What Is Facility Maintenance
A facility refers to a building, rooms, and areas created and built to serve a specific purpose. Maintenance keeps the property, assets, and equipment working appropriately by repairing, adjusting, correcting problems, etc., in the facilities. So, it is necessary to avoid costly unplanned downtime from failure.
A foundational element of business success is creating an efficient, productive, and safe environment. Facility maintenance is part of facility management and ensures that infrastructures and physical or capital assets fulfill their purpose and are fully utilized.
For facility maintenance to work in harmony, it requires better or even best practices, skilled workers, good partnerships, and the implementation of specific solutions. Proper supervision in the facilities can ensure the safety and security of the occupants.
Facility Maintenance for Commercial Buildings
Facility maintenance covers all the maintenance activities like cleaning, visual inspections, capital assets, minor adjustments, oil changes, etc. It is the process of increasing the utility of a building regularly.
Capital assets include land, buildings, machinery, medical devices, and commercial appliances. Minor adjustments include plumbing issues, repairing light fixtures, replacing worn-out floorings, etc.
FM includes:
- maintenance of all building systems to keep a facility running
(Plumbing, fire safety system, elevator system, electric system, lighting system)
- maintenance of business equipment in reliable working order
(mechanical assets, tools, computer systems, HVAC, medical equipment, office equipment, pieces of furniture)
- supervising the building itself to maintain a neat and safe environment
(roofings, doors including door locks, windows, exterior, and interior paintings)
- managing the spaces around the building for a pleasant environment
(landscaping, pest control, grounds maintenance)
General Types of Facility Maintenance
There are four general types of FM, these are:
Corrective Maintenance
It is the most common type among the four. Others call it “break/fix” work because it is part of any facility’s daily operations. Furthermore, the role of corrective maintenance is to identify and repair malfunctioning systems and equipment.
Types of Corrective Maintenance
- Scheduled Corrective Maintenance – needed but not required immediately.
- Unscheduled Corrective Maintenance – required immediately and without delay.
Here is an example of Scheduled and Unscheduled Corrective Maintenance:
- A maintenance technician performs an urgent heating system repair and notices dirty filters. So, the corrective maintenance request is to clean or replace the filters for efficiency improvement and prevent heat loss. (Unscheduled Corrective Maintenance)
- A spray nozzle is clogged, which causes the lubricant to flow appropriately. So, the work order created is to clear the blockage or replace the nozzle on the next inspection. (Scheduled Corrective Maintenance)
Preventive Maintenance
It is a proactive approach to maintenance. Preventive maintenance regularly checks the systems and equipment for minor problems and fixes them before a major failure occurs. That makes it the most dominant type.
Types of Preventive Maintenance
- Calendar-based Preventive Maintenance – scheduled based on a specific date or specified time intervals such as the number of days, weeks, or months
- Runtime-based Preventive Maintenance – scheduled based on specific measured runtimes such as number of hours, amount of miles, number of production cycles, or levels
Examples of Calendar-based and Runtime-based Preventive Maintenance:
- A work order for changing a conveyor belt is every 30 days. (Calendar-based Preventive Maintenance)
- A work order for an oil change assigned to a maintenance technician is after every 4,500 miles traveled by a vehicle. (Runtime-based Preventive Maintenance)
Predictive Maintenance
It is about analyzing equipment’s real-time data and evaluating its condition by monitoring. The predictive maintenance is a technique to detect possible defects and anomalies to fix them before failure occurs. It involves the principles of the statistical process and the most advanced and intensive type.
Some examples of Predictive Maintenance:
- Vibration Analysis – monitors the patterns and levels of a machine or equipment’s standard vibration to evaluate its overall condition.
- Oil Analysis – involves testing oil from machines to determine its condition. It’s likewise a blood test for machinery. This analysis will tell the lubricant’s composition, properties, contaminants, or leakage in the engine.
- Acoustic monitoring – is a method commonly used in industrial environments. This system is potent for the early detection of machinery failure via airborne sound analysis.
