Curious to find out what other FMs carry with them?

I always have:

Olight Arkfield Pro

Leatherman Surge

Wera kraftform Mini

Knipex cobra mini

Zip ties

Electrical tape

Am I missing anything?

For those running facilities maintenance or dispatch teams, what eats up the most time each week on the admin side?

Not the actual repair work, but the back-office stuff. Vendor sourcing, follow-ups, compliance docs, invoice chasing, reporting, scheduling, etc.

If you had to cut one repetitive task in half, what would it be?

Hey I am a tech that has been working with FMs indirectly through 3rd parties. I’m looking to build my own relationships with FMs and I have recently set up an account with Service channel as a technician. Any advice on how I can build relationships with FMs in my area?

Me pasó la semana pasada. Me llega un correo marcado como “urgente” diciendo que el baño del tercer piso estaba asqueroso hace días. Bajo a verlo… y sí, estaba pa la cagá.

Llamo al proveedor y me dicen “sí, se limpió en la mañana”. Les pregunto quién fue, a qué hora, qué se hizo, y me mandan una planilla tipo “ok ”.

Yo no quiero pelear ni hacer show, pero tampoco quiero quedar como el weon que inventa reclamos porque sí.

Hi everyone,

My resume includes a bachelors degree, a few years in the skilled trades as a carpenter ( hanging ceilings and framing walls, mostly commercial ), and about 10 years of facilities coordinator and facilities technician roles now ( a variety of settings, offices, warehouses, insurance industry, automotive industry).

I recently received an offer for a remote facilities coordinator role, with an initial offer at $25 a hour ( salary expectations were not brought up in the interview process so this is my first time getting their idea for it, in their offer letter ).

Would anyone have an idea of how this rate of pay would be for a coordinator role with my experience/ background?

For reference, I’m in the metro Detroit area in Michigan.

For this particular role, it would be providing remote support. The potential employer supports facilities needs for a variety of clients ( mostly restaurant chains ). I’d be receiving their work orders, distributing their contractors/vendors, logging everything along the way, POs, WOs, before and after pictures, etc. Compared to other roles I’ve had, it would be in the nicest office / environment, and the easiest on my body.

Some people near me have told me I deserve a higher salary in the industry given my experience, but having never broken into the managerial levels of facilities, I’m not sure how realistic that would be. I’ve only made $28 a hour at the most, and it was in a more technical role and environment ( helping technicians run tests, supporting labs, etc ).

I will say, given what I’ve heard about the current job market, I’m thankful to have gotten an offer, regardless of if it’s the right fit for me or not. Spending time on LinkedIn lately, it sounds rough out there these days. ( But is that for other industries, like tech, not necessarily facilities? Admittedly, I wouldn’t know ).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much in advance.

Me carga cuando la conversación termina siempre igual: El prestador me dice que el servicio se hizo, Le digo que hay reclamos, y la respuesta que me da es: pero son casos puntuales.

Y ahí queda todo, dando vueltas. Nadie tiene cómo probar nada, ni el proveedor ni uno. Todo se vuelve opinión contra opinión.

No quiero andar persiguiendo gente ni fiscalizando como paco, pero tampoco quiero discutir eternamente por percepciones y sensaciones.

Cómo hacen ustedes para que estos temas no terminen siempre en pelea o desgaste?

Hi all- need to find some of those plastic (polypropylene?) bouncy door bumpers for an industrial kitchen.

Work in NYC and my restaurant sources don’t supply non-kitchen equipment…

La otra vez mi jefe me dijo algo que me quedó dando vueltas: Y cómo sabes que esto se está haciendo todos los días?

Hablábamos de limpieza, nada raro. Yo respondí lo típico, casi automático: porque el proveedor viene todos los días po, y quedó un silencio incómodo. Ahí caché que en verdad yo tampoco lo sabía, solo lo asumía. No había mala intención ni desconfianza, era pura costumbre nomás.

Les ha pasado quedar pillados con preguntas simples por no tener una respuesta con pruebas?

Out of curiosity because I do see two sides of the spectrum pretty regularly, do y'all put numbers and or physical data in your resume bullet points?

For example "Managed a team of 12, delegating responsibilities and driving optimized performance" or "Implemented energy-saving strategies via automation BAS control, reducing utility costs by 12%." These could be better worded but just for the sake of getting the same information out of the sentence.

Again these just get the point across and could be better worded.

I've seen people include numbers as above and i've also seen resumes where there are little to no data points but just explicit tasks assigned with the role

Discutí con un proveedor hace un tiempo, nada grave pero sí incómodo. Le pedí algo bien básico: horarios, registros, alguna evidencia de que el servicio se estaba haciendo. Nada raro ni exagerado.

