Before switching facilities management (FM) providers, define the outcomes and services you need, test every bid against the same evidence, and plan mobilisation, continuity, data transfer, staff responsibilities and exit before signing. Review your existing contract and the procurement, employment and data rules that apply where you operate; UK public-sector guidance is not a universal legal rule.
The questions below are designed for property and estates teams comparing an incumbent with one or more alternatives. They help expose hidden scope gaps, uncertain costs and transition risks that a persuasive presentation or low headline fee can conceal.
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1. What outcomes must the FM contract deliver?
Start with the result your organisation needs, not with a supplier’s package names. An office, construction site, housing portfolio, laboratory or mixed estate may use the same labels for very different obligations. Write the required outcomes in operational terms, then define how achievement will be evidenced.
Questions to ask internally
- Which business, safety, statutory-compliance and occupant outcomes are essential?
- Which sites, buildings, systems, hours of operation and response locations are included?
- Which activities remain with your in-house team or other contractors?
- Which services are expressly excluded?
- What service levels, reporting and acceptance evidence will demonstrate success?
- Which objectives will determine evaluation and payment?
The RICS Procurement of facility management professional standard (first edition, reissued 13 September 2023) and its Strategic Facility Management Framework both put a defined scope, clear objectives and aligned evaluation criteria at the centre of procurement. The framework states: “You must have a clearly defined, detailed scope of the services, defining what is and is not included.” Treat that as a drafting test: a bidder should be able to price and resource your requirements without guessing.
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Questions for each bidder
- What assumptions have you made about buildings, asset condition, occupancy, access, working hours and existing records?
- What exclusions, optional services or client dependencies could change your proposal?
- Where do your responsibilities interface with our staff, landlords, principal contractors, utilities or specialist suppliers?
- How would you adapt the service if our estate, operating hours or regulatory obligations change?
Require bidders to return assumptions and exclusions in a standard schedule. That makes omissions visible before evaluation rather than after award.
2. How will you compare price and value on a like-for-like basis?
A low total can simply reflect omitted work, optimistic assumptions or charges that appear later as variations. Ask for a transparent commercial model tied to the scope and outcomes you have approved.
Commercial questions
- Which labour, supervision, subcontractor, materials, lifecycle, mobilisation, technology, travel and out-of-hours costs are included?
- Which costs are excluded, rechargeable or subject to a separate schedule of rates?
- Is payment fixed, activity-based, indexed, outcome-based or a combination?
- What assumptions could increase the charge, and how will those assumptions be verified?
- How are emergency work, additional sites, volume changes and statutory changes priced?
- What invoices, records and performance evidence support payment?
RICS identifies clear pricing and payment arrangements as a procurement fundamental. Evaluate the complete cost of delivering the defined service, not the headline monthly figure.
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Ask the provider to show the proposed change process: who can raise a change, what evidence is required, how cost and schedule effects are calculated, who approves it, and where the decision is recorded. UK Government Functional Standard GovS 008 says changes should be justified and controlled, with costs quantified and approvals obtained before implementation. You can adopt that discipline without assuming the standard itself governs a private contract.
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Agree how service performance, deductions, incentives and disputed invoices will be reviewed. Make sure the mechanism cannot reward volume of reactive work when your objective is reliable, compliant operation.
3. Who will manage the contract and prove performance?
A provider’s operating model matters only if responsibilities, authority and evidence are clear. Ask for named roles rather than generic references to an “account team”.
Governance questions
- Who is the contract manager, service manager and escalation contact, and who deputises for each?
- Which decisions can the provider make without approval?
- How often will operational, commercial, risk and strategic reviews occur?
- What reports, dashboards, asset records and audit trails will you receive, in what format and by when?
- How are incidents, complaints, non-conformities, risks and issues logged, prioritised and closed?
- What escalation route applies when a service level, safety requirement or reporting deadline is missed?
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Mobilisation is the period in which the incoming provider learns the estate, establishes people and systems, validates records and takes operational responsibility. It is a service-delivery phase, not an administrative appendix.
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Require a written mobilisation plan
- Milestones and deliverables from award to operational takeover.