- Motor Circuit Analysis – is a method to determine the health condition of a motor. A variety of industries make use of this method of analysis to test new motor inventory.
- Infrared Technology – enables immediate tracking of operating conditions.
Predetermined Maintenance
In predetermined maintenance, the rules, regulations, and suggestions are from the original manufacturers rather than the maintenance team. Manufacturers usually provide guidelines upon purchase.
Types of Facility Maintenance Workers
Maintenance Technicians and Facility Managers are the two main types of FM workers.
Facility Managers
Facility managers work on both the strategic and operational levels. They are responsible for maintaining an organization’s buildings and meeting health and safety standards.
- Strategic – this includes taking responsibility for on-site visitors, overseeing the health and safety of occupants, and coordinating demands and supplies of facility services.
- Operational – maintaining a comfortable, functional, and safe environment for occupants.
Maintenance Technician
Maintenance Technicians maintain inventory, inspect buildings, and schedule repairs. They also conduct general maintenance and repairs on facility equipment and property structures.
The Role of Maintenance in Facility
As mentioned above, facility maintenance comes as a part of facility management. It consists of hard and soft facility management services.
Furthermore, when you refer to complex facility management services, you are referring to the management of the physical environment. These services ensure the safety, health, and welfare of occupants.
Examples of Hard Facility Management are:
- Lighting System
- Plumbing and Drainage
- Structural
- Heating
- Air Conditioning Maintenance
- Building Maintenance
- Fire Safety System
- Electricity and Water Maintenance
- Preventive Maintenance
Unlike complex facility management, soft facility management services refer to managing people and organizations. It improves the workplace by creating a more secure, pleasant working environment and more efficiency.
Examples of Soft Facility Management are:
- Landscaping
- Window Cleaning
- Cleaning Services
- Building Security
- Pest Control
- Post Management
- Waste Management
- Recycling
- Catering
- Space Planning
- Reception Services
- EHS Compliance (Environmental Health and Safety)
Buildings That Utilize Facility Maintenance
As we all know, a wide range of different facilities administer facility maintenance. The type of equipment in every facility may differ, but the importance of maintaining the facilities is generally the same.
-
Offices
Significant commercial buildings with HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) and boilers require regular service to maintain equipment working correctly and decrease the probability of incidents.
-
Hospitals
The OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) imposes strict guidelines, particularly on safety and sanitation. For this reason, maintenance is applied to conduct preventive maintenance on capital assets like imaging equipment.
-
Schools and University Campuses
Educational facilities have capital assets like research equipment that need maintenance. HVAC checks, leak and flood emergency repairs, and light replacement are also part of university facility maintenance.
-
Restaurants
Dishwashers, fryers, commercial cookers, refrigerators, and other integral equipment need regular maintenance service. This ensures they operate well and prevents faults that cost the business time and money.
-
Hotels and Casinos
Maintenance in these facilities requires extensive expertise. It also includes the upkeep of elevators, HVAC, refrigerators, phone lines, cable TV, personal computers, lighting fixtures, and room furnishings.
-
Zoos and Aquariums
Proper maintenance of zoos and aquariums is needed to provide a healthy and safe environment for employees, volunteers, guests, and the surrounding community. It also requires extensive knowledge of maintaining the habitats of animals and water creatures.
-
Churches
Like other hospitality facilities, churches also require professional maintenance to keep facilities operational and parishioners proud. It is not just about the facility’s physical appearance but also includes the electrical and Plumbing needs.
-
Sports Arenas and Stadiums
The top priority for sports facilities is keeping the players and fans entertained and safe. Furthermore, arenas and stadiums have thousands of seats and a legion of equipment. That’s why it is essential to incorporate maintenance to manage these assets.
Facility Maintenance Checklist
A checklist is a program’s building block. Generally, it is a list of items to check, verify, and inspect.
