--- title: "Facilities Management Guides | SPS Group" url: https://spsgroupservices.com/guides description: "Plain-English guides to facilities management: integrated FM, soft vs hard FM, contract options for schools and trusts, tendering FM services and choosing a provider." lang: en-GB --- Skip to content Clean · Protect · Detect · Maintain · Train · Integrate · Yorkshire and Lincolnshire since 1992 01482 226570 (+441482226570) Guides # Facilities management guides Straight answers for estates leads, business managers and facilities managers weighing up how to buy cleaning, security and fire and security services. Guide What is integrated facilities management (IFM)? Integrated facilities management (IFM) means one provider manages several building services, such as cleaning, security, fire and security systems and maintenance, under one coordinated contract and management structure. The aim is less contractor management, joined-up delivery and better value than buying each service separately. Read the guide https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/what-is-integrated-facilities-management Guide Soft FM vs hard FM: what's the difference? Hard FM covers the physical building and its systems, such as heating, electrics, plumbing, lifts and fire systems. Soft FM covers the services that make a building safe and pleasant to use, such as cleaning, security, waste and reception. Many contracts mix the two. Read the guide https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/soft-fm-vs-hard-fm Guide Separate, bundled or integrated contracts: which suits your school or trust? Separate contracts suit a single school with good in-house premises staff. Bundled contracts suit schools that want fewer suppliers without changing how services run. Integrated contracts suit trusts with several schools that want one coordinated service, aligned renewal dates and trust-wide reporting. Read the guide https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/separate-bundled-or-integrated-contracts-for-schools Guide How to tender facilities services for a multi-academy trust Map every school's current contracts and renewal dates, decide whether to buy by lot or as one integrated contract, write an output-based specification, plan for TUPE, weight quality properly against price, and leave enough time for mobilisation before the start date. Read the guide https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/how-to-tender-facilities-services-for-a-multi-academy-trust Guide 10 questions to ask a facilities management provider Ask how much of the work the provider delivers itself, who will manage each service, which accreditations each service holds, how alarms and faults are handled out of hours, how you'll get reports, how pay rises are priced and who your single point of contact is. Read the guide https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/questions-to-ask-a-facilities-management-provider Talk to us about facilities management for your sites. We'll arrange a site review and show you where combining services makes sense. 01482 226570: +441482226570 Integrated FM: https://spsgroupservices.com/integrated-facilities-management Accredited and approved ## Independently accredited across every capability All accreditations and frameworks (https://spsgroupservices.com/accreditations) - Image: SIA Approved Contractor, held by SPS Security (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/3d7d7139b_image.png) - Image: BAFE SP203-1 fire detection and alarm systems, held by SPS Technical (https://media.base44.com/images/public/6989f2350e53aab8836435e3/406d9784c_bafe-logo.png) - Image: SSAIB certified security systems, held by SPS Technical (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/c9e7dc74b_image.png) - Image: ISO 9001 and ISO 14001, UKAS accredited certification, held by ICS Cleaning, SPS Security, SPS Technical (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/3f160a20c_image.png) - Image: Crescent Purchasing Consortium supplier, held by ICS Cleaning (https://qtrypzzcjebvfcihiynt.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/base44-prod/public/698d1493256c3e7612121fcc/c6b8bd093_CrescentLogo_Suppliers.png) - Image: CHAS accredited contractor, held by SPS Group (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/a31a34ebe_image.png) - Image: SafeContractor, held by SPS Group (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/8031d3964_image.png) - Image: BSIA member, held by SPS Group (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/93e58a076_image.png) - Image: Achilles Network Silver Plus, held by SPS Security (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/4a8991034_image.png) - Image: Achilles BuildingConfidence, held by SPS Security (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/6d454a108_image.png) - Image: Acclaim Accreditation (SSIP), held by SPS Security (https://media.base44.com/images/public/698915a4f050929687a915b6/79dcd06bd_image.png) ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebPage", "url": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides", "name": "Facilities management guides", "description": "Plain-English guides to facilities management: integrated FM, soft vs hard FM, contract options for schools and trusts, tendering FM services and choosing a provider.", "inLanguage": "en-GB", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://spsgroupservices.com/#website" }, "publisher": { "@id": "https://spsgroupservices.com/#organization" } }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://spsgroupservices.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Guides", "item": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "ItemList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "url": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/what-is-integrated-facilities-management", "name": "What is integrated facilities management (IFM)?" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "url": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/soft-fm-vs-hard-fm", "name": "Soft FM vs hard FM: what's the difference?" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "url": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/separate-bundled-or-integrated-contracts-for-schools", "name": "Separate, bundled or integrated contracts: which suits your school or trust?" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "url": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/how-to-tender-facilities-services-for-a-multi-academy-trust", "name": "How to tender facilities services for a multi-academy trust" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 5, "url": "https://spsgroupservices.com/guides/questions-to-ask-a-facilities-management-provider", "name": "10 questions to ask a facilities management provider" } ] } ] ```