From SFG20, an exhibitor at Facilities & Estates Management Live.

The NHS estate has long faced a serious and growing challenge: an overwhelming £13.8 billion backlog in essential maintenance, with costs only rising. Delays in upkeep not only endanger patient safety but can also expose Trusts to legal risks, including fines and increased long-term expenditure.

33% of building maintenance professionals reported “defending maintenance budget cuts” as their biggest challenge*, a problem intensified by the Building Costs Information Service’s prediction of a 4.8% rise in maintenance costs in 2023.

In response, Paul Bullard, Product Director at SFG20, the industry standard for building maintenance specification, has shared a step-by-step framework to help address the £13.8 billion maintenance backlog, even amid tight financial constraints.

Reflecting on the true costs of inaction and the risks posed by failing assets, the following strategies identify proven methods for healthcare estates to manage budgets better during inflationary pressures. 

1. Establish risk appetite and tolerance

To begin addressing the NHS maintenance backlog, organisations must first define their risk tolerance and appetite, the level of risk they are willing to accept to meet strategic objectives. 

Clearly articulating this helps inform cost forecasting and ensures consistency across decision-making and governance. A well-defined risk appetite supports better prioritisation, reduces uncertainty, and strengthens spending reviews and resource allocation.

2.                  Fix your asset register

Accurate and up-to-date asset registers are critical for maintenance planning, compliance, and safety in NHS estates. They are also a fundamental part of the Golden Thread of Information under the Building Safety Act 2022, supporting transparency and accountability throughout a building’s lifecycle. 

Despite this, 43% of organisations report poor data accuracy, and 6% have no register at all**. 

After creating or fixing your asset register, the next step is to match your assets within your asset register to the right maintenance tasks.

3.                  Understand your statutory obligations

Delays in maintenance, especially those that are critical, can result in ward closures, cancelled treatments, and increased costs across NHS estates. While non-statutory tasks fall outside legal requirements, completing them can often play a key role in preventing asset failure and minimising disruption. 

The Government’s FMS 002: Asset Data standard emphasises the use of SFG20 criticality codes as a basis for producing complete and accurate asset registers. Aligning with this guidance helps healthcare estates plan effectively, manage risk, and maintain safe, compliant operations.

4.                 Cost forecasting

Effective maintenance planning depends on applying compliant, standardised tasks to each asset and accurately forecasting the associated costs. Facilities management technologies, such as CAFM systems with integrated finance modules, can support this by linking asset data with cost and compliance tracking.

Without this structure, NHS trusts may struggle to communicate risk profiles and budget needs to decision-makers, hindering efforts to reduce the growing maintenance backlog and increasing exposure to serious legal, financial, and reputational consequences.

When SFG20 spoke to David Hemming, Civil Engineer and leading FM expert at NHS Shared Business Services, he said:

“Currently, the NHS uses the Premises Assurance Model when they [the board of each trust] look at assurance… they could benefit from having a more directed tool to really understand their resources and their finances, to say this is what we need to get on top of it.

“This is important because if you’re doing asset management well and you’ve integrated tools like SFG20 into CAFM systems, asset management systems, enterprise asset management systems etc., then you should have a clear horizon of when you need to undertake tasks, what it’s likely to cost and the risks involved by not doing it. 

“This is important because it gives you a rich risk picture that you can then use to brief the decision makers about finances and resources.

“Doing things in a standardised way is invaluable and therefore doing a procurement/investment strategy that is linked to that, can save you thousands and thousands of pounds.”

According to a recent survey, by SFG20, the industry standard for building maintenance, 34 per cent of facility maintenance professionals do not update their asset registers or do not know how frequently they are updated. Only nine per cent believed their asset registers to be 100 per cent accurate and up to date, with a further 37 per cent stating their register is at most 50 per cent accurate. 

SFG20 surveyed 190 professionals from various sectors to assess challenges and priorities regarding facility management for its State of FM Report 2025. The survey reveals that asset registers were the leading investment priority for respondents over the next three years, spotlighting the industry-wide issue that FM professionals face in keeping their registers complete and updated. 

The report also reveals that almost a third of FM professionals (31 per cent) still keep their asset registers in a spreadsheet. A further five per cent have a mix of software, spreadsheets, and paper-based registers, splitting their assets across different formats. 

Davy Clark, Implementation Consultant at SFG20, said: “One of the most common issues we encounter is the lack of consistency and specificity in asset registers. Too often, assets are recorded with vague descriptions like ‘boiler’ or ‘pump,’ making it incredibly difficult to map them to the correct maintenance tasks. 

“Several factors contribute to this challenge, including the collection of asset data across large estates, which may have been surveyed at different points in time and by different people, causing inconsistencies in data quality and accuracy. 

“This leads to inefficiencies, increased risk, and compliance challenges. Ensuring asset data is consistently structured, complete, and digitally maintained in a single source of truth is essential—not only for effective planned maintenance but also for long-term cost savings and compliance.”

Words by Mike Talbot, CTO at SFG20, the industry standard for building maintenance

Artificial Intelligence is no longer a buzzword or a futuristic concept. Across many sectors, AI is being adopted in various ways, with the building maintenance industry closely following behind. 

AI in the building maintenance industry leverages machine learning algorithms and data analytics to enhance efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and overall performance of building maintenance processes. Used for predictive maintenance, energy management, and smart building management systems, AI technologies come with a host of benefits. 

Recent technologies can summarise maintenance schedules for quick reference, highlighting asset types and locations, easing the process for engineers and facility managers. Similarly, AI is capable of analysing asset register data to automatically identify and map appropriate maintenance schedules to each asset – a task that frequently takes months to do manually. 

