What facility management software covers, the difference between CMMS, CAFM and IWMS tools, the features that matter for work orders, vendors and on-site staff, and how to choose and roll one out.
| Type | Focus | Fits |
|---|---|---|
| CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) | Work orders, preventive maintenance, assets, parts | Maintenance-heavy sites, plants, property teams |
| CAFM (computer-aided facility management) | Space, floor plans, moves, room bookings, plus maintenance | Offices, campuses, institutions |
| IWMS (integrated workplace management system) | Real estate, leases, capital projects, space, maintenance and sustainability | Large organizations with many properties |
Many smaller organizations need a CMMS plus good scheduling for on-site staff, not a full IWMS. Our CMMS guide covers maintenance-focused tools in more depth.
To record clock-ins, breaks and overtime automatically, see EZTime time and attendance software.
Facilities are maintained by people: in-house technicians, janitorial teams, security officers, groundskeepers and contractors. Many facility platforms track work but not workers. If you employ hourly staff across several buildings, you also need schedules, accurate time records, breaks and coverage when someone calls out. Decide whether your facility software handles that or whether a separate workforce tool does, and make sure the two do not contradict each other.
Facilities carry many inspection duties: fire protection equipment, emergency lighting, elevators, boilers, backflow devices and more, set by local codes, insurers and OSHA rules for workplaces. Requirements differ by building type and location. Use software to schedule each inspection, attach evidence and flag overdue items, but confirm the actual requirements with your local authority having jurisdiction, insurer and official OSHA guidance rather than relying on a vendor’s template.
| User | What they need |
|---|---|
| Occupants and tenants | A simple way to report a problem and see its status |
| Technicians and cleaners | Clear tasks on a phone, photos, checklists and offline access |
| Facility managers | Backlog, priorities, preventive schedules and vendor oversight |
| Owners, landlords or clients | Response times, costs and proof that contracted work was done |
| Finance | Costs by building, asset and vendor, with exports |
Involve at least one person from each group in your trial. A system that delights managers but frustrates technicians will end up with incomplete records, and the reports managers rely on will be wrong.
Pick a few measures before you go live and track them monthly: average time from request to first response, average time to completion, the share of preventive maintenance done on schedule, the backlog of open work orders by building, the number of overdue inspections and the cost of reactive repairs compared with planned work. Over time, a rising share of planned work and a falling share of emergency repairs is the clearest sign the system is paying off. Share these numbers with technicians and cleaners too, so they see the effect of complete, well-documented work.
A property management company looks after 14 small office buildings with six technicians, a janitorial team and several contractors. Requests arrive by email, text and phone, and nobody knows the backlog. The company adopts a CMMS for requests and preventive maintenance and a separate workforce app for janitorial schedules, clock-ins and cleaning checklists. Within a quarter, it can tell each building owner how quickly requests were closed and confirm that nightly cleaning happened.
EZTime is not a CMMS or IWMS. It covers the frontline workforce in facilities: schedules for cleaners, security officers and technicians across buildings, mobile, kiosk and NFC clock-in with GPS stamps and geofencing, tasks with photo proof and late alerts, digital forms for inspections and a digital employee file with expiry reminders for licenses and certifications.
Software that helps maintain buildings, covering work orders, preventive maintenance, assets, vendors, inspections and sometimes space.
A CMMS focuses on maintenance and assets. A CAFM adds space management, floor plans and moves.
Usually not. A CMMS and a good scheduling tool often cover what smaller teams need.
Many systems track contractor details, insurance, assignments and performance.
Often not. Many teams use a separate workforce tool for schedules and time tracking.
Pilot one building with real requests and technicians before rolling out.
Send the form through EZTime, collect an e-signature, and keep it in a digital employee file that reminds you when documents expire. There is a $20 monthly minimum; above that, plans start at $2 per employee.