Planned Preventative Maintenance Services - What, When and Why

Most businesses are required by law to carry out scheduled maintenance on their buildings heating, ventilation, power and services.

Regular inspections on services such as HVAC equipment and fire and security alarms, along with planned maintenance checks, are key in keeping facilities running smoothly and efficiently as well as minimising down periods or costly repairs.

So what is a planned preventative maintenance?

In facility management, scheduled maintenance, often referred to as Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) is a proactive approach to maintenance work, which is scheduled to take place regularly.

Preventative Maintenance services ensure that your business is meeting the statutory and regulatory compliance laws and guidance, set by the Government and regulatory bodies. They also protect the health and safety of employees and visitors on the premises.

Depending on the service in question, PPM’s can be performed either monthly, quarterly, seasonally, yearly, or at a customised timeframe.

When should you schedule planned maintenance?

It is important for the person responsible for the building to keep track of all planned maintenance to ensure legal compliance is being met.

Setting a schedule at the beginning of the year will enable you to inform building users know of maintenance periods in advance. Having a good idea of which maintenance tasks need to take place and when will make this easier.

Keeping abreast of multiple maintenance renewal dates and appointments can be difficult, especially if you’re hiring several different companies at once.

At Ftec, we provide a range of maintenance services and can help you manage your PPM’s, dealing with maintenance and providing multiskilled engineers on your behalf in line with your renewal dates

Routine maintenance and checks will need to be scheduled for the each of the following areas:

Mechanical Services

• Heating, ventilation & air conditioning (HVAC) systems

• Water systems

Electrical Services

• Power

• Lighting and emergency lighting

• Fixed wire testing (EICR)

• Portable appliance testing (PAT)

Fire and security systems

• Fire / security alarms

• Access controls

• CCTV

Soft services

• Cleaning

• Grounds maintenance

• Waste management

Why should you have a planned maintenance schedule?

Many businesses see planned preventative maintenance agreements as an extra financial commitment, however regular maintenance can reduce unnecessary down time, unforeseen emergencies and keep your systems running efficiently.

Relying on reactive maintenance can be costly in the long run. Proactive PPM’s will reduce the possibility of small issues going unnoticed and becoming big problems.

Even with a planned maintenance agreement in place, urgent reactive maintenance may still be required for emergencies beyond control.

A 24/7 emergency maintenance/repair service is advisable to minimise the disruption and financial loss from closing parts of a business whilst repairs take place.