The maintenance checklist is an itemized list of maintenance tasks prepared. The following are a variety of ways how to organize a checklist:
- asset (roof, HVAC, boilers)
- system (electrical, mechanical)
- year (2019, 2020, 2021)
- season (summer, winter, fall, spring)
- interval (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly)
- trade contractor (landscaping)
- responsibility (in-house maintenance, contacted maintenance)
- priority (low, medium, high)
- skill level (consultant, owner, contractor)
Sources of Checklist
Sources of checklist depend on the party who has prepared the list, but they are all equally important.
- Contractor Checklist – is a short maintenance task built around the price point.
- Manufacturer Checklist – is more detailed than the contractor checklist. It is a maintenance task built around risk management.
- Consultant Checklist – This checklist is more impartial than a contractor and manufacturer checklist. It is a maintenance task built by subject matter experts.
- Internet Checklist – is published on the internet. Careful evaluation is needed.
Formats of Checklist
There are two primary formats of a checklist. These are:
- Time-based Maintenance (TbM) – routine maintenance task.
- Condition-based Maintenance (CbM) is a non-routine maintenance task that is more challenging to prepare than a time-based checklist.
The maintenance checklist becomes a maintenance schedule once placed into a calendar.
Kinds of Facility Maintenance Services Offered
Maintenance service means regular maintenance and repairs of the existing assets of the facility, structures, buildings, and others. However, big companies offer a wide range of services like support services, janitorial services, property and building management, space planning, accounting, security, records management, etc. Other companies offer limited maintenance and repair services, including lighting, minor plumbing, ceiling tile replacement, roof cleaning, painting, inspection, and property detailing.
In general, facility management companies monitor all these aspects of facility maintenance to operate effectively and efficiently.
Lighting Services
This means servicing all your interior and exterior lighting.
Furthermore, the lighting system has a vital role in a facility. Lights are necessary to maintain productivity, especially for workstations that perform detailed tasks. Proper maintenance of the lighting system keeps the occupants safe and allows them to see hazards, equipment, and passageways.
Minor Plumbing
This means maintaining the piping system, keeping the drain system and waste-water lines operating well, repairing the toilet, sink, and shower, and maintaining the sprinkler system and other fire safety equipment.
Plumbing standards must be followed in every facility to attain sanitary health. These sanitation systems aim to provide occupants with a clean and safe environment.
Ceiling Tile Replacement
This means updating old ceiling tiles in the facility.
The life expectancy of ceiling tiles is ten years. Beyond that, replacement should consider because they become brittle or even break. However, having broken or damaged ceiling tiles will have a destructive effect on the acoustic performance of the room.
Roof Cleaning
This means removing debris such as tree branches, dry weeds, mildew, molds, mosses, and lichen on roofs.
Various cleaning products or commercial cleaning services will do. Having your roof regularly cleaned, at least once a year, is enough. Professional cleaning can discover issues like holes or missing shingles before they cause severe damage.
Painting Services
This means maintaining the exterior and interior surfaces, patching, and finishing touch. It also includes revising the look of the facility’s exterior and interior with a fresh coat of paint.
Additionally, painting means applying color to a surface or wall, and paints consist of a protective coating to preserve exterior and interior surfaces. Furthermore, proper paint selection can create a unique ambiance with a broad spectrum of colors and innovative designs. It will also raise your property value.
Inspection and Property Detailing
This means inspecting the compliance of sites and properties. It also includes cleaning and maintaining all areas, polishing fittings and fixtures, and restoration.
Furthermore, Inspection and Property Detailing extend the lifespan of properties and assets. They protect and maintain valued properties.
Call and Hire a Facility Maintenance Company Now
Maintaining a facility to operate your business effectively and efficiently is a big job and responsibility. However, a lot of things are needed to consider and require regular attention. Therefore, this job requires keen knowledge, best practices, and skilled workers.
It is preferable to hire professional maintenance workers rather than do it yourself or with your staff. While there are other reasons to try a DIY, consider the benefits of hiring professionals. They get the work done faster because they are experts.
Professional facility maintenance workers will ensure that your business is operating smoothly and boost productivity rates. They will also ensure that your assets are well-maintained and fully utilized.
This job requires more than just water and soap, so get and hire a professional instead!