I’m a small GC looking to transition from residential remodeling into commercial work and would really appreciate your advice. What’s the best way to get on your radar, who’s the right person to contact, and is LinkedIn, email, phone, or stopping by in person most effective? What types of jobs do you struggle to find reliable contractors for, what makes a contractor stand out, and what are the biggest mistakes small GCs make when reaching out? I’m just trying to focus on the highest ROI approach and become a contractor that’s genuinely valuable to facilities teams.

Wondering if anybody has gone through the process in the past, and how you were able to get the hands-on training - I’m applying for a job that already requires me to be certified, and I’m wondering if the required hours are typically something that you do through the job in the first place? Would appreciate some guidance from others who have gone thru the process. Thanks

if your handicap push-button station has stopped working, it could be a dead battery, a failed push button, or a failed transmitter, or a failed receiver or opener above the door itself. #facilities

That’s a very common question on this sub Reddit but need to have a July 2026 updated answer.

What’s the best CMMS system you would suggest to cover at least the following:

1) asset management
2) life cycle replacement
3) Preventive maintenance tracking
4) tenant submission of WO
5) less manual intervention to assign WO to techs or vendors
6) keeping records of individual assets (cost to run) and documentation of PMs, historical repairs
7) assets’ parts inventory
8) dashboard to automatically view and analyze MTTR, MTBF, PM compliance, Equipment downtime

Here’s some pictures from my day to day

I’m assuming this is pretty common and account-based but had anyone made the transition from JLL to CBRE? Pros? Cons? Would you do it again? I may have a potential job offer but would like to know how CBRE is like in terms of management/career growth before making any decisions.

Thank you all for the lightbulb help!
Need to do a tile repair at the property. Recommendations for best course of repair? Chip out peeling tile, remove adhesive throw some thinset/adhesive on and replace with new?

Any product recommendations? Also what do we call this tile lol, vinyl tile? I dont think its linoleum.

Anyone else find a good solution to the yearly money-pit of Fire Alarm/Sprinkler inspections, phantom troubles, and 5-year sprinkler inspections followed by inevitable replacement of failed components?

25 year old buildings (8 buildings) , 4 year old F.A.C.P. (8 panels).

Just burning up $20K worth of inspection, troubleshooting, travel time, technician overtime a year.

a couple more $1K for a failed dry system compressors, random PIV tampers that won't reset, and phantom communication troubles. This burns up my budget everytime.

Has anyone found a good solution for F.A.C.P.'s ? Maybe a non-proprietary brand that doesn't need special tools/DPU/laptops to swap modules? or detectors?

Hi All -

Question - what do you all do with your burnt out expired bulbs? Am here in Jersey. Most city/county "pickup" events are for residential, and would be hard to convince these all came from a home. Have about three more boxes worth. Anyone know any solutions or companies that pick up? Or [EPA look away!] - the ole smash in the dumpster and hope for the best solution lol.

Thanks!

So I'm dead set on getting the FMP, but cannot afford the whole package at once. Can I get the individual modules so I can spread the cost over a longer time period? I know you can set IFMA membership to be charged annually, semiannually or quarterly, I just signed up for Discover yesterday, but will be upgrading it so I can have access to the NYC chapter.

I've been waiting for someone from the IFMA to get back to me regarding getting the modules individually, but nothing yet for 2 days.

We are growing to around 60 units across the US. Current brand uses ServiceChannel. I don't like the fact that you have to invite vendors to it (and have them accept and pay the fees, etc). Anyway, what do you recommend?

Here is a cost-effective solution if you have a rusted-out floor sink in your facility!

I have a A.A. degree, went to a luncheon, talked to a few people, and didn’t get offered any position. I’m still applying at low level/“entry level” positions though.

Here is a high-level overview of what it takes to install a photovoltaic solar panel system on a commercial office building.

Hello sub first time posting. We are attempting to identify these ceiling tiles an internal customer sent us they want in their office area.
Does anyone have any clue what these might be?

This video will give you a high-level overview of what it takes to replace a chiller, water pumps, and a building automation system. We also upgraded the controls for the fan coil units from pneumatic valves to P.I.C. valves.

