Without a pre-planned or preventative building maintenance strategy, you are essentially operating your building according to luck and chance. You don’t know when something is going to go wrong that could cost you unnecessary money on repairs, impair productivity, or even cause unscheduled downtime by rendering your premises unusable.
What Is Preventative Maintenance?
Preventative maintenance or servicing is a proactive approach to identifying and resolving issues with equipment or building systems, before they escalate into major problems. A typical preventative maintenance schedule will involve regularly inspecting and maintaining assets, heating systems, electrical infrastructure, and equipment to ensure that they are in optimal condition, and may involve scheduled tests, checks, calibrations, and spot replacements that prevent minor issues from escalating into costly repairs later on.
Preventative maintenance can also identify emerging issues before they cause physical damage, helping extend the life of equipment, increase efficiency, and reduce downtime.
What Are The Benefits Of Preventative Maintenance?
Investing in a personalised schedule of planned preventative maintenance is, therefore an extremely beneficial strategy for commercial businesses and landlords. A preventative maintenance schedule will help avoid emergency shutdowns and critical faults, extend the life of equipment, air conditioning, electrical wiring, and heating systems, and improve overall efficiency, as well as minimising unexpected repairs.
It will also usually save you money compared to purely reactive repairs, as many faults, if they are detected at an early enough stage, can be quickly and inexpensively remedied without having to make extensive replacements. Efficiency is also improved through preventative maintenance, as assets that are regularly serviced will be able to operate at peak performance throughout their life cycle, without as much age-related decline and heightened risk from mechanical faults. You’ll also get better value from your equipment and building infrastructure, through lower repair bills and more consistent output over time.
How Often Should Preventive Maintenance Be Performed?
This very much depends on the assets, equipment, and systems you need to maintain, and the complexity of your servicing requirements. Broadly speaking, we recommend preventative maintenance at least once a year for most equipment and systems – although some plant and equipment may require more regular inspections, e.g. every month, every few months, or even more regularly depending on the usage intensity and complexity. For a personalised assessment of your needs, we recommend consulting with a professional about your asset base and building maintenance requirements, to determine the best schedule for your organisation.
Mechanical And Electrical Contracting Services From Lowe & Oliver
At Lowe & Oliver, we offer a range of planned preventative maintenance services for all electrical and mechanical systems in commercial and public buildings. For more information, please claim a copy of our free guide: How To Choose A Mechanical And Electrical Contractor, or speak to one of our team directly by calling 01865730881.
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