The Best Facilities Management Software for Schools
We tested the most popular facilities management systems for schools on the market and selected our favorites for administrations of all sizes, from independent schools to universities. See our results below.
- Customizable request forms
- Discounts for public K-12 schools
- Department-specific views
- Create asset hierarchies
- Track asset lifecycles
- Add unlimited assets and facilities
- Easy-to-use mobile app
- Free plan with unlimited requesters
- In-app communication
Facilities management software for schools includes tools such as work order processing, maintenance management, asset tracking, and reporting. We analyzed top solutions for single school managers and university administrators to help you find the best fit.
- FMX: Best for K-12 School Districts
- eMaint CMMS: Best for Universities
- MaintainX: Best for Independent Private Schools
- Facilitron: Best for Renting School Facilities
- Click Maint: Best for Location-Based Work Orders
- MicroMain: Best Reporting Tools
FMX - Best for K-12 School Districts
FMX includes different work order requests that meet the needs of K-12 schools across an entire district. These include:
- Cleaning
- Incident
- IT
- General maintenance
- Security
Within each form, you can create custom fields to meet your specific facility needs. For example, in a maintenance request, the user can select from HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and any other categories you enter. From there, the user can choose the building it’s in, any attachments like photos or files, and other related questions. Plus, it automatically assigns it to the correct department based on the request type, so different teams like IT and electrical only see relevant submissions.
Automatically add all approved work requests to a shared calendar for admin users. Several filter options allow you to see events for the entire district or individual schools. This is ideal for organizations with district-wide maintenance departments to help plan schedules and prioritize tasks. If requests are rescheduled, easily drag and drop them to a different date and time on the calendar. It’s a great tool to help districts stay organized and resolve problems efficiently.
FMX includes a special pricing model for public K-12 schools based on student enrollment. These schools can also add unlimited users without additional cost. While pricing is entirely quote-based, subscriptions usually start around $3,000/year.
Read more on our FMX product profile.
eMaint CMMS - Best for Universities
eMaint CMMS’s asset management module is useful for universities tracking entire lifecycles across several campus facilities. The system is built to handle a high asset volume so that higher education institutions can track all equipment, regardless of size. The module lets you create custom hierarchies to organize equipment into different facilities. For example, you can assign laboratory equipment and instruments to a specific room within an overall building or department for a logical structure.
Universities can also track asset lifecycles for important facility equipment across the entire campus. Within an individual asset, view and manage different fields to help extend its useful life. This is crucial for universities managing tens or hundreds of facilities like dorms, science labs, and athletic complexes. The configurable fields include:
- Document management: Attach records like warranties, checklists, and diagrams for efficient maintenance.
- Work orders: You can view all past work orders assigned to the asset, helping you identify failure trends or view previous inspection results.
- Labor cost: See how much labor the asset has cost you throughout its history, helping you determine if it needs to be replaced.
eMaint lets you add unlimited assets, hierarchies, and PM schedules, making it a great fit for universities looking to expand. Most institutions will want to opt for the Professional package at $85/user/month, as it includes features like interactive image mapping and 100GB of document and image storage. While steeper than other software on the list, it’s a worthwhile investment to extend assets’ useful life.
See our full eMaint CMMS review for more info.
MaintainX - Best for Independent Private Schools
MaintainX is a straightforward, cost-effective option for independent K-12 private schools looking to optimize their maintenance operations. The work order management system is easy to use on both the desktop and mobile apps. It includes unlimited requester users so that all faculty members can request maintenance right from their phones. This helps schools upgrade from manual pen and paper requests that are disorganized and inefficient.
For example, say a teacher has a malfunctioning projector or notices a leaky ceiling tile. They can use the app and fill out the details, like the room number, any associated assets, and an image. Once they submit, the system automatically notifies the maintenance department, helping them accept or decline the request immediately. The maintenance assignee can text the teacher directly in the app for more streamlined communication.
