What moves the price of FM
No rate card, because no two sites cost the same, and here is exactly what makes them different.
- Pricing
- Quote only, after a walkthrough
- Format
- Fixed monthly figure per service line
- Walkthrough
- Produces the asset register and defect list
- Quote issued
- Typically three working days after the walkthrough
ITF quotes FM after a walkthrough, as a fixed monthly figure per service line, and publishes no rate card. What moves the figure is known: asset count and condition, hours of presence, response windows, number of sites and the drive between them, access, the parts model, specialist share and the record your auditors expect.
- 01 Enquiry
- 02 Site survey
- 03 Scope and quote
- 04 Mobilisation
- 05 Planned schedule
- 06 Execution
- 07 Monthly report
- 08 Management review
- 09 Next cycle
What moves the price of FM sits at step 3 of the fm operating cycle. You receive a scope of works and a quotation.
Why there is no rate card
A number given before anyone has seen the building is a number that moves later, usually through variation orders, and everyone in the conversation knows it.
We would rather spend a morning walking your site and give you a figure that holds. The walkthrough is where the drivers below get their real values: how many assets, in what condition, used when, reached how.
Three things do not drive our price. Floor area on its own, because a large, empty warehouse can cost less to run than a small, crowded plant room. A headcount you ask for without a scope behind it. And the number a competitor quoted, because unless it is priced against the same scope it is not the same service.
The drivers, and how to keep each one down
Each driver moves the monthly figure for a reason you can check, and each has an honest way to bring it down that does not involve cutting the work.
| Driver | Why it moves the price, and the honest lever |
|---|---|
| Asset count and condition | A few neglected assets can cost more to maintain than many well-kept ones. Fix the worst defects once, rather than maintaining around them. |
| Asset age | Older plant fails more, especially on a parts-inclusive contract. Choose labour-only on young plant. |
| Criticality mix | Class A assets get tighter intervals and spares on site. Let class D assets run to failure. |
| Hours of presence | Day presence, a night crew and on-call cover are three different costs. Match presence to when the building is actually used. |
| Response windows | A tight priority 1 window is a staffing model, not a promise on paper. Buy tight windows only where downtime is expensive. |
| Number of sites and the drive | Routing, travel time and resident staff all change with the map. Group sites in one working area where you can. |
| Access | Shutdown windows, permits, work at height and site passes add hours to the same task. Give us your windows early. |
| Parts and consumables model | Labour-only or parts-inclusive, and where the threshold sits for coming back to you with a quote. Set the threshold to your appetite for surprises. |
| Managed specialist share | Specialist cost plus the management of it. Keep good specialists on direct contracts and pay only for the management. |
| Evidence requirement | An audited site needs more records than a private office, and that is real work. Buy the record level your auditors need, not more. |
| Mobilisation | Tagging, register building and handover from the incumbent. Share any records you already hold. |
What the walkthrough and quote leave with you
The first item comes out of the walkthrough itself. The other three come with the quote.
The asset register and defect list
Every critical item on the site with location, class and condition, and the defects we found walking it, with photographs.
The quote
A fixed monthly figure per service line, so you can see what each line costs and drop or add one without re-pricing the rest.
The scope and exclusions
What the figure is priced on, line by line, and what sits outside it, written so a second bidder can price the same thing.
The driver sheet
The drivers that set your figure and where each one sits, so you can see what would change it.
How to compare quotes, including ours
Put every bid through the same five checks. A bid that leads with headcount is selling hours; ask to see the scope behind them.
- 01
One asset list under every bid
Lay each quote against the same register. A quote priced on a different idea of the building is not comparable, however it is formatted.
- 02
Exclusion schedules side by side
The cheapest bid often wins on what it leaves out. Read every exclusion schedule against the others before reading a total.
- 03
The parts threshold and what counts as a consumable
Two bids with the same monthly figure can carry very different parts exposure. Compare the threshold and the consumables list, line by line.
- 04
Response windows, and when the clock starts
A window with no defined start is not a window. Check whether each bidder starts the clock at the ticket, the call or the arrival.
- 05
The subcontracted share and its margin
Ask what share of the work goes to specialists and whether the margin on it is stated. A stated margin can be compared; a hidden one cannot.
Three quotes, one asset list
A school operator in Riyadh receives three FM quotes that differ by a wide margin.
Laid against one asset list, the cheapest excludes the chillers, sets no parts threshold and defines no response clocks. The most expensive includes a resident team for a site that is empty in summer.
Ours is written on the same list with a reduced summer presence. The operator ends up comparing three scopes, not three totals.
Private and public buyers
How the figure moves
The monthly figure is priced against a written scope, so what changes it is a change of scope. A scope change is written and priced before the work starts. At renewal, the annual review note says which driver moved and why.
- Scope changes written and priced before the work
- The driver sheet updated at each renewal
- The annual review note names what moved
Structuring a government FM tender
The Ministry of Finance publishes a standard contract form for operation, maintenance and cleaning, which is a useful reference for structuring any FM tender. The new Government Tenders and Procurement Law was published on 4 September 2026 and takes effect on 2 January 2027; check its implementing regulations for your own tender.
- We fill your pricing schedule in your structure
- Gaps in the structure are shown, not priced around
Questions about the number
Can you give us a ballpark on the phone?
No. The walkthrough is what makes the number real, and a ballpark given before it tends to become the number you hold us to.
What does the walkthrough produce?
An asset register with every critical item's location, class and condition, a defect list with photographs, and the draft scope the quote is priced on.
Do you charge for mobilisation?
Where there is a cost, it is a stated line in the quote, and the driver sheet shows what sets it.
Can you price against our tender format?
Yes. We fill your pricing schedule as issued and show where its structure leaves a gap, such as a missing parts threshold or an undefined response clock.
Read with this
Timelines
From first call to the first monthly pack, with each lead time.
Read moreCompareAMC or call-out
Test a fixed monthly figure against last year's invoices.
Read moreContractThe annual maintenance contract
The contract most of these drivers end up priced into.
Read moreConsultGap analysis
The same drivers-not-prices approach for management system work, from ITF Consult.
Read morePart of one system
Every division keeps records to the same standard, so the second one you need works the way the first one did.
Get a figure that holds
Book the walkthrough. It produces the register and the defect list, and the quote puts a fixed monthly figure against each line.