A disclosure first
MUMTAZ runs facilities management contracts across the UAE, so this is not a neutral ranking of the best facility management companies in the country. It is the checklist we would use to appoint an FM contractor for a building we owned, and it applies to us as much as to anyone else.
1. What does "takeover" actually mean in their contract?
Facilities management is sold as a phrase and delivered as a scope. Ask for the scope schedule: which services are in (daily and hourly cleaning, light maintenance, pest control, water tank cleaning, waste, fit-out support), what the visit frequencies are, what is reactive and what is scheduled, and what is excluded. A contractor that cannot produce a scope schedule before signing will produce disputes after it.
2. Are the regulated services licensed in their own right?
Pest control inside an FM contract still has to be carried out by a municipality-approved contractor, water tank cleaning still has to be documented, and a food outlet inside the building still faces its own inspection. Ask whether the FM company holds those approvals itself or subcontracts them, and to whom. MUMTAZ runs pest control and cleaning as its own divisions, listed in category A on the Sharjah Municipality register for pest control and approved in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, so the approvals sit inside the contract rather than beside it.
3. One account, one file
The practical test of an integrated contractor is whether you get one account manager, one HSE file and one reporting format across cleaning, maintenance and pest control. Two suppliers blaming each other at an audit is the situation an FM contract exists to remove. Ask who you call, and what the monthly report looks like.
4. Documentation for your own audits
Ask what records the contractor keeps and hands over: visit logs, treatment reports, tank cleaning certificates, waste manifests, maintenance records, corrective actions. If your building is inspected, insured or audited, these are the pages that get asked for.
5. Certifications, insurance and the people
ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 tell you the company has a quality, environmental and safety system that has been audited by someone other than itself. Insurance covers the people on your site. Whether those people are employed or subcontracted decides how consistent the service is. MUMTAZ holds all three ISO standards and employs its technicians on its own visa and insurance.
6. Pricing you can read
A commercial AMC is quoted from a site survey, and the quotation should show the scope, the frequencies and the reporting it covers. For a residential property, ask whether a published package exists. MUMTAZ publishes a residential AMC on the facilities management page; the commercial contract is quoted from the survey.
7. Payment terms and continuity
Card and bank transfer should both be accepted, the invoicing cycle should be written into the contract, and the notice period should be reasonable. Ask what happens at handover if you leave: you should get your records.
8. Reviews and references
Read the Google listing rather than the testimonials page, and ask for a reference at a building like yours. Ours are on the Sharjah listing.
How to verify what we say about ourselves
Search AL MUMTAZ BLDG CLEAN & PEST CONTROL on the Sharjah Municipality register, ask for the ISO certificates, and check trade licence 546486, operating since 2006. Then put the same three questions to the other companies on your list.