CFM study guide
CFM · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Certified Facility Manager (CFM) is a professional credential offered by the International Facility Management Association (IFMA), the organization that describes itself as the world's largest and most widely recognized international association for facility management professionals. The CFM sits alongside IFMA's other credentials, the Facility Management Professional (FMP) and the Sustainability Facility Professional (SFP), and is listed by IFMA as one of its three professional development credentials. The CFM study guide has 11 sections and about 3,502 words.
01Operations and Maintenance
The Operations and Maintenance domain tests whether you can pick a maintenance strategy per asset, run a work-control system people actually use, and report performance with metrics that mean something. Run-to-failure is legitimate only where failure is non-critical, cheap, and carries no safety, regulatory, or revenue consequence.
312 words, about 2 min02Project Management
This domain tests the mechanics of scope, schedule, and cost control on facility projects: moves, fit-outs, equipment replacement, and capital works. A charter states objective, sponsor, scope boundary, success criteria, and constraints.
323 words, about 2 min03Finance and Business
The Finance and Business domain tests budget construction, capital justification, cost benchmarking, and the language used to defend facility spend to finance. Operating budget items recur and are expensed in-year: utilities, janitorial, repairs, staff.
328 words, about 2 min04Leadership and Strategy
This domain tests how facility strategy is derived from organizational strategy, prioritised, governed, and measured. Start with the business drivers (growth, cost, talent, risk, sustainability), translate them into facility implications, then into initiatives.
308 words, about 2 min05Human Factors
Human Factors tests the link between the built environment and occupant comfort, health, safety, and performance, and how to measure that link. Thermal comfort is a range, not a setpoint: it depends on air temperature, mean radiant temperature, humidity, air speed, clothing, and activity level.
316 words, about 2 min06Communication
This domain tests structuring messages for different audiences, selecting channels deliberately, and maintaining formal communication discipline in projects and incidents. Executives get the conclusion first, one page, with options and cost.
316 words, about 2 min07Quality
Quality tests whether you can distinguish prevention from inspection, apply a recognised improvement framework, and find root cause instead of blame. Quality assurance designs the process so defects do not occur: procedures, specifications, training, audits.
302 words, about 2 min08Real Estate and Property Management
This domain tests portfolio decisions, lease economics, space measurement, and the boundary between property management and facility management. A gross lease has the landlord paying operating costs, so rent is all-in.
326 words, about 2 min09Technology
Technology tests system selection, integration, data quality, and operational technology security in the facility context. A CMMS holds assets, work orders, preventive schedules, and inventory.
323 words, about 2 min10Sustainability
Sustainability tests whether you can frame environmental performance in cost, risk, and reporting terms, and support claims with a measurement baseline. The triple bottom line covers economic, environmental, and social performance.
327 words, about 2 min11Emergency Preparedness and Business Continuity
This domain tests risk assessment, life-safety response planning, business impact analysis, recovery strategy, and exercising. Risk equals likelihood multiplied by impact; build a register and treat the highest items.
321 words, about 2 min