AFE Facilities Management & Operations 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A facility manager needs to calculate the deferred maintenance backlog ratio. Which formula is correct?
- Backlog cost ÷ Annual operating budget
- Backlog cost ÷ Current replacement value (CRV) (Correct answer)
- Backlog cost ÷ Total square footage
- Backlog cost ÷ Number of assets
Correct answer: Backlog cost ÷ Current replacement value (CRV)
The deferred maintenance backlog ratio is expressed as deferred maintenance cost divided by current replacement value, with industry benchmarks typically below 5%.
Question 2: Which indoor air quality (IAQ) standard provides minimum ventilation rates for acceptable air quality in commercial buildings?
- ASHRAE 90.1
- ASHRAE 62.1 (Correct answer)
- ASHRAE 55
- ASHRAE 189.1
Correct answer: ASHRAE 62.1
ASHRAE Standard 62.1 establishes minimum ventilation rates and other measures to provide acceptable indoor air quality in occupied commercial and institutional buildings.
Question 3: What is the key distinction between a 'hard' facility service and a 'soft' facility service?
- Hard services involve physical building fabric; soft services involve people-focused support services (Correct answer)
- Hard services are permanent; soft services are temporary
- Hard services are managed in-house; soft services are outsourced
- Hard services are mandatory; soft services are optional
Correct answer: Hard services involve physical building fabric; soft services involve people-focused support services
Hard FM services relate to the physical structure and fixed plant (HVAC, electrical, plumbing), while soft FM services are support functions like cleaning, security, and catering.
Question 4: In energy management, what does the term 'energy use intensity' (EUI) measure?
- Peak demand in kilowatts per hour
- Total energy consumed per square foot of building area annually (Correct answer)
- The efficiency ratio of HVAC equipment
- Percentage of energy from renewable sources
Correct answer: Total energy consumed per square foot of building area annually
EUI expresses a building's annual energy consumption divided by its total floor area (kBtu/sq ft/yr) and is a standard benchmark for comparing building energy performance.
Question 5: When managing a critical facility, what is the primary purpose of establishing a Tier classification (Tier I–IV) per the Uptime Institute?
- To categorize the age of building infrastructure
- To define redundancy levels and expected availability of infrastructure systems (Correct answer)
- To classify the security clearance level required
- To rank facilities by their energy efficiency
Correct answer: To define redundancy levels and expected availability of infrastructure systems
The Uptime Institute's Tier classification defines progressively higher levels of redundancy and fault tolerance, from Tier I (basic) to Tier IV (fault tolerant with 99.995% availability).
Question 6: A facilities team is implementing ISO 41001. What management system does this standard govern?
- Environmental management
- Facility management systems (Correct answer)
- Occupational health and safety
- Energy management
Correct answer: Facility management systems
ISO 41001 specifies requirements for an effective facility management system, providing a framework for consistent FM delivery and organizational performance improvement.
Question 7: What is the purpose of a 'chargeback' system in corporate facilities management?
- Tracking energy rebates from utilities
- Allocating facility costs to specific business units or cost centers (Correct answer)
- Billing tenants for common area maintenance
- Recovering costs from equipment warranty claims
Correct answer: Allocating facility costs to specific business units or cost centers
A chargeback system allocates facility operating costs—space, services, utilities—back to the business units that consume them, improving cost transparency and accountability.
AFE Facilities Management & Operations 3
A facility manager needs to calculate the deferred maintenance backlog ratio.
Which formula is correct?