What are the pros of using AI technologies in a building maintenance strategy? 

1. Cost reduction 

AI can automate the repetitive tasks associated with setting up maintenance plans and ensuring they are optimal and legally compliant. Efficient and effective maintenance relies on a strong understanding of the facilities and assets that require maintenance and an informed plan to address them. AI provides a new capacity to create a deeper understanding that would be unfeasibly costly to implement using human resources.

AI can be used to minimise maintenance costs by decreasing unplanned downtime and optimising energy consumption. 

As AI provides real-time data analysis and insights that can help facility managers make more informed operational decisions, this can reduce the likelihood of costly errors in judgment. 

2.  Time-efficiency 

By automating tasks, AI tools can help maintenance professionals work more efficiently by streamlining processes and cutting down on timely repetition. AI software tools can assist with many traditionally manual tasks, speeding up repetitive processes and helping to standardise data. In the long term, this can save those responsible for building maintenance both time and effort, which can be used in more strategic, high-impact areas.

3.  Maximises asset lifespan 

AI-powered solutions can extend asset lifecycles by predicting potential failures before they occur. By recommending the best timing for maintenance (not applicable for statutory requirements), AI can, in turn, prevent both over-maintenance, which can cause unnecessary wear, and under-maintenance, which can lead to premature failure.

4.  Provides more reliable reporting and analytics 

AI in facilities management is incredibly helpful for collecting, analysing, and simplifying the array of information involved with building maintenance and its associated responsibilities, including diagnosing problems. 

Machine-learning AI can interpret data from various sources, including sensors and real-time user inputs, to identify patterns and make intelligent, personalised predictions about building management needs, for example, previous patterns of equipment failure.  

In the past, data had to be sorted manually, with decisions often being made without clear, evidence-backed reasoning. Now, through machine-learning AI, data reporting and analytics can be achieved faster and more reliably than ever before, lowering the risk of human error. 

What are the cons of leveraging these technologies?

1. High initial costs

Despite its benefits, the implementation of AI in building maintenance is not without challenges – the most obvious being the initial cost of deploying AI systems, such as sensor installation and integrating AI solutions. This upgrade can be particularly costly for older buildings. 

Implementing AI systems can require significant upfront investment in hardware, software, and training, so careful planning and budgeting are essential for a successful and cost-effective onboarding.

2.  Data Privacy and Security Concerns 

As AI systems collect and process large amounts of sensitive building and occupant data, this may cause privacy and cybersecurity concerns for an organisation.  

As AI systems require high-quality, consistent data to function effectively, poor or incomplete data can lead to inaccurate insights or decisions.  In other words, AI is only as good as the data that goes into it. 

Ensuring this data is collected, stored, and used in compliance with privacy regulations is crucial. 

3.  Overreliance 

Industry professionals must always approach AI adoption with caution and not fall into a cycle of overreliance. Artificial intelligence tools are not infallible; they require rigorous data validation and continuous human oversight. Facility management systems are complex and demand nuanced interpretation that AI algorithms may not fully comprehend

According to a recent survey, improving compliance and safety continues to be the number one priority for facilities management professionals. However, 14% of respondents expressed uncertainty about meeting building maintenance compliance standards, while only 23% plan to increase their investment in compliance and safety measures.

SFG20, the industry standard for building maintenance, surveyed 190 professionals from various roles in the built environment sector to assess challenges and priorities regarding facility management. The survey reveals that while the industry faces significant pressure, professionals are focused on innovation and improvement, with clear priorities and strategies for 2025.

Compliance and safety as top priority

The survey reveals that improving compliance and safety remains the top priority for facilities management professionals. A significant 77% of respondents reported compliance to be at least a moderate challenge, reflecting the ongoing issue of meeting complex regulatory requirements. 

Budget constraints and cost reduction

Budget constraints are currently the biggest challenge in the industry, as reported by 75% of respondents. At the same time, reducing operational costs is the second biggest priority for FM professionals. Rising energy costs, inflation, and supply chain disruptions all make it increasingly difficult to deliver quality and cost-efficient services within tight budgets.

As organisations strive to meet compliance demands and implement essential safety measures, 40% report a budget decrease over the past year, with 13% citing a significant reduction. 69% of facilities management professionals have the same or less budget than the previous year.

Meanwhile, staffing shortages are widening the talent gap in facilities management, with 80% of professionals reporting their facility management teams are understaffed, and 24% stating they are significantly understaffed.

Technology adoption 

Digital transformation has become a core focus within the FM industry, as organisations seek to lever technology to improve efficiency, reduce operational costs, and enhance compliance. 53% of respondents rated digital transformation as a ‘highly important’ strategic priority for their organisation. 

However, high costs remain a major obstacle to technology adoption in facilities management, with 33% stating it as their main barrier. Many facility management teams work under tight budget constraints, making large-scale investment in digital advancements a struggle. Other challenges revealed were: integration with existing systems (19%), a lack of internal expertise (16%), and a resistance to change within the organisation (17%).

Kirsty Cogan, Managing Director at SFG20, says:

“As the facilities management industry evolves, improving the quality of asset data, achieving compliance, and controlling costs will be the key priorities in 2025. The survey findings highlight the significant pressures faced by professionals in the sector but also show how they are driving change and innovation to address these challenges.

“It’s encouraging to see the industry increasingly prioritising technology as a vital tool for achieving compliance and reducing operating costs. To overcome the significant challenges facing the sector, technology must play a central role. Recognising this, SFG20 are incorporating technologies such as AI search and asset mapping into our software and developing API integrations to assist industry with FM systems connectivity. A great way to start is to build a technology roadmap that is aligned to your organisation’s objectives”