Jul 21

How to Earn the Certified Facility Manager Certification by IFMA: A Comprehensive Guide to CFM

The Opportunities in A Rapidly Growing Industry Facility Management!

With the advancement of the built environment and building industry around the world, and with the unprecedented urbanisation around the world, the complexity of modern buildings and infrastructure increases, driving a huge increase in demand for facility management, essentially to manage and maintain those buildings and infrastructures.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that employment in the facility management sector is projected to grow by 7% annually for 10 consecutive years from 2021 to 2031, and that is significantly higher than the average of all other occupations. This means that facility managers have a wealth of job opportunities, and the job opportunities in the facility management industry will keep increasing over the long term, but this also raises the bar for the skills and knowledge required to excel in this field. Therefore, and as the landscape of facility management evolves, for sure facility managers have to adapt to new challenges and continuously improve their skills and competencies to stay ahead of the game.

In this blog

  • The Opportunities in A Rapidly Growing Industry Facility Management
  • Why Credentials Are Important For Facility Managers 
  • What Is The Best Credential For Facility Managers
  • What Is The CFM Certification 
  • Why You Should Get CFM Certification
  • Who Should Get a CFM Certification?
  • How to Earn the CFM ?
  • How to Prepare and Pass the CFM ?
  • Best CFM Training Course

Why Credentials Are Important For Facility Managers 

Certified Facility Manager
To capitalise on the growing opportunities in the facility management industry, facility managers have to stay relevant and competitive by taking professional facility management training courses and obtaining professional certifications. Engaging in facility management training programs or obtaining facility management certifications not only validates FMs skills and competency, but also shows their commitment to professional development.

What Is The Best Credential For Facility Managers

Among many facility management certifications, the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) by IFMA stands out as the most prestigious facility management certificate recognised globally. The CFM is designed to assess and certify the competency of facility managers across 11 core competencies that are essential for every successful facility manager.
This comprehensive guide is prepared by the Built Environment Institute (BEI) and covers everything you need to know about the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) certification by IFMA, including its benefits, how to earn it, and its impact on your career growth. The guide also includes a step by step process to pass the CFM exam by IFMA.

What Is a Certified Facility Manager (CFM) Certification by IFMA?

The Certified Facility Manager (CFM) certification by IFMA is the most prestigious credential in facility management, CFM is the most recognized credential globally for facility managers. Unlike other knowledge-based certificates, the CFM is a competency based certificate assessing the facility manager’s competencies, skills and abilities across 11 core competencies of facility management.
The 11 core competencies of facility management were identified by IFMA through the global job task analysis and covers all essential competencies that a facility manager should master in order to excel in their job. It covers essential areas such as operation & maintenance, finance & budgeting, project management, sustainability and technology helping facility managers showcase their comprehensive understanding and capability yo manage complex situations in facility operation effectively.

Why You Should Get the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) Certification

Becoming a certified facility manager will definitely distinguish you as a competent professional in the field, eventually improving your career and status. Whether you work for a better pay or for the purpose, CFM certification will help you achieve that, in here, we will list some of the benefits of the CFM by IFMA, and will explain you how each of those benefits can help you grow your career.

