IFMA — 11 core competencies

IFMA eleven core competencies (Global Job Task Analysis, 2017)

Edition: Global Job Task Analysis, 2017
Published: Professional association framework, not a formal standard. Describes what an FM professional must be able to do, not what an organisation must arrange.

Why it exists

IFMA needed to base individual education and certification on what FM professionals actually do. The 2017 Global Job Task Analysis supplied that empirical basis.

Scope and content (paraphrased)

Eleven competency areas, including leadership and strategy, operations and maintenance, real estate, project management, finance and procurement, risk, sustainability, technology, communication, performance and occupancy. Used on this platform as a completeness check on the knowledge taxonomy.

Main concepts

Competency ≠ knowledge domain: the first describes a person, the second a discipline.
Empirically derived from task analysis, not normatively established.

Who should understand it

Executive or client receiving FM accountability
FM director and policy owner
Contract, sourcing and procurement manager
Auditor, quality and compliance officer

What it means in practice

Strategic

Usable for job architecture and training policy, not as a normative reference in a contract.

Tactical

Helps determine which competencies the organisation must retain itself.

Operational

Provides a language for individual development plans.

Relationships to other standards

ISO 41002:2026Addresses the organisation; this framework addresses the person.

Related services

All facility services within the scope of the management system.

Services Atlas

Related capabilities

Standards literacy and policy formation
Performance measurement and accountability
Contract and supplier oversight

Knowledge Domains