BOMI SMA study guide
BOMI SMA · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The SMA® - Systems Maintenance Administrator - is one of the five designations BOMI (BOMA International's education arm) offers for commercial real estate professionals, and it sits on the building-engineering side of that catalog: the source lists it alongside the Systems Maintenance Technician (SMT®), Real Property Administrator (RPA®), Facilities Management Administrator (FMA®), and BOMI-HP® designations. It is aimed at people with property, facilities, and building engineer responsibilities who want a recognized mark of distinction for the technical and administrative side of running building systems. The source does not publish the SMA exam's question count, duration, passing score, fee, retake rules, or validity period, so treat any figure you hear from a third party as unverified until BOMI confirms it. Preparation follows BOMI's usual ladder: individual courses are described as highly specific and actionable, certificates (each requiring three relevant courses plus a passing exam) are positioned as a stepping stone to a designation, and the designation itself is described as a proven curriculum. The BOMI SMA study guide has 4 sections and about 1,247 words.
01Systems Maintenance: Building Systems and Maintenance Administration
A facilities manager must know how each building system fails and how its maintenance is triggered. Understand HVAC (air handling units, chillers, boilers, cooling towers, controls), electrical distribution (switchgear, panelboards, transformers, emergency generators, UPS), plumbing (domestic water, sanitary drainage, backflow prevention), fire protection (sprinklers, alarms, standpipes), elevators, and building envelope.
335 words, about 2 min02Facilities and Property Operations
Operations covers how the building is run day to day and how occupants experience it. Understand space management (allocation, chargeback, utilization), move/add/change (MAC) processes, and lease administration basics such as commencement dates, rent escalations, and operating expense pass-throughs.
294 words, about 1 min03Energy and Sustainability Management
Energy management starts with benchmarking - comparing energy use intensity (EUI) against peers, often via ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. Know EUI = annual energy use ÷ floor area (kBtu/ft² or kWh/m²).
298 words, about 1 min04Management and Administration of Maintenance Functions
This domain is about running the maintenance organization. Understand organizational models : in-house, outsourced, and hybrid, and the trade-offs in control, cost, and flexibility.
320 words, about 2 min