The mobile and desktop apps have a modern interface with intuitive navigation, which helps teachers and other staff quickly submit requests without learning a complex system. For smaller schools, MaintainX offers a free plan with unlimited requesters and work orders. However, you can only have two repeating work orders per month, making it restrictive for schools that perform several inspections or preventive maintenance tasks. For an unlimited amount, you’ll need to upgrade to the $16/user/month Essential plan, which is still affordable compared to other systems like eMaint or FMX.
To learn more, visit our full MaintainX review.
Facilitron - Best for Renting School Facilities
The facility rental scheduling & reservations tool in Facilitron is a great option for schools that rent out their spaces for community events and other activities. Create a public site for renters to explore and add all your facilities, including gyms, cafeterias, computer labs, or standard classrooms. Add all the essential details within each entity, such as capacity, amenities, photos, and current rates. This helps community members ensure your space perfectly fits their event.
Additionally, Facilitron includes a calendar schedule of your school’s events. This reflects in the public reservations, so renters can only book available times to avoid double-scheduling. They can also set recurring weekly or monthly events if the days are available. Once they reserve the space, the public and private calendars automatically update to reflect the new booking. This makes it easy for schools to make additional income through their unused spaces while also helping the community.
The reservation tool can also rent out non-public facilities or schedule internal events. Simply navigate to the calendar and add an event manually with the required information and associated facility. This is great for organizing school sports practices, extracurriculars, and other events while still maintaining accurate public availability.
Facilitron offers schools a no-cost setup to create a community-facing storefront. Instead, they use a transactional business model and charge a service fee for all for-profit rentals. It also offers its own CMMS software, Facilitron Works, that you can integrate with the scheduling and rentals system. The downside is that if you have an existing CMMS, you must use them separately or switch to their proprietary system.
Click Maint - Best for Location-Based Work Orders
Click Maint’s location module allows schools to organize maintenance tasks throughout the building. Add locations down to the room level, with parent floors and buildings similar to asset hierarchies. For each space, create a QR code for teachers and faculty members to scan when maintenance is necessary. This helps keep track of common K-12 school maintenance tasks that aren’t necessarily tied to an exact asset, like a plumbing problem or spills on the carpet.
Scanning the QR codes in the mobile app instantly sends you to a new request form with the location pre-filled. Staff only need to add a title, description, priority level, and maintenance category. Add optional fields like images and assigned assets, and the request is done. This quick turnaround can help the maintenance staff organize requests and resolve critical issues faster.
Click Maint also offers affordable pricing for smaller districts and schools. Its all-in-one package starts at $35/user/month when billed annually. The plan comes with every feature, including PM scheduling, reporting, and asset management.
Read more about Click Maint here.
MicroMain - Best Reporting Tools
MicroMain offers extensive reporting capabilities to help colleges and large K-12 districts stay compliant and control costs. The module includes over 500 standard reports, some of which can help ensure compliance with different regulations, including:
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Track maintenance and upgrades to ensure dormitories and lecture halls meet accessibility standards with ramps and elevators.
- Federal, state, and local codes: These can include fire codes, building regulations, and zoning laws that vary from state to state. Micromain helps comply by keeping accurate records of inspections and maintenance results.
- Environmental protection and energy conservation acts: Develop and track long-term energy consumption reduction plans for your organization.
Additionally, the reporting module can help universities control costs and evaluate assets’ total cost of ownership. The module pulls data from the system, including preventive maintenance histories, assets, and facilities information. Quickly identify higher-cost buildings on campus and drill down into the root causes–whether it’s energy inefficiency, improper use, or recurring HVAC failures. This allows you to make data-driven decisions and ensure you remain under budget.
MicroMain is a strong option for large K-12 school districts and universities due to its large feature set and ability to handle high data volumes. Its pricing reflects this, as subscriptions start at $99/user/month for admin licenses and $45/user/month for technician licenses.
See our full MicroMain CMMS review to learn more.
Other Systems We Like
UpKeep is a CMMS with strong preventive maintenance scheduling and reporting. It can scale to meet single schools or universities, offering several plans that scale as you upgrade.
