Facility management is the operation and upkeep of a building’s physical fabric and shared services cleaning, security, lifts, cooling, landscaping and maintenance. It keeps the common areas of a community functioning and safe.
Where you’ll see it
You’ll see facility management funded through service charges and delivered by a specialist company appointed for the community. It covers the day-to-day running and longer-term maintenance of the shared parts of a building.
Why it matters
Good facility management preserves a property’s condition, safety and value, while poor management leads to breakdowns and decline. Because owners pay for it through service charges, the quality of facility management is a direct return on those charges.
What it is not
Facility management is not the management of an individual owner’s let unit (that is property management), and it is not the owners association itself. It is the service the association funds to maintain common areas.
Example
A community’s facility management company maintains the lifts, cleans common areas and services the cooling system, paid for from the service charges owners contribute.
Connected documents and parties
Service contracts, maintenance records; owners association, facility management company, residents.
Going deeper: related reading: owners association and property management.
Related Terms
How we define terms
Every definition on glossary.ae follows a controlled structure: what the term is, what it is not, when it is used, and where you will see it. Read our editorial methodology to understand how terms are selected, reviewed, and maintained.
Read editorial methodology →
Last reviewed: June 2026