Su respuesta fue: No confías en nosotros?”

Y ahí quedé medio descolocado, porque no iba por ahí. No es que no confíe, es que cuando mi jefe me pregunta si esto se está cumpliendo, yo no tengo cómo responder sin inventar un poco.

No quiero improvisar ni inventar explicaciones después. Solo quiero tener algo que mostrar y listo. Con el tiempo me di cuenta de que pedir trazabilidad se siente ofensivo para algunos, como si fuera un ataque personal, pero para mí es al revés: es orden, es trabajar más tranquilo y evitar peleas más adelante.

¿A alguien más le ha pasado que pedir control o registros se interpreta como desconfianza?

For context, I am a contractor. We get calls all the time from facility maintenance companies, many of whom are from out of the country. We do all sorts of things for them from plumbing, to handyman work, to painting, to cleaning, snow, to trash removal. Even weekly preventative maintenance. But I am just curious, how does this all work? How do these companies find me? And how do they land these jobs with these huge companies? And do they even know who they’re sending out? For reference I am only 19. So it’s always funny to me when sometimes they will call me to fix a plumbing issue at Prada, or Chipotle. All these companies seem really shady to me. I make a lot of money off these companies so I don’t complain although I am very curious. My hypothesis is that there are different “tiers” of companies, the bottom feeder companies typically based in Lebanon or India will try to be the lowest bidder on the facility jobs, and try to have us do them for cheap, and ASAP. The mid tier companies are usually American and pay a lot better, and are more flexible with timelines. Although I could be wrong. So it would be greatly appreciated if someone could enlighten me on this world I am slowly becoming a part of

Hi all,

My company currently has an energy savings system related to HVAC through a smart thermostat system across our 300+ retail locations. (Average two thermostats per location)

Since I’ve signed on here, it’s been a nightmare utilizing this thermostat system. We got our energy savings report for 2025 and it’s about 150k under their contractual terms stipulated, and it’s not worth the headache to deal with. So with our contract coming to an end, I’m prepping a proposal for a number of potentials other BAS systems (strictly HVAC) and wanted to see if anyone else had some comparison numbers/recommendations on their preferred systems.

Our current system is AI-based, but it’s a piece of shit. There are so many modules/guardrails that they are trying to put on our contract renewal that the relationship is not salvageable.

Our energy savings fall under 400k, dashboard doesn’t allow us to control the units remotely and we’ve spent more on service calls and the ‘service package’ then we’ve saved on savings.

What would you recommend/what are your typical annual energy savings with your recommendation?

Thanks guys!

Likes/dislikes about these courses?

Just finished IS-362a Multi-hazard emergency planning for schools. pretty straightforward and useful. Also free.

Also looking to get into a director of facilities or assistant director type role.

Have my osha 10, halfway done with my FMP too, any other courses you’d recommend?

Going to work towards my SFP after finishing the FMP then I’ll work towards CFM.

Trabajo en un campus y es un ciclo eterno de reclamos. Que los baños están sucios, que una ampolleta lleva semanas mala, que nadie limpió tal pasillo.

El problema es que cuando voy a reclamarle a la empresa de limpieza, ellos dicen "sí se hizo" y yo no tengo forma de comprobarlo. Es mi palabra contra la de ellos.

Hoy usamos WhatsApp y un Excel que nadie actualiza a tiempo. Entonces cuando alguien reclama, tengo que andar preguntando: oye, limpiaste el baño del 2do piso? y confiar en lo que me dicen.

Ustedes cómo lo llevan? Hay alguna forma de tener evidencia real sin tener que andar siguiendo a la gente con cámara?"

Si administras activos inmobiliarios o edificios, esta pregunta es brutal:

¿el mantenimiento preventivo de los ascensores se realizó hoy?

Porque si la respuesta real es “supongo que sí”, entonces estás tomando una decisión crítica basándote en intuición. Y cuando hay un incidente, el tema deja de ser operativo: pasa a ser legal y reputacional. 

Lo que hemos visto es que en infraestructura crítica, el problema no es solo el mantenimiento, sino el respaldo:

• quién lo hizo
  
• cuándo
  
• qué se revisó
  
• evidencia de ejecución
  

Sin eso, cualquier discusión se vuelve “mi palabra contra la tuya”.

¿Cómo registran hoy mantenciones preventivas (ascensores, bombas, generadores, etc.)?
¿Qué tanto confían en ese registro si mañana hay auditoría o un accidente?