- Named resources, responsibilities and decision rights for both parties.
- Dependencies such as access, security clearance, surveys, systems, permits, uniforms, equipment and subcontractor appointments.
- Readiness tests and acceptance criteria before responsibility transfers.
- Contingencies for missing data, delayed access, failed recruitment, unavailable specialists or an unsuccessful test.
- Communication arrangements for occupants, site teams, regulators and other suppliers.
Ask what must be complete before the new provider assumes each service and which activities can run in parallel. GovS 008 says mobilisation obligations should be understood before commencement and that transition goals and responsibilities should support a smooth handover without unplanned service interruption. Its wording is explicit: “Contract transition ensures, in cases where a service is passed from one party to another, that handover is conducted smoothly with no unplanned interruption to service.”
Continuity questions
- How will critical maintenance, security, cleaning, compliance checks and emergency response continue during handover?
- Who remains accountable for each service until formal acceptance?
- What happens if an asset fails while records or staff are still being transferred?
- What temporary cover, stock, specialist support or on-call arrangements are available?
Put the answers into the contract or an incorporated mobilisation schedule. Avoid an informal “go-live” date that leaves ownership and risk ambiguous.
5. Which data, records and knowledge assets must transfer?
FM performance depends on information that may be scattered across the incumbent’s CAFM system, spreadsheets, drawings, manuals, compliance files, purchase records and staff knowledge. Identify it before procurement so bidders can price the work and the incumbent cannot claim that essential handover was outside scope.
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- Asset registers, locations, condition information, warranties and maintenance history.
- Planned-maintenance schedules, statutory inspection certificates, permits and open defects.
- Emergency procedures, risk assessments, operating manuals, drawings and commissioning records.
- Supplier, subcontractor, keyholder, access and contact information.
- Energy, utilities, occupancy and performance data where needed for operation.
- Configuration, licence and integration information for CAFM and other systems.
- Unwritten operational knowledge held by site personnel.
For every item, ask who owns it, who may use it, what format is required, how it will be extracted, when access begins, and how accuracy will be checked. GovS 008 treats knowledge-asset and data handover as transition activities and recommends identifying assets early to reduce ownership disputes at exit. Address confidentiality, personal data, security controls, retention and deletion under the law and contractual terms applicable to your location.
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6. What happens to staff when the provider changes?
People may hold the practical knowledge that makes the service work, and a change can affect incumbent employees, incoming employees, your own staff and subcontractors. Ask both providers to identify the people-related work and assign each action to a named party.
Staff-transition questions
- Which roles are expected to transfer, be recruited or remain with the incumbent?
- What employee, consultation, information and records processes are required?
- Who supplies staffing data, and how will confidentiality and data protection be maintained?
- What competence, vetting, licences, training and site inductions are required before takeover?
- How will key-person knowledge be retained if someone leaves?
- Who pays for recruitment, redundancy, training or temporary cover?
Employment-transfer obligations depend on local law, the contract and the facts of the particular arrangement. The UK sources cited here do not determine whether any specific transfer regime applies. Obtain jurisdiction-specific employment advice before setting dates or making commitments, and do not promise staff an outcome that has not been legally assessed.
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Ask bidders to describe failure management before you need it. The answer should connect operational controls, contract remedies and business continuity rather than rely on assurances that problems will be resolved informally.
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- How are risks identified, owned, reviewed and reported?
- What are the response, escalation and communications steps for a critical incident?
- Which contingency facilities, personnel, suppliers, spares or workarounds are available?
- How is root-cause analysis performed, and who verifies corrective action?
- What service credits, re-performance, recovery costs, step-in rights, termination rights or other remedies apply?
- Which liabilities, insurance requirements and indemnities attach to each party?
Document interfaces and liabilities clearly. GovS 008 calls for risk management, contingency options, transition planning, and communicated obligations. Check that remedies are measurable and practicable: a deduction that cannot be calculated or enforced will not protect service continuity.
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8. What is the exit plan, and when does the next procurement begin?
Exit should be designed at the start of the replacement, not when the contract is about to expire. A usable plan lets you change provider, bring work in-house or restructure services without losing records, staff knowledge or operational control.
