How SFG20-Facilio Integration Can Make You Compliant and Optimize Building Performance

If you’re involved in building or facility maintenance, you’ve probably heard about SFG20. 

SFG20 is the go-to standard for building maintenance, offering a comprehensive library of schedules for over 70 asset types, including the building structure itself. 

Since its creation in 1990 by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), SFG20 has been a key resource for organizations across healthcare, education, government, retail, and residential sectors, helping them meet legal requirements and maintain safe, compliant buildings.

The standard provides a detailed list of maintenance tasks, color-coded by priority. Red tasks are the most critical—required by law or codes of practice to ensure compliance. SFG20 also outlines how often tasks should be performed and the specific skill sets needed, so you can be confident that the work is done right.

By following SFG20, building owners, facility managers, and maintenance teams can stay ahead of potential issues, meet regulatory requirements, and extend the life of their buildings and assets. Instead of sifting through manufacturer guidelines for each asset, you can easily refer to SFG20's 2,000+ schedules, saving you time and reducing the hassle.

SFG20 doesn’t just tell you what needs to be done; it also recommends how often the technician should carry out each task to avoid under- or over-maintaining and what skills are needed, ensuring that the task is performed seamlessly by the right technician. 

By using SFG20, FMs and FMSPs are setting themselves up for proactive maintenance, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and industry best practices and providing the best possible chance of realizing the full intended lifespan of a building and its assets.

In this guide, you’ll learn why you need SFG20, how to integrate it with Facilio, and the benefits that come with the integration.

Why is it important to have SFG20 standards?

Let’s consider the example of Lunar, which improved its maintenance revenues by 10%-12% and saved its clients over a third on equipment replacement costs by adopting SFG20. 

SFG20 also helped Lunar gain trust with existing clients and attract new ones. It allowed them to quickly and effectively show maintenance schedules, giving clients a better understanding of their equipment and maintenance needs.

In fact, over two-thirds (70%) of maintenance professionals state that staying compliant is the most significant problem in their business, according to a recent poll by SFG20.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that SFG20 is regularly used as the backbone for proposals to clients by companies like Lunar.

Here are the reasons why  SFG20 is needed:

1. Compliance with constantly changing regulations

Non-compliance with building maintenance legislation can lead to serious consequences, including:

• Audits, investigations, and inquiries
• Lawsuits
• Breach of contract
• Reputational damage
• Fines averaging £150,000
• Prison sentences
• Psychological impact

That’s why SFG20 has been the trusted standard to help you manage these risks. Its comprehensive library contains over 2,000 asset-specific maintenance schedules designed by a team of expert technical authors who regularly assess the latest legislation and best practices.

These easy-to-follow schedules outline exactly what needs to be done, how to do it, who should complete the task, and the frequency of maintenance—all you need to do is assign a date and ensure a qualified team member takes charge.

Also, it is in line with major standards like Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines. It offers a cohesive framework for maintaining your building to the highest standards.

Building owners, facility managers, facility management service providers (FMSPs), internal maintenance teams, contractors, and consultants can stay on top of the latest changes with ease with automatic content updates that allow you to choose when to implement them.

2. Standardization of maintenance tasks

The standard outlines specific maintenance tasks for each building system, specifying what needs to be done and how often. These tasks cover routine inspections, servicing, cleaning, and repairs. 

By following these guidelines, you can perform maintenance tasks at the right time, reducing the chances of equipment failure and extending the life of your assets. 

It also introduces a proactive approach with standardized maintenance schedules, including, but not limited to, HVAC, electrical systems, fire safety, plumbing, and building fabric (such as walls, floors, and roofs). 

SFG20 recommends maintenance frequencies, ensuring that tasks are performed at appropriate intervals. This prevents neglect or over-maintenance, optimizing the lifespan of building assets.

5. Enhanced risk management

SFG20 prioritizes safety by providing maintenance guidelines that help you manage risks and maintain a safe environment. 

It includes tasks specifically aimed at maintaining health and safety standards, such as regular inspections of fire safety systems and ventilation.

The standard helps you identify and address risks associated with building maintenance, like the failure of critical systems or hazardous materials. This proactive approach reduces the chances of accidents and keeps everyone in your building safe.

6. Save yourself from the reputational damage that comes with gross negligence

One of the biggest issues is that many people are using outdated versions of the SFG20 standard, thinking they're compliant with building maintenance laws. But the truth is, they’re taking huge risks because they don’t realize the standard is regularly updated to reflect the latest legislation.

Picture this: you're in court in 2024, holding up a 2019 SFG20 maintenance schedule to prove you take compliance seriously—what do you think the judge would say? 

The answer is simple: avoid this scenario entirely by keeping your license active and up-to-date with the latest standards. That’s where a solution like the SFG20-Facilio integration comes in.

Integrating Facilio with SFG20 Facilities-IQ Software Solution

Owning a facility or building involves maintenance tasks such as electrical system maintenance, cleaning, and landscaping. Now you can't stay on top of building maintenance all by yourself as a facility manager or FMSP managing multiple sites and projects. You’ll need the right technology like a connected CMMS by your side.

This is where Facilio comes in. Built with a platform-based approach, it is a SaaS-driven facilities management software that enables a connected ecosystem of tools, processes, and stakeholders to centralize and streamline building operations.

