by Imed Bouchrika, Phd
Facilities management is an essential aspect of running an educational institution. By keeping infrastructure and grounds in good shape, schools can provide a safe, conducive environment for learning. Furthermore, according to members of the National Forum on Education Statistics, “Adequate and appropriate learning environments are essential to successful teaching and learning, and providing those instructional settings is a significant component of a school district’s core responsibilities.”
To ensure the proper management of facilities at schools, school districts today can turn to the use of automation. This means the adoption of tools such as computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), education ERP and enterprise asset management software (EAM). These tools can help streamline preventive maintenance while ensuring a safe learning environment for teachers and students.
This article lists 20 of the best facilities management software for schools today and includes an overview of each product. Hopefully, this guide can help school superintendents and administrators find the one software for their needs.
Over the years, a few major studies and reports have explored the state of school facilities in the United States. Though not all these studies present recent data, most findings focus on the quality of infrastructure and facilities in public schools, as well as the districts’ expenditures on improving these facilities. The statistics below highlight key data about facilities and facilities management in U.S. schools.
According to recent data, current spending for public school facilities has been funded by local districts, state governments, and the federal government. However, local school districts bear most of the burden of capital school construction expenses (77%). The U.S. Census of Governments F-33 Fiscal Survey indicates that such expenditures totaled $501 billion in 2019.
The figures below illustrate more details on current spending on public school facilities.
Source: International Well Building Institute
Despite local districts spending billions of dollars on public school infrastructure each year, reports indicate that these facilities leave much to be desired, which underscores the need for solutions like construction management software for builders and contractors. Aside from aging buildings, many public school buildings need upgrades for features such as roofing, plumbing, and HVAC systems.
According to The School Facilities Maintenance Task Force of the National Center for Education Statistics, “But many facilities problems are not a function of geography or socioeconomic factors but are, instead, related to maintenance staffing levels, training, and management practices.” This underscores the school use and adoption of the features of the top workforce management software by education platforms.
Several studies have also explored the impact of school facilities on student learning, and the results indicate that well-maintained buildings contribute to improved student performance and vice versa. For instance, a 2020 study from the University of Utah found that in Salt Lake City Schools, absences are more common when air quality worsens (University of Utah, 2020).
A literature review from the Harvard Schools for Health also found that factors such as water quality, lighting, and acoustics and noise affect student thinking and student performance (Eitland et al, 2019). The statistics below show how the state of school facilities affect learning experience and progress.
By using facilities management software, school superintendents and administrators can better plan and monitor maintenance processes. Built like project planning software, these tools also help schools track the age and life cycle of building components and equipment to ensure preventive maintenance occurs when necessary. Facility management software also comes in different types—CMMS, EAM software, computer-aided facility management tools, and integrated with the best school management software systems—so schools can easily find an automation tool that meets their needs. Moreover, some have the features of or integrate with fleet management solutions to thoroughly manage all the transportation requirements of multicampus institutions.
The School Facilities Maintenance Task Force of the National Center for Education Statistics recommends the use of a CMMS or specialized property management software for schools with more than 500,000 square feet of facilities. For such schools, maintenance, scheduling, and asset management become complex enough to require investment in automation tools (U.S. Department of Education).
Below are some figures on the benefits of using facility management solutions like the best CMMS software.
Source: Plant Engineering
BlueFolder is a CMMS designed to help maintenance teams to maximize efficiency and improve response times. The platform comes with a wide variety of features, including work order tracking, service scheduling, and asset or equipment tracking, all of which can make it easier for schools to track the health of equipment like HVAC systems. BlueFolder also comes with a facility service dashboard that provides a quick overview of assigned, scheduled, and completed maintenance jobs.
BlueFolder is available in three pricing plans:
Another CMMS, Azzier can help schools maximize the uptime of their facilities and equipment. The platform enables more efficient maintenance management, helping users schedule and execute preventive maintenance procedures to extend the lifespan of their equipment. Azzier also comes with planning tools to ensure easier scheduling and project management and provide 24/7 visibility into scheduled tasks and projects.
