IFMA Certified Facility Manager CFM Exam Practice Test

Answer : B

Performing independent audits (Option B) ensures financial transparency, accountability, and compliance with industry standards.

Why Option B is Correct?

Internal or external audits verify accuracy, compliance, and identify errors.

Maintains credibility and trust with tenants.

IFMA's Finance & Business Core Competency highlights audits as a best practice in lease accounting.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect?

Option A: Internal checks help but do not provide independent verification.

Option C: Having a tenant's accountant review internal records creates a conflict of interest.

IFMA Core Competency: Finance & Business -- Lease financial accountability.

Source: IFMA Lease Accounting Guide (IFMA, 2023).

Answer : A

A strategic facility management plan should align with the organization's business plan (Option A) to ensure that facility operations support overall business goals.

Why Option A is Correct?

Facility Management (FM) must be integrated with the organization's objectives to enhance efficiency, productivity, and financial sustainability.

IFMA's Leadership & Strategy Core Competency emphasizes that strategic facility planning must be in alignment with the organization's future needs and direction.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect?

Option B (Reducing FM costs): Cost reduction is a factor, but not the main driver of strategic planning.

Option C (Obtaining a larger budget): A budget increase may help, but a strategic plan must first justify business alignment before funding is considered.

IFMA Core Competency: Leadership & Strategy -- Strategic facility planning aligned with business objectives.

Source: IFMA Facility Strategic Planning Guide (IFMA, 2023).

Answer : D

The first step in developing a strategic facility technology plan is to conduct an assessment of existing technology to establish a baseline. This includes:

Evaluating current systems and infrastructure to identify strengths and weaknesses.

Determining gaps between current and desired capabilities.

Understanding integration challenges with future technologies.

Why the other options are incorrect:

(A) Determining employee skills comes after identifying technological needs.

(B) Reviewing corporate plans for renovations is important but does not directly address technology planning.

(C) Researching new technologies is valuable but should be done after assessing what is currently in place.

Answer : C

A pre-bid meeting is held before the submission deadline to clarify scope, requirements, and evaluation criteria. It provides vendors an opportunity to ask questions and seek clarification, ensuring they understand project expectations and submit strong proposals. This step reduces errors, improves competition, and ensures fair evaluation.

Answer : C

Root cause analysis (RCA) (Option C) is NOT a standard evaluation method for new equipment investments.

Why Option C is Correct?

RCA is used to identify failures, defects, or inefficiencies in existing systems, rather than to evaluate new investments.

Equipment investment evaluations focus on financial and economic assessments, such as Net Present Value (NPV) and Net Benefit Analysis (NBA).

IFMA's Finance & Business competency states that FM professionals must use financial metrics like NPV and NBA when making capital investment decisions.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect?

Option A (NPV analysis): Net Present Value (NPV) is a key financial metric to determine the long-term return on investment (ROI) for new equipment.

Option B (Net Benefit analysis): This method assesses total benefits vs. total costs of acquiring new equipment.

IFMA Core Competency: Finance & Business -- Using financial tools for capital planning.

Source: IFMA Facility Investment Guide (IFMA, 2023).

Answer : C

For change management to be effective, in addition to vision, incentives, action plan, and resources, skills (Option C) are required to ensure successful execution.

Why Option C is Correct?

Skills enable leaders and employees to adapt to new processes, technologies, or structures in facility management.

Change management is a structured approach that requires communication, conflict resolution, and leadership abilities to ensure smooth transitions.

IFMA's Leadership & Strategy Core Competency emphasizes that FM professionals must have the skills to implement and sustain change initiatives successfully.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect?

Option A (Directives): Simply issuing directives does not guarantee successful change---people must be trained and skilled to adapt to change.

Option B (Experience): While experience helps, change management focuses on equipping people with new skills to handle evolving challenges.

IFMA Core Competency: Leadership & Strategy -- Developing necessary skills for effective change management.

Source: IFMA Change Management Guide (IFMA, 2023).

Answer : C

CAFM stands for Computer-Aided Facility Management (Option C), a software system used to manage and optimize facility operations.

Why Option C is Correct?

CAFM software helps FM professionals track assets, schedule maintenance, manage space, and streamline operations.

IFMA's Technology Core Competency highlights the importance of digital tools like CAFM in modern facility management.

Why Other Options Are Incorrect?

Option A (Computerized Assistant Facility Management): This is not a recognized term in FM.

Option B (Certified Associated Facility Manager): CAFM is a technology, not a certification.

IFMA Core Competency: Technology -- Use of CAFM in facility operations.

Source: IFMA Digital Facility Management Guide (IFMA, 2023).