How Facilities Management Is Evolving In 2026: 2026 is a year when facilities management is evolving. It’s turning from conventional reactive maintenance practices into a data-centric discipline driven by insights from multiple sources. The new information-based approach is a consequence of changing regulatory pressures and hybrid work stabilization. It’s also due to changes in industry and the demand for different types of commercial spaces.
In this guide, we look at some of the ways that facilities management is evolving in 2026 so you can be completely up to date.
Enhanced compliance and governance
One of the main ways facilities management is changing in 2026 is via improvements in appliance governance and security. A lot of regulations applying to ESG reporting and building safety now mean that digital compliance is embedded in requirements. Governments need businesses to follow high-tech approaches to automate all of the regulations that now apply to companies, ensuring that they meet strict standards.
What’s interesting about these approaches is that it improves workflows for audits and security. It also means that workers are freed up for higher-value work that they wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.
Integrated workplace technologies
At the same time, we’re seeing companies make more use of integrated workplace technologies. These include sensors, calendars and identity protocols to connect more pieces of the jigsaw together.
Most workplaces have technology but it is not integrated. This means that it’s impossible to unify data sources to ensure quality or enable cross-department collaboration. It also makes it more difficult to operate when managing hybrid environments.
But with integrated technologies, all systems talk to all other systems. This means that facilities can make more intelligent decisions based on all the data that they have available.
Mobile-first workforce enablement
At the same time, I was witnessing the introduction of mobile-first workforce enablement. These technologies mean that teams can work with each other and provide real-time updates no matter where they are. For managers, it makes reporting and task supervision easier.
The main benefit of mobile-first operations is responses. Team members can get in touch from any location quickly. This reduces admin and improves the agility of the workforce. At the same time, it enables new methods of operating. Field operatives can go to work sites a long distance from head office and still get all the support they need for each project.
Life cycle-based capital planning
More mundanely, 2026 is ushering in the era of life-cycle based capital planning. These approaches prioritize data-informed planning over short-term fixes. For example, it may be more cost-effective to ask flat roofers to fit a new type of roof than to replace the existing one. It could also be better to add specific emergency systems, like water sprinklers, than to avoid that, even if building regulations permit it.
What’s interesting about this approach is that it uses maintenance data. This information determines what capital investments are worthwhile and which aren’t. It also helps to avoid costly emergencies down the line, while also ensuring that buildings and surrounding structures are more resilient.
This comes at a time when budgets are tight. Many companies are looking for ways to make their on-site operations more efficient.
Resilience and management focus
Related to this last point, facilities management is now prioritizing resilience above many other criteria, taking into account multiple factors that might affect workplace operation. This means that many companies are now seeing their places as more than just physical buildings but interconnected nodes in a wider network that needs protecting. For this reason, there is more compliance automation and performance standard strengthening. Integrated risk strategies are making facilities more reliable, including dealing with risks like climate change (such as flooding) and supply chain issues which were an issue during the pandemic.
Smart buildings and IoT integration
The Internet of Things is going mainstream. Despite a slow start, more companies are realizing the benefits of using these systems. Adding sensors and real-time monitoring creates a full picture of information for the firm as a whole, allowing it to track the variables that matter to it. For example, many companies are now recording things like energy usage and air quality. They’re also putting sensors on machines and even products to determine their conditions and when they might require maintenance.
Smart space utilization is also a big motivation. A lot of companies want to be able to use their existing space better, something which has held many of them back historically. Once they achieve responsive environments, they can meet customer demands and develop better relationships with their suppliers.
Sustainability as an operational expectation
2026 is also seeing sustainability as an operational expectation at the facilities level. ESG goals and the drive towards a more circular economy mean that companies need to take these factors into consideration when performing FM.
Data-driven sustainability is better able to determine quantifiable results. With proper IoT and analytics in place, it’s easier to see where operations are succeeding and where they’re falling behind.
AI-driven automation
Another factor featuring heavily in facilities management in 2026 is the renewed drive for AI-based automation. Many companies are looking to use artificial intelligence to manage their essential workplace systems. For example, algorithms can now predict when the equipment will fail. They base this on their databases of prior failures, and the likelihood that failures will occur.
AI is also useful for optimizing energy use. Many companies find that they can reduce their bills substantially compared to their competitors when they use the technology, increasing their margins. There is even the ability now to use agent-based AI to automate workflows at the FM level, as facilities managers are leveraging this technology to reduce downtime and the costs they incur.
Data analysts
Finally, facilities management in 2026 will soon be benefitting from the rise of FM data analysts. These roles are solely for the purposes of deeply analysing the success of facilities management moving away from a pure data collection approach.
According to industry reports, facilities management requires strategy to work properly. It is more than just operational support these days because of the complexity of the challenge.