You can contact the vendor for pricing information.
MPulse is an intuitive CMMS that can help users cut down maintenance expenses, extend equipment life, and improve overall productivity. With this tool, users can make sure they organize workflows for work order management and asset management while staying on top of preventive maintenance schedules. The software also comes with a calendar view so users can easily visualize these schedules.
MPulse CMMS is available in three pricing plans:
Q Ware CMMS is a comprehensive solution that supports school districts in organizing maintenance operations and ensuring that students and teachers have safe surroundings. The platform does this through features like preventive maintenance scheduling, a built-in request system, asset tracking, and IT management. The platform also offers paid apps for work order management, work scheduling, and inventory tracking.
Pricing for Q Ware CMMS depends on the number of users and the paid apps chosen for the package. Use of the software is free for 5 users or less.
Landport is a maintenance software that helps public or private schools with routine and seasonal facility maintenance. With this software, administrative staff, faculty, janitorial staff, and other school support team members can use a single platform for monitoring maintenance, scheduling jobs, and tracking the lifecycles of equipment. These features make the platform a great choice not only for public and private schools but also larger institutions like colleges and universities.
Pricing information is available from the vendor.
Ramco EAM (enterpise management software) is designed to enable effective maintenance management through advanced technology such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. Through AI, the platform offers features such as smart defaulting and universal validation, which make it easier for administrators to schedule maintenance. AI and ML also support more efficient predictive maintenance by sending triggers that help prevent equipment failure.
RAMCO EAM is available at customized pricing, information on which you can get from the vendor.
AssetWorks EAM is a software that supports schools in organizing workflows such as asset management, work order management, and even fleet management through the use of school bus software. The platform also comes with plenty of reporting and analytics features. Through these features, users can easily view relevant metrics on a dashboard and create detailed reports as needed.
Pricing information is available from the vendor.
Aptean EAM is designed to maximize asset performance while lowering costs. Through the platform, users can efficiently manage maintenance processes, including predictive, preventative, and corrective maintenance. The software also centralizes work order requests into one platform for easier management. A self-service request feature also lets faculty and administrators submit work requests even from their mobile phones.
You can contact the vendor for pricing information.
IFS World EAM is a full-featured platform that can help schools become more productive at asset planning, maintenance, and scheduling. The software can standardize these processes so maintenance activities can be executed more efficiently. In this way, schools can always keep equipment such as HVAC systems and lighting working perfectly. The platform also serves as a single source of truth for data on infrastructure and assets, maintenance history, and maintenance best practices.
Get in touch with the vendor for a demo and details on pricing.
Dematic Sprocket is an enterprise asset management software designed to automate maintenance management processes. This EAM is designed to be flexible, with powerful capabilities for asset management, preventive maintenance, and routine inspections. The software also provides reporting capabilities and dashboards to help school administrators track maintenance history. Demotic Sprocket can also be hosted onsite or offsite depending on user preferences.
Pricing information is available upon request from the vendor.
TrackplanFM CAFM is a computer-aided facility management (CAFM) software that can help schools become more proactive at preventive and predictive maintenance processes. Through the software, users can create work orders or service requests for different locations. These jobs can be assigned to single or multiple resources, who can add notes to requests once they’re completed. For added convenience, users can view summaries of maintenance performance through a dashboard.
Pricing for TrackplanFM CAFM depends on various factors, including the number of reactive and planned maintenance jobs expected over the next 12 months, the number or sites and buildings, and the number of electronic forms users expect to issue. You can contact the vendor for pricing information.
SpaceIQ is another CAFM tool that supports schools and universities in more efficient space planning and request management. The platform enables a centralized request queue across all users and provides a Workplace System of Record that helps consolidate facility management data. The software also supports ad hoc creation of reports and costs analysis.
