Glossary

Terms around cleaning and building maintenance.

The most important terms explained briefly and clearly - from CAFM through performance values to maintenance planning.

CAFM
Computer-Aided Facility Management, i.e. computer-supported building management. Software that supports the administration, calculation and planning of buildings. More on this: What is CAFM software?
Facility Management (FM)
The discipline around the operation and maintenance of properties - cleaning, servicing, areas, costs. CAFM is the digital tool for it.
Cleaning calculation
The systematic calculation of the cleaning workload from area, performance value and interval - objective instead of estimated. More on this: Cleaning calculation explained.
Workforce calculation
The conversion of the calculated cleaning effort into a staffing requirement, expressed in FTE percentages. More on this: Workforce calculation.
Performance value
The area that can be cleaned per hour for a given activity and floor covering. The basic figure of every calculation.
Interval
The frequency of a cleaning - daily, weekly, seasonal or annual.
Operating weeks
The number of weeks per year in which cleaning actually takes place. It directly affects the annual effort.
Maintenance cleaning
The regular, recurring cleaning in everyday operations. It accounts for the largest part of the ongoing effort.
Interim cleaning
A refresh of more heavily used areas between maintenance and deep cleaning.
Deep cleaning
The thorough deep cleaning at large intervals, usually once or twice a year. More on this: The cleaning types compared.
Workload / workloads
The cleaning effort translated into FTE percentages, distributed across teams and people.
Maintenance planning
The forward-looking planning of recurring maintenance work to prevent damage and preserve value. More on this: Maintenance planning for public buildings.
Route planning
The planning of who looks after which properties on which days and on which route.
Asset inventory
The structured recording of all buildings, floors, rooms and outdoor areas - the basis for everything else. More on this: Area recording as the basis.
Multi-tenancy
The ability of a software to manage several customers or organisations separately and securely in one system.
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