep and routine cleaning over the year. | Caretaking, site management |
| Quotes & reports | Generate specifications, quotes and reports from the same calculation; show costs per property, building and room. | Administration, committees, cleaning companies |
| Tasks & notifications | Record, assign and track defects and jobs on the move; plan recurring work as a series. | Caretaking, teaching staff, users, administration |
Why CAFM pays off
The benefit comes from consistency and traceability: everyone works with the same, up-to-date data. Costs become justifiable, planning becomes reliable and discussions about perceived effort become unnecessary. For the public sector in particular, which has to justify its spending, this is a decisive advantage.
Comparability is a further benefit. As soon as several properties are recorded and calculated with the same method, one can be measured against the other. Figures such as a property's cleaning hours, FTE percentages or annual costs then become meaningful, because the same rules apply everywhere behind them.
Such a comparison is not a verdict. It only shows whether a property lies within the expected range. If it deviates, the calculation supplies the reason: a demanding floor structure, high frequencies, many wet areas, outdoor areas.
Excel and paper versus CAFM software
Many municipalities still manage their maintenance in spreadsheets and folders. That is not a reproach but a solution that has grown over time and carried them a long way. What is interesting is where it reaches its limits.
| Criterion | Excel and paper | CAFM software |
|---|---|---|
| Currency of the data | Several file versions in circulation; unclear which one applies. Conversions are often added only months later. | One set of data that everyone sees. A change takes effect immediately in the calculation, the workload and the plan. |
| Traceability | Formulas and surcharges have grown historically; only the person who set a figure knows why it is so high. | Every value can be traced back to area, covering, frequency and standard value. It is documented in the report. |
| Comparability across properties | Every spreadsheet is built differently; key figures cannot be placed side by side cleanly. | All objects follow the same method; evaluation across the entire portfolio at the click of a button. |
| Access by several people | The file is locked or gets copied; working in parallel leads to diverging versions. | Several people work at the same time, with roles and rights per task. |
| Succession when staff change | Knowledge leaves with the person; a successor effectively starts from scratch. | Structure, values and justifications stay in the system and are documented legibly. |
| Effort for reports | Figures are gathered manually for every budget round, usually over several days. | Reports are stored and available at any time, for individual objects or for the entire portfolio. |
The difference is less the computing power than the structure. A spreadsheet holds figures, a CAFM system holds relationships. That is why a question such as "What happens to the workload if the gym is used on Saturdays in future?" can be answered in minutes in the system, while in spreadsheets it triggers a recalculation by hand.
Example: what a municipality does differently with CAFM
A municipality operates a school building with 3,000 m² of cleaning area. Until now, cleaning was managed in a spreadsheet that a consultant had created years ago; the caretaker workload had grown historically and nobody could say how it came about. Recording it in easyCAFM produces a different picture.
The areas are recorded room by room with covering and use. The calculation runs over 39 school weeks and gives around 2,300 cleaning hours per year. Added to this are the other caretaking services, which bring caretaking to 3,250 hours in total. Based on the net annual working time of a full-time position of 1,840 hours, that is 177 FTE percent. At internal full costs of 45 CHF per hour, the 2,300 cleaning hours alone cost 103,500 CHF a year.
With Excel, the discussion used to end with the sentence "we need about one and a half positions". Now there is a figure on the table that can be traced back to the individual room. When the municipality later decides on additional evening use, the frequency is adjusted in the module. The additional hours including FTE percent and cost consequences are established immediately. The justification for the budget then practically writes itself.
Selection criteria for municipalities and institutions
Anyone evaluating a CAFM solution is best advised to compare not feature lists but the fit with their own situation. For municipalities, schools, care homes and works yards in Switzerland, seven criteria have proven decisive.
- Swiss standard values. Does the software calculate with performance values that match local conditions and wages? Values from other countries systematically lead to incorrect workloads. The standard values in easyCAFM come from over 17,000 calculations by toolsuisse AG, which has been producing workforce calculations in Switzerland since 2004. The glossary explains exactly what a Standard value actually is.
- Data storage in Switzerland. Where is the data held and which law governs it? For public clients this is often a requirement, not a preference. Development, operation and data storage of easyCAFM take place in Switzerland, in compliance with the Swiss Data Protection Act.
- Multi-tenancy. Can several organisational units work separately and still be evaluated together? This is relevant for municipal associations, special-purpose associations and for service providers with several clients. See Multi-tenancy.
- Languages. In multilingual cantons and in organisations with international staff, the interface must be available in the language of the people using it. easyCAFM is available in all national languages.
- Mobile use. Areas, defects and feedback arise in the building, not at the desk. A solution that runs in the browser on a mobile device saves duplicate recording.
- Data migration. Can existing calculations, area lists and plans be taken over, or does everything start again from scratch? The answer largely determines the effort of introduction.
- Support during introduction. Who records the first objects with you and trains the team? Software alone does not change a way of working. More about the origin of the solution can be found on the page About us.
An eighth point is often underestimated: the scope. A solution that can do everything overwhelms small teams. For the maintenance of municipal properties, what counts is that areas, calculation, workloads, planning, reports and notifications are connected, not that locking systems and vehicle fleets are covered as well. Which areas work together is shown in the overview of the complete solution.
FAQ
Do we need CAFM with only a few buildings?
The benefit depends less on the number of buildings than on whether you have to justify your costs. Even with two or three properties, a traceable calculation pays off as soon as workloads are set, budgets applied for or services put out to tender. Conversely: if you only want to bring order to notifications, start with tasks and notifications and expand later.
Does CAFM replace our financial software?
No. CAFM supplies the basis of quantities and services, the financial software posts the amounts. Both systems continue to exist side by side. The gain is that budget items can now be traced back to areas, hours and FTE percentages instead of to previous-year figures.
How accurate are the calculated values?
The calculation is as accurate as the area recording behind it. Properly recorded areas with covering and use produce values that hold up in practice; roughly estimated areas produce roughly estimated results. That is why every introduction starts with area recording for the cleaning calculation.
Is CAFM only for the public sector?
No. The same calculation logic serves cleaning companies when quoting and managing their sites. The difference lies in the perspective: the public sector wants to justify costs, the service provider wants to calculate and win. See the pages for public institutions and for Cleaning companies.
Conclusion
CAFM software makes facility management digital, consistent and traceable. It is not control technology, not accounting and not a pure ticketing system, but the system that brings areas, services, times and costs into a verifiable relationship. Decisive in the selection are standard values that suit Switzerland, data storage within the country, multilingualism, mobile use and realistic data migration.
easyCAFM is one such solution, focused on the cleaning and maintenance of public infrastructure, from area recording through to the quote. If you want to go deeper, you will find the calculation method in the article Cleaning calculation explained and further answers in the frequently asked questions.
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