Maintenance costs are usually the second largest single expense component for facilities operation costs. Having a quantitative understanding of facilities operations lends itself to comparing the organisation to others. One common mistake people make when developing a benchmarking strategy is selecting only organisations within their own industry to benchmark against. It should also compare the facilities to the operation of other facility types. Comparisons across industries allows for estimating the potential that may exist for improvement. Analysis of more descriptive case studies and networking must take place in order
to raise the bar. Benchmarking can be an excellent measurement tool when comparing one facility to others in the portfolio. This type of benchmarking can help set company standards for performance and raise expectations through shared best practices. The majority of the metrics used to measure property performance are cost-centred, although some quality rating systems exist. Douglas, J. (1996) concludes that facilities performance measures allow managers to evaluate performance