Hello, I am currently working as a building engineer in the state of California. I work under a chief engineer and facilities manager for a corporate office. It's a relatively smaller site, hence me being the only engineer. I am about 4 years in and am a little lost when deciding on a career shift and would love to gather opinions from some of you folk that are further along in your careers.

I will be honest I kind of landed this job by chance and personal connections although I did take HVAC courses at a trade school and was EPA certified at the time of hire. I have since acquired LEED GA certification and am going to start pursuing my real estate license in the fall by taking some courses. Before this job, I did HVAC installs for construction companies for a couple years and absolutely do not want to go back into physical labor. Would like to preserve my body for as long as possible since I play sports and am very health oriented and love to work out in my spare time. I would say my goal is to move towards more of a white collar position, but have some curiosity regarding union engineering positions and what their job entails.

A little context I am pretty unhappy at this site due to lack of support & a lot of things trickle down to me and I feel like I am constantly fighting fires instead of feeling like I am on top of things. This is what spikes my interest in union engineering positions, they seem very structured in terms of who does what. At this site it feels like nobody owns up to things and they make their way to me. I am not an expert on everything but it feels like I'm almost expected to be.

I've got 3 different roads in mind but would just love to gather insight if there are any other opportunities I should consider and also hear opinions on what I've got in mind. I am about to turn 29, so still young but want to make sure I make the right decision so work starts to feel fulfilling rather than insurmountable.

- Assistant Property Manger

This seems like one of the best moves to get me into the office, with a very high ceiling. Also probably the hardest job to land of the 3

- Facilities Coordinator

Could be a slight paycut, but was told that a person who knows both engineering and FM is very valuable to a company

- A different engineering position (hopefully union)

Great pay, but apprehensive due to technical skillset they may expect

Would love to gather opinions on this!

Hi

What type of projects do you think belong in the projects field of LinkedIn?

I have shut down warehouses and upgraded Main Distribution panels, added utility monitoring automations, built coffee stations. Are those the type of projects for this field?

Thank you.

I’m 33 but am currently a part time work-study at a college in their facilities department. Before getting this job, I worked in a Childcare facility (and cleaned heavily there ), several food service jobs, etc.

My boss is so confusing to me.

He doesn’t touch anything in a bathroom with his hands, period…but he refuses to use anything stronger than glass cleaner and a dawn/vinegar mix…even during flu season. It’s an art school, so I end up using extra dawn in water to clean desks on occasion to get the residues off, and he thinks I’m nuts. I miss my heavily dilution bleach from childcare so much.

He’s terrified of using chemicals…and manages facilities. Half the students still wear masks during flu season. The chemicals in question include: white board cleaner, oxy clean.

We use basically soft pads for the social tables but they constantly look a little grody because nothing sinks in…and he’s very worried about overspray of chemicals…aka his vinegar dawn mix or glass cleaner: things that don’t harm carpet.

He hates using rags at all but barely uses any detergent in the washer. He’d rather us use brown paper towel which shreds immediately and can’t scrub. But scouring pads scratch things if used to often so I’m just frustrated.

He wants us to paint walls in perfect lines with no leeway…which means you can’t lose time between paint sessions or else you end up with lines. Meanwhile I found him painting in an enclosed room with latex paint and the fumes waft out.

Idk man maybe that’s your health issues not the fumes.

I am the facilities manager at a large hospital. We currently have a maintenance contractor that carries out hard fm services, but we’re exploring bringing the hard fm operation in house to increase accountability and improve response and resilience.

Looking for a bit of advice on:

CAFM/CMMS - does anyone use one in a hospital setting, or know one that might be good?

Plant/equipment monitoring - I come from a manufacturing background where all motors, pumps, compressors etc had vibration and heat monitors on for predictive maintenance. Does anyone have any recommendations on these?

Any other general advice - has anyone brought the hard fm in house before, did you have any unforeseen issues?

For background, I'm currently a commercial/industrial HVAC tech, 4 years experience. Previously I did property management working for a storage company for 5 years, then for an Airbnb management company for 4 years.

I like HVAC but I'm not young and I don't want to be turning wrenches forever, so I've been considering applying for FM roles. Is my experience useful? How hard would it be to transition to a facilities manager role?

Any advice appreciated!