What is Facilities Management Software for Schools?
School facilities management software helps administrators maintain their physical assets and manage maintenance needs for their infrastructure. The systems help schools comply with local codes and regulations, reduce equipment downtimes, and efficiently process maintenance orders.
These platforms are subsets of the broader facility management category and are usually a CMMS or asset management system used to track equipment lifecycles and keep maintenance records. These platforms can accommodate your needs whether you administrate one school building or an entire university campus.
Industry Challenges
Managing school facilities comes with challenges unique to the education industry. Facilities management software for schools can help with obstacles like:
Aging infrastructure
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 38% of U.S. public schools were built before 1970, and the average main instructional building is 49 years old. These buildings include aging HVAC systems, plumbing, and electrical wiring requiring upgrades or replacements. The old infrastructure often leads to frequent repairs and equipment breakdowns that create challenges for students and staff.
Budget constraints
Public schools and universities often have tight budgets, which can make it difficult to fix every repair or upgrade high-cost assets. Lingering problems are addressed with lower-cost temporary solutions that only make them worse over time. In fact, it’s projected that U.S. public schools have a projected shortfall of $85 billion in yearly funding.
Inefficient Work Order Management
Many schools still rely on manual workflows when performing work orders. Whether it’s a pen-and-paper system or spreadsheets, these can cause bottlenecks in your maintenance department and longer equipment downtimes.
Key Features and Benefits
The key features of facilities management for schools include:
| Key Feature | Description | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Work Order Management | Let faculty submit requests to create work orders for maintenance issues. | Ensures maintenance teams complete tasks efficiently; Keeps track of maintenance history for assets and facility spaces. |
| Asset Management | Stores all asset information in one central database; Creates asset hierarchies to organize equipment by facility. | Tracks your equipment and facility infrastructure’s lifecycle so you know when they need to be replaced. |
| Preventive Maintenance Scheduling | Schedule preventive maintenance work orders based on time intervals or meter readings. | Automatically create work orders to help catch equipment breakdowns before they occur. |
| Reporting and Analytics | Track KPIs on a configurable dashboard and generate reports on maintenance data like average time to repair. | Ensure maintenance costs are under budget and teams efficiently complete work orders. |
| Mobile Functionality | Submit maintenance requests and complete work orders from your phone. | Makes it easier for staff to submit requests and helps maintenance teams complete work orders. |
| Space and Facility Scheduling | Schedule events and reserve facilities throughout the campus. | Helps the school make extra money and eliminates double-booking through better organization. |
| Compliance Management | Comply with building codes and inspection procedures. | Avoids costly fines due to lack of maintenance or code violations. |
Pricing Guide
For basic plans, CMMS costs start between $16 and $200/user/month. Systems also include onboarding costs for all price tiers, ranging from $600 to $2,500 upfront. The software are commonly priced through tiered packages, with higher tiers offering more features like asset management and open API. Most vendors use a per-user pricing model.
For example, MaintainX starts with a free plan, though it’s limited to basic work orders and requests. Its Essential plan is $16/user/month, extending its capabilities to unlimited repeating work orders and attached images. Next, the Premium plan is $49/user/month and adds several additional features like parts inventory, open REST API access, unlimited procedures, and cost tracking. Finally, the Enterprise plan is a custom quote with IoT sensor integrations and asset health insights.
Like any software, facilities management software for schools depends on what your administration needs regarding features and cost, as well as the size of your school or district.
| Software | Starting Price | Free Trial |
|---|---|---|
| Click Maint | $35/user/month | 30-day |
| eMaint CMMS | $69/user/month | No |
| Facilitron | Free (transaction-based fees) | N/A |
| FMX | Around $3,000/year | 14-day |
| MaintainX | Free plan, $16/user/month lowest paid plan | 30-day |
| MicroMain CMMS | $99/user/month | 14-day |
| UpKeep | $20/user/month | 7-day |
