There are two options for admission to the new higher professional examination (HFP) for Head of Facility Management and Maintenance:

• A federal diploma or higher education qualification (HFP, HF or FH) and at least two years of professional experience in a facility management or maintenance field
• An apprenticeship certificate or a secondary school leaving certificate (high school diploma, vocational or technical baccalaureate) and at least five years of professional experience in a facility management or maintenance field, including at least two years in a management position.

According to a survey on our education platform, the respondents' last training was so long ago (date of graduation):

• 17 percent under one year
• 7 percent one year
• 14 percent two to four years
• 24 percent five to ten years
• 10 percent more than ten years
• 28 percent have never done any further training

These answers show roughly who completed training in Facility Management and Maintenance and how long ago.

The training for the new Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) "Head of Facility Management and Maintenance" consists of the following 7 modules, which are completed individually:

Managing employees - Internal / external communication - Applying normative principles and safety regulations - Organizing areas of responsibility - Managing areas of responsibility financially - Developing personal skills - Providing and purchasing services.

These module completions are a prerequisite for admission to the federal final examination as Head of Facility Management and Maintenance. This consists of a short presentation and an expert discussion on your own diploma thesis, an expert discussion on selected topics from the course material and the written processing of a case (business case)

Further training to become a Head of Facility Management and Maintenance is part-time and takes 1.5 or 2 years. Lessons often take place either on a fixed weekday or on Friday afternoons and individual Saturdays. However, lesson times vary from school to school. In principle, you can continue to work alongside your studies. A workload of up to 80% is often recommended. If you would like to work more, find out about the teaching models at various schools.

Thanks to a survey of training graduates, we have a benchmark for the amount of self-study required for facility management training. According to this survey, graduates of further training courses spent the following amount of time per week on self-study:

• 1 percent less than 1 h
• 8 percent 1 - 2 h
• 20 percent 3 - 4 h
• 18 percent 5 - 6 h
• 19 percent 7 - 8 h
• 11 percent 9 - 10 h
• 8 percent 11 - 15 h
• 15 percent more than 15 h

If you have completed a Federal Professional Examination, an Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE), a College of Higher Education or a University of Applied Sciences, you need two years of professional experience in the field of facility management and maintenance to be admitted to the Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) for Head of Facility Management and Maintenance.

If you have completed an apprenticeship, a Federal Vocational Baccalaureate, a Specialized Baccalaureate or a Baccalaureate, you need five years of professional experience in Facility Management and Maintenance, including two years in a management role, to be admitted to the Advanced Federal Professional Examination (AFPE) for Facility Management and Maintenance.

To be on the safe side, check with the school of your choice about the required work experience.

For admission to the federal higher professional examination as Head of Facility Management and Maintenance

• a federal certificate or other higher professional education qualification (HFP, HF or FH) and at least two years of relevant professional experience in facility management and maintenance
• or an apprenticeship certificate or a vocational, technical or high school diploma and at least five years of relevant professional experience in facility management and maintenance, including at least two years of management experience

required.