Contact the vendor for a demo and pricing information.
Planon is included on this list of the best facilities management software for schools in view of its open application platform designed to help a wide variety of organizations manage facility maintenance and streamline asset management. For instance, through its asset management features, school administrators and faculty can address workplace issues more efficiently through reactive work orders. A built-in maintenance plan viewer also provides increased visibility into maintenance schedules.
You can get in touch directly with Planon for a demo and detailed pricing.
WebTMA is designed to be a comprehensive maintenance management solution. As such, the platform helps users efficiently manage work orders and develop a customized preventive maintenance program. Real-time data on maintenance procedures can also be viewed on the platform’s dashboard. To enhance the platform’s functionality, users also have the option to add modules for request management, time management, custodial management, and room and general inspections.
You can contact the vendor directly for a demo and pricing.
CAFM Explorer is a platform designed to help schools and other organizations improve maintenance management processes. Through the software, users get increased visibility into the status of assets and facilities. In this way, users can preempt potential issues and automate work orders and service requests. The platform also comes with an asset register where users can record detailed information on assets, including location and maintenance history.
You can directly reach out to the vendor for detailed pricing information.
Gensler Wisp works as an intuitive platform for more effective workplace and space management. With the platform, users can ensure that spaces are efficiently utilized and create long-term plans for facility management and maintenance. The software also comes with built-in reporting and analytics capabilities to improve visibility into the utilization of spaces and facilities. Users also have the option to view general performance summaries or drill down into details for deeper analysis.
Contact the company directly to schedule a demo and learn about pricing.
PACS IWMS is an integrated workplace management solution that helps users improve the productivity and efficiency of a wide variety of workflows, including facility management. Through this software, users can set up customized work processes that improve visibility and accountability across the organization. The platform also comes with an audit history feature to give users the ability to track progress and other changes in workflows.
You can contact the vendor directly for information on pricing.
Curo is designed to support easier management of assets and facilities. The software helps users manage processes for recurring and preventive maintenance as well as procedures for servicing equipment. The platform also comes with built-in GPS technology, making it easier for users to specify exactly where work needs to be done and attach location information for each work order.
You can call the vendor directly to get pricing information.
eBASE is a facility management software designed to improve common FM processes such as work order lifecycle monitoring and inspection management. Through the platform, users can easily create work orders through any computer or mobile device and track these work orders to completion. The software also provides features for digital logbooks and log records, making it easier for users to track processes like health and safety inspections.
eBASE offers customized pricing, so interested users can contact the vendor to get more information.
SAP Cloud for Real Estate is a building and space management software that helps users establish a single source of truth for facility management and maintenance processes. The software supports all space types and uses, including internal and external spaces, so users can easily automate maintenance workflows. School administrators and staff can also add a wide variety of equipment to spaces, including fixtures, lighting, and HVAC systems, for easier tracking.
You can contact the vendor directly for information on the product’s pricing.
With most of the tools on this list having similar features and capabilities, it can be difficult to pick the right facilities management software for your school. A good rule of thumb to go by is that the best facilities management software for your institution is the one that best meets your operational requirements and maintenance needs.
What’s great is that most of the software on this list provide features to streamline common FM processes like work order management, preventive and predictive maintenance, and task scheduling. These platforms also offer robust reporting and analytics capabilities so you can easily record and track information such as maintenance history, equipment downtimes, and work order completion rates. All these features ensure that school district superintendents and administrators get real-time visibility on the status and condition of school infrastructure and grounds.
The needs of academic institutions to track and monitor assets have tremendously outgrown the basic features of school accounting software. Anyone who’s looking closely will see that the complexities of running them has parallelled the developments in many large corporations and governments everywhere.
In many U.S. school institutions, they also have to deal with rogue students and private citizens who are armed to the teeth, necessitating the installation of the best emergency management software.
If you’re looking for more software to improve school operations, you can check out our guide to the 20 best student information systems in 2022.
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