Who we are...

In the past 14 years, over 130 institutions from nine countries have participated in the IAMFA Annual Benchmarking Exercise facilitated by Facility Issues.

How we design and conduct the survey...

Each year, a steering committee developes a set of questions for an online cost and facility practices survey. The steering committee consists of representatives from museums and cultural institutions across the globe. The online survey is designed to measure performance in key areas of facility management and identify best practices and industry trends.

How we share the survey results...

Results are summarized in a group report and presented at the IAMFA Annual Conference. We also offer custom reports.

What we measure...

We measure costs for utilities, building operations, janitorial services, building and grounds maintenance, building security, facility chargebacks, and more. Along with these costs, the topics listed below account for about 60-75 percent of the questions.

  • Space utilization

  • Ratios of number of workers

  • Outsourcing

  • Temperature and relative humidity set points

  • Sustainability measures

  • Strategic planning

  • Emergency preparedness planning

  • Fire supression

  • Project management processes

  • Performance based contracting

  • Service level agreements

  • Organizational structures

  • Facility rentals / special functions

  • Best practices

  • Future trends

We've also created a special benchmarking application for smaller institutions... those with less than 50,000 gross square feet or 5000 gross square meters. Many smaller institutions have indicated they would like to benchmark and see the value in it but have been unable to provide the resources needed to participate.

Background

The IAMFA Benchmarking Steering Committee is aware that many institutions of this size  do not have access to staff support needed for the full benchmarking exercise and that budget funds are limited. That is why we developed a survey designed for smaller institutions with limited support.

Features and costs

  • Key performance data for space, janitorial, maintenance, security, and utilities
  • Limited number of questions to minimize time needed to benchmark... about 14 questions in total
  • Report data will be provided:
  • separately from large institution report
  • included with large institution report
  • Annual cost is $500 US and includes all technical support needed to benchmark

View previous year report highlights in the PowerPoint presentation below.  For easy, online registration, click here.  The Best Practices and Learning Workshop will be held October 2nd in Boston, USA, on the day prior to the start of the IAMFA Annual Conference.