Operations glossary

Plain definitions of the terms used in building, hotel and maintenance operations, from CMMS to turndown service.

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Building management system (BMS): A building management system (BMS) is either a control system that monitors and automates building equipment such as HVAC, lighting and pumps, or, more loosely, software for running building operations such as requests and maintenance.

CAFM (computer-aided facility management): CAFM (computer-aided facility management) is software that helps facility managers plan, run and report on a facility's space, assets, maintenance and support services such as cleaning, security and room bookings.
CMMS (computerized maintenance management system): A CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) is software that records an organization's assets and plans, assigns and tracks the maintenance work done on them, from work orders to preventive schedules and repair history.
Corrective maintenance: Corrective maintenance is maintenance carried out after a fault or failure has been detected, to restore an asset to a condition in which it can perform its required function.

Escalation: In operations, escalation is raising a task or request to a higher level of authority, such as a supervisor or manager, when it is overdue, at risk of missing its target, or beyond what the assignee can resolve.

Facility management (FM): Facility management (FM) is the organizational function that integrates people, place and process in the built environment, covering maintenance, cleaning, security, space and services, so buildings support the people who use them.
First response time: First response time is the time between a request being submitted and the first meaningful response from a person, such as a staff member accepting the task or replying to the requester.
Frontline workers: Frontline workers are employees who do their jobs on site or face to face with customers rather than at a desk, such as maintenance technicians, room attendants, cleaners, security officers and front-desk staff.

Guest request: A guest request is anything a hotel guest asks the property to provide, fix or arrange during their stay, such as extra towels, a repair, a late check-out or a wake-up call, which staff must then fulfil.

Housekeeping: In hotels, housekeeping is the department responsible for cleaning and preparing guest rooms and public areas, managing linen and amenities, and keeping room status accurate so rooms can be sold.

MTTR (mean time to repair): MTTR (mean time to repair) is the average time taken to restore a failed asset or service to working order, calculated as total repair time divided by the number of repairs in a given period.

Out-of-order room (OOO): An out-of-order (OOO) room is a hotel room removed from sellable inventory for a period, usually because of significant maintenance, repairs or renovation, so it cannot be assigned to guests.

Photo proof of work: Photo proof of work is a photo taken by the person who did a task and attached to it at completion, giving supervisors and requesters visual evidence of what was done, where and when.
Preventive maintenance: Preventive maintenance is planned maintenance carried out at set intervals or after a set amount of use, such as running hours, to reduce the likelihood of equipment failure instead of waiting for something to break.
Property management system (PMS): In hotels, a property management system (PMS) is the core software for reservations, check-in and check-out, room inventory, rates and guest billing. In real estate, PMS usually means software for leases, tenants and rent.

QR code requests: QR code requests are service requests submitted by scanning a QR code placed in a room, unit or space. The code opens a request form on the person's phone that already knows the location, so no phone call is needed.

Room status codes: Room status codes are short labels, such as VC (vacant clean), OD (occupied dirty) and OOO (out of order), that tell the front office and housekeeping whether each room is occupied, clean, inspected or unavailable.

Service level agreement (SLA): A service level agreement (SLA) is an agreed set of measurable service targets, such as how fast a request must be acknowledged and resolved, between a provider and its client or between internal teams.
Shift handover: A shift handover is the structured transfer of responsibility from one shift to the next, covering open tasks, unresolved issues, risks and anything the incoming team must know to carry on safely.

Task management: Task management is the process of creating, assigning, prioritizing, tracking and completing individual pieces of work, so that every task has an owner, a deadline and a visible status until it is done.
Turndown service: Turndown service is an evening housekeeping visit that prepares an occupied guest room for the night: tidying, folding back the bed covers, closing the curtains, emptying bins and refreshing used towels.

Work order: A work order is a record that authorizes and describes a specific piece of work, such as a repair, inspection or installation, and tracks who is doing it, by when and its status until it is completed and closed.

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