It brings together maintenance, asset management, and compliance into a single platform. This makes it easier for building owners, FMSPs and FMs to manage their properties efficiently.

Thanks to Facilio becoming one of the Founding Partners for SFG20’s newly launched Digital Partner Program, you can now stay ahead of regulatory changes and maintain assets in line with the latest industry standards, all without manual intervention.

1. Connected CMMS

With Facilio’s connected CMMS, you can easily incorporate SFG20’s maintenance schedules into your building operations. Here’s how:

• Purchase SFG20 License: First, you purchase the maintenance schedules you need from SFG20. These schedules are like a detailed checklist, guiding you on the maintenance tasks required for different asset categories, complete with timelines.
• Syncing with Facilio: Once you’ve got access to the schedules for your portfolio assets, you can use that allows integration with any partnered facility management system, whether it's CMMS, CAFM, or an integrated workplace management system (IWMS).

Here are the steps to sync with Facilio:

• Go to Work Order Settings in the Setup section of Facilio and find SFG20.
• Click on "Add Regime."
• Use the share link ID you got from FacilitiesIQ to add a regime.
• Click "Sync Now" after setting up the regime.

In a few seconds, all your schedules from FacilitiesIQ will turn into job plans in Facilio.

Check out the Video: Step-by-Step Guide to Integrate Facilio with SFG20

• Automated maintenance: Now that your schedules are imported, Facilio’s CMMS takes over, It automatically creates work orders for all the job plans. Plus, It has all the details from the asset category to the technician assigned.

Every asset is maintained according to the most current standards, ensuring you stay compliant with all regulatory requirements.

2. Up-to-date maintenance schedules

SFG20 updates its schedules every month to align with the latest statutory regulations to ensure compliance and accuracy. 

However, the process of manually verifying whether each job plan is current can be incredibly time-consuming and labor-intensive. This is where Facilio’s integration with Facilities iQ comes into play. 

With this integration, you receive timely notifications through the Facilities iQ app regarding any relevant updates to job plans. Instead of sifting through each plan yourself, you can simply review the notifications and with just one click, approve the updates. 

Why the SFG20-Facilio integration is a game-changer

Let’s talk about the real benefits you’ll see when you integrate SFG20 with Facilio for managing building maintenance and compliance:

1. Ensure compliance effortlessly 

Integrating SFG20 with Facilio makes compliance much easier. SFG20 provides a simple, step-by-step guide for meeting standards and completing necessary tasks. 

Facilio takes it a step further by automatically creating job plans that meet the latest regulations. This integration streamlines the compliance process and keeps you up to date with current requirements. 

You can manage maintenance easily, reducing the usual stress and complexity of compliance management.

2. Streamline maintenance operations 

Imagine having all your maintenance tasks, schedules, and work orders centralized in one place. That’s what you get with the SFG20-Facilio integration. 

This centralization means your maintenance operations are organized, prioritized, and executed efficiently—reducing downtime and boosting operational efficiency.

• For instance, if you’re a building owner managing over 50 properties, you can sync all your maintenance schedules from SFG20 into Facilio. 

Facilio then organizes these schedules, automatically creating work orders and assigning them to the right technicians. You’ll get well-coordinated maintenance operations that keep your tenants happy and satisfied.

3. Improve asset longevity 

Studies show that companies using CMMS solutions can extend the lifespan of their assets by up to 15-20%. This is proof that if you stick to SFG20’s standards through Facilio, your assets perform better and last longer.

For example, Facilio’s real-time monitoring detects a sudden increase in temperature in a data center’s cooling system. An alert is sent to maintenance staff, who address the issue promptly, preventing potential overheating and extending the lifespan of the cooling system.

This proactive approach leads to fewer breakdowns and extends equipment life.

4. Reduce work orders 

With Facilio, you can automate your work orders based on triggers like specific dates, times, alarms, and meter readings. When creating job plans, some maintenance tasks are scheduled to happen every month, while others occur every week. To make the best use of resources, any two or more tasks that are scheduled differently are combined into a single work order.

For instance, if a sensor spots a problem with your HVAC system in your facility, Facilio can instantly generate a work order for a technician to handle the issue. 

This helps avoid the hassle of having multiple technicians mistakenly assigned to the same problem because of manual errors or miscommunication.

Conclusion

SFG20 is the UK’s industry standard for building maintenance, offering critical protection against the life-altering risks faced by facility managers and building owners—especially in light of the Building Safety Act 2022.

When you integrate SFG20 with a connected CMMS like Facilio, SFG20 content flows into Facilio’s platform seamlessly, empowering you to streamline operations, reduce risks, and achieve operational excellence.

This integration automates syncing schedules, and the updating and managing of work orders. It’s a game-changer for facilities management, helping you stay compliant, extend the lifespan of your assets, cut down on manual tasks, and reduce complexity.

The best part about using a unified software platform with architecture designed for customization, flexibility, and scalability is that the platform can adapt to your unique needs, evolve with building demands, stay compliant with multiple industry standards, and grow seamlessly as your business expands.

For IFM service providers, an SFG20-integrated software solution becomes a key differentiator to win large enterprise clients. Explore how the Facilio-SFG20 solution can help you become the go-to choice for tech-led IFM services.