Exit-plan contents
- Activities, milestones, resources and accountabilities.
- Notice, expiry, extension, termination, handover and change-control dependencies.
- Data export, validation, access rights, intellectual property and deletion or retention steps.
- Transfer of keys, equipment, spares, permits, licences, credentials and other assets.
- Staff and subcontractor communications and any required consultations.
- Interfaces with landlords, in-house teams and replacement suppliers.
- Risks, contingencies, acceptance tests and final reconciliation of open work and invoices.
GovS 008 says an exit plan may sit within the contract-management plan and should set out these kinds of elements. It also says the approach to re-procurement should be agreed early enough for analysis, selection and implementation, including mobilisation. Set internal decision dates early enough to accommodate your actual procurement route and mobilisation effort.
Read the current contract first
Check the exact expiry date, notice periods, extension options, termination rights, handover obligations, ownership clauses, data provisions, audit rights and change-control procedure. Whether you must run a new competition or may use another route depends on the buyer, contract, jurisdiction and applicable procurement law. UK public bodies should follow the current rules for their regime; guidance for Welsh devolved contracting authorities, for example, directs them to Welsh Government guidance under the Procurement Act 2023 framework. Do not treat UK public-sector controls as a rule for private organisations or other countries.
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How to compare shortlisted providers consistently
Use one question set, evidence request and scoring record for every bidder. The following axes synthesise the procurement and contract-management principles in the RICS and UK government guidance; they are not a prescribed weighted model. Set weights that reflect your risk and objectives, and record why.
| Comparison axis | Evidence to request | Decision test |
|---|---|---|
| Scope and outcomes | Service matrix, exclusions, assumptions, site coverage and outcome measures | Does the proposal deliver every required outcome without hidden interfaces? |
| Price and commercial terms | Cost breakdown, payment mechanism, assumptions, rates and change procedure | Can you forecast the cost and control variations? |
| Delivery and performance management | Organisation chart, named roles, reporting, escalation, risk and issue process | Can performance be evidenced and corrected? |
| Mobilisation and continuity | Milestones, resources, dependencies, readiness tests and contingencies | Can responsibility change without an unplanned interruption? |
| Handover and exit | Data register, staff actions, asset-transfer method and exit plan | Can you retain control and change arrangement later? |
Ask for references or case evidence that matches the complexity of your estate, but verify what is actually comparable: scale, criticality, geography, operating hours and retained client responsibilities. A polished presentation is not evidence that the proposed controls will operate in your buildings.
A practical decision sequence
- Review the current arrangement. Collect the contract, schedules, amendments, performance records, open risks, asset information, costs and notice dates.
- Define the future requirement. Confirm outcomes, scope, exclusions, sites, interfaces, service levels and evaluation criteria with operational, finance, legal, procurement and safety stakeholders.
- Prepare common bidder schedules. Issue identical service, pricing, assumptions, mobilisation, data, staff and exit templates.
- Evaluate evidence. Score against agreed criteria, test arithmetic and assumptions, and clarify material differences in writing.
- Test transition before award. Require a credible mobilisation plan, readiness gates, continuity controls and responsibility matrix.
- Contract the controls. Incorporate pricing, change approval, performance evidence, reporting, remedies, data rights, staff actions and exit obligations.
- Resource governance from day one. Establish the contract-management team, reporting calendar, risk register and escalation route before the new provider starts.
Common switching mistakes to avoid
- Choosing on headline price while ignoring excluded work and variable charges.
- Using a generic FM specification that does not describe your assets, interfaces or operating constraints.
- Leaving mobilisation details to a post-award meeting.
- Assuming the incumbent’s records are complete, usable or automatically transferable.
- Announcing dates before checking notice, consultation, procurement and data requirements.
- Failing to assign accountability for service failures during the handover period.
- Starting the next procurement only when expiry is imminent.
- Applying UK public-procurement or employment guidance to a different jurisdiction without local advice.
A defensible switch is therefore a controlled change in service, information, people and accountability—not simply the acceptance of a cheaper proposal. Ask each question early enough that the answer can alter the scope, evaluation, timetable or contract.
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