When a facility management contract deteriorates in month eight, the cause is usually located in week one. A proper transition begins before the start date. The incoming partner should conduct a full property audit covering asset inventory, equipment condition, existing SOPs, known problem areas, utility consumption baselines and the escalation history of the outgoing vendor. Without a baseline, there is nothing against which to measure improvement. Manpower transition is the most sensitive element. In most Indian FM transitions, a significant portion of the existing workforce is absorbed by the incoming contractor. This is usually sensible, since site knowledge is valuable, but it requires fresh verification, fresh documentation and clarity on continuity of service for statutory purposes. Equipment deployment should precede the start date, not follow it. A partner whose scrubber-drier arrives in week three has been operating manually for three weeks on a mechanised contract. SOP documentation should be co-authored with the client, not handed over. An SOP written by the contractor alone reflects what the contractor intends to do. An SOP written jointly reflects what the client actually needs. The first month should include a parallel review cadence, typically weekly rather than monthly, with the frequency reducing as stability is established. Issues raised in week two are correctable. The same issues raised in month six have become habits. Transitions that compress these steps into a weekend produce contracts that spend three years recovering.