CAFM (Computer Aided Facilities Management) defines software systems which provide a ‘toolkit’ for managing property assets and providing a central source of management information. The purpose of CAFM is to allow organisations to manage their assets (including space) in a cost-effective and acccurate manner that reduces overhead costs and supports compliance.
In their infancy, CAFM systems were operated primarily for maintenance management (as CMMS – Computerised Maintenance Management System). As traditional maintenance evolved into Maintenance Management and now Facilities Management, increasingly ‘non-maintenance’ roles have been incorporated into its activities and responsibilities, so the definition and uses of CAFM have expanded to support the provison of these services.
CAFM, in its simplest explanation, is a database for managing information relating to property assets. The efficiency and effectiveness of any Facilities Management system – as with all database systems – is therefore totally dependent on the quality of the input and the data management – CAFM is not a ‘golden egg’ that will solve all Facilities Management problems but, if implemented and managed well, it can be a valuable addition to an organisation.