  • Improve Career Opportunities
Many facility managers target the CFM certification to improve their career opportunities, whether by climbing the career ladder at their current organization or switching and moving to a better job in another organization. The CFM is one of the ways that employers can verify the candidate's competency, ensuring he has what it takes to get the job or get a promotion. Also, just being certified means that the candidate has put effort and time into developing and improving his skills and knowledge in his field, and organizations are always welcoming people who are keen to make such an effort; this effort to earn the CFM certification shows your commitment to your job and profession.
  • Expand Your Professional Network.
Earning the CFM certification by IFMA, means you join a league of over 3,400 active CFMs around the world, which opens doors to a large network of industry experts and peers for you. Communicating with those experts on IFMA events or collaborating with your local IFMA chapters and councils will definitely help you grow a network around you that will help you grow your career through mentorship, support and executive job openings.
Its worth noting that one of the most active councils is the IFMA FMCC (FM Consultants Council), where IFMA members can join the council from anywhere around the world, while the council have active board members around the world to help FM professionals and support them within their capacity, providing them career advice, supporting them with technical issues they might face, and connecting them with peers and colleagues in their regions. The MENA region is led by Mr Jawad Altamimi, Regional Director of IFMA FMCC, who represents IFMA on a professional level throughout the region. Mr Altamimi represents IFMA FMCC at industry events and conferences and is very active in GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the rest of MENA countries as well, connecting with FM professionals to support them with their careers and providing them with career advice, tailored training advice to their needs, exclusive jobs, networking and collaboration with their peers.
  • Showcase Your Competency and Leadership Skills
The certified facility manager has become the benchmark certificate for professionals to showcase their competency and knowledge in the field. But the CFM competencies not only cover basic skills or technical skills; there is a significant focus on managerial and soft skills, which is proven even through the weight of exam points on those competencies, such as Leadership & strategy, communication, human factors, finance and budgeting, and project management. Therefore, any CFM holder, has already proven his competency in those areas starting with leadership and strategy, which makes him qualified for high role that requires this level of competency. That is proven by IFMA CFM statistics, so according to IFMA website, 68% of CFM holders are on a manager or director level, and that tells you how important the CFM is in preparing those managers and directors and how it helps showcase their competency and leadership skills.
  • Enhance Flexibility and Adaptability
However, showcasing your skills or expanding your network is not all that you need to succeed and grow your career in facility management. The FM industry is rapidly evolving, just like all other industries, and you need to stay relevant and competitive to win the game. The CFM training course by the BEI is specifically designed to help you stay competitive by integrating technology and sustainability into each chapter and topic while helping you stay relevant by introducing the most in-demand skills to spice up the engaging training program. But that’s not all; integrating in-demand skills or technology and sustainability into the CFM learning program might not be enough; the key to our CFM course's success is our instructors; we ensure that the course is built and delivered by niche industry experts, and for the CFM training course, our expert is Mr. Jawad Altamimi, who has wealth of hands-on experience that can enrich the learning with real-life examples, this is proven by the students feedback and reviews on the course.

Who Should Get a CFM Certification?

Any FM professional with enough experience should consider the CFM certification, the CFM certification is ideal for:
  • Mid- to Senior-Level FM Professionals: Those who meet the education and experience requirements.
  • Facility Managers, Facility Management Professionals who want to assess their competencies in FM
  • Built-environment (BE) professionals who work in BE operations
  • Engineers, Building Managers, Maintenance professionals who wants to assess their competencies in Facility Management
Anyone who is interested in Facility Management

How to Earn the CFM Certification by IFMA

Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the CFM certification, candidates must:
1.Education and Experience:
  • Hold a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Facility Management with 3 years of field experience, or
  • Have 5 years of experience in an FM-related field without a specific degree.
2.Ethics Requirement:
  • Complete an Ethics Assessment, adhering to IFMA's ethical guidelines and maintaining certification through recertification every five years​​.

How to Prepare for the CFM Certification and Pass IFMA CFM Exam

The best approach to prepare for the CFM exam is by following the process set by an expert instructor, especially following the important tips
and tricks that are provided during the course in the video lectures; the following is a step-by-step process to make your exam preparation
journey smooth and achievable in a very short time;
1. Join the Course:
Enroll in the BEI CFM training course.
2. Watch the Video for First Competency:
Watch the video lectures; start with the first core competency.
3. Read the IFMA CFM Book:
Read through IFMA's CFM book to have a comprehensive knowledge of the competency.
4. Solve the Quiz Questions for That Competency:
Take quizzes related to the first competency, check your answers, and revisit topics or chapters where you made mistakes then repeat
the quiz until you achieve above an 80% score.
Interactive course

Certified Facility Manager Training course

Pass the CFM exam by IFMA from the first attempt! With the best Certified Facility Manager Courses Online CFM Certification exam preparation training from BEI