Dive Brief:

• Facilities managers experiencing project delays is the norm, not the exception, a survey by the International Facility Management Association finds.
• Almost three-quarters of facilities managers responding to a survey IFMA conducted at the end of last year say up to 40% of their projects were delayed at the time. Another 16% reported delays for an even higher portion, or all, of their projects, the group says in its Pulse survey for the last quarter of 2025. 
• Delays are driven mainly by changes to the scope of the projects and supply chain disruptions, according to the findings. The report doesn’t say what’s causing the scope and supply chain issues, but findings elsewhere in the report suggest tariffs could be playing a role. Nearly two-thirds of facilities managers say tariffs have led them to either rescope or defer projects, change vendors, or shift sourcing to domestic or regional suppliers, among other steps they’ve had to take in response. “Tariff and trade shifts have affected most facility programs,” the report says.

Dive Insight:

Delays to facilities projects are particularly problematic for organizations that are in the business of providing professional, scientific or technical services, as well as those involved in transportation and warehousing. Public administration organizations are also impacted by delays. 

Almost all, or 95%, of professional, scientific and technical companies whose facilities managers participated in the survey have dealt with delays, including almost 10% of companies that have had every one of their projects delayed. In the transportation and warehouse sectors, almost 15% have had all of their projects delayed. None of the respondents in the transportation and warehouse sectors said they had no delays. 

“For most FMs, the biggest schedule risks [include] materials and equipment that do not arrive when needed,” the report says. 

Regulatory approvals and funding delays are other significant drivers of delays. To a lesser extent, quality and safety problems also play a role, the report says. 

Delays are less of a problem for utilities and information companies — like those providing telecommunications and broadcasting services. “Few respondents in these sectors reported experiencing the highest delay bands,” the report says. IFMA did not analyze why some sectors are hit harder than others, but it might be that these sectors are less exposed to tariff impacts. 

In an effort to put tighter controls on their projects, facilities managers said they’re taking more steps contractually to manage the vendors they work with. Just over half (55%) say they’re adding cybersecurity requirements and almost half (47%) say they’re adding price-escalation clauses, with 45% of respondents saying they’re adding provisions about environment, social and governance, or ESG, policies. Shorter price-hold periods and stronger guarantees are other provisions being added into contracts, along with strengthening bonding, incentives and digital-information clauses, IFMA says. 

“These findings indicate projects are continuing to move forward but with tighter controls regarding pricing, compliance and information,” IFMA says in the report, which also looked at hiring issues, constraints on facilities managers’ time as well as tariff impact exposure. 

Findings are based on global survey responses from 1,200 facilities managers and 200 other professionals in the field. Findings were weighted to reflect the United States and Canada as the two countries with the highest number of respondents.