Building maintenance can be broken down into several categories, but they all boil down to two basic pillars: reactive maintenance and preventative (or “preventive” maintenance). The former category describes types of maintenance that occur after something has broken down, while the latter deals with taking preemptive measures to keep these malfunctions from occurring in the first place. Preventative maintenance includes routine cleaning, organization, inspection, lubrication, landscaping, and more. While these various precautions translate to regular expenses for your business, note that it often costs more to repair something after the fact than it does to keep it in good shape over the long-run. More importantly, preventative maintenance helps ensure the safety of your employees, customers, and guests.

So, taking preventative maintenance seriously is essential for your bottom line and your reputation. Let’s go over the top preventative maintenance practices for your business.

What Are the Best Preventative Facility Maintenance Tactics?

Develop and Utilize Maintenance Software

The larger your facility is and the more moving parts it contains, the more complicated facility management becomes. Fortunately, modern technology can take on numerous tasks for you. More specifically, a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) allows you to easily establish, customize, and oversee preventative maintenance duties, schedule key inspections and services, communicate with in-house and outsourced maintenance teams, monitor the performance of your machinery, and more. Ultimately, this type of software can save you time and money while adapting to your needs.

Retain Access to Necessary Parts, Tools, and Equipment

Preventative maintenance is only possible if you have the right resources on hand to accomplish these various tasks. For one thing, if you don’t have what you need when the time comes to clean or inspect a piece of equipment, you’ll end up throwing off your schedule. Additionally, you’ll need to spend time tracking down the right parts and putting in an order -- if you need the item(s) right away, you’ll likely have to dish out more on expedited shipping. So, if you wish to save time and money while sticking to your schedule, order the parts and tools you need ahead of time and take regular stock of your inventory to ensure that you don’t run out.

Invest in Ongoing Training for Employees

The more your employees and maintenance team know about your facility, equipment, and how it all operates, the easier it is to prevent problems. While all workers must receive basic training regarding their role(s), providing additional routine training is a great way to keep your people up to date, engaged, and proficient in a broader range of tasks. Investing in your people in this way will yield a more streamlined preventative maintenance program and boost your bottom line over time without needing to onboard several new people.

Partner Up with Maintenance Professionals

Depending on how your business is structured, your employees may or may not have the time, skills, or clearance to handle all necessary preventative maintenance tasks. Indeed, many preventative maintenance duties are best tackled by specialized technicians for increased quality, safety, and efficiency. As such, it often pays to outsource dedicated maintenance services to handle things like commercial cleaning, landscaping, plumbing, HVAC, and more. And rather than hire separate services for each task, it’s more cost-effective to partner up with a full-service facility management company that does it all on your schedule (i.e. an all-in-one lawn maintenance service, janitorial service, flooring professional, general maintenance & repair service, etc.).

Prioritize Maintenance Tasks

The sheer number of preventative maintenance tasks there are to cover can be overwhelming. Prioritizing these tasks categorically can allow you to better allocate resources for your business’ preventative maintenance needs. For instance, some tasks should occur more frequently than others (i.e. daily cleaning), and others will be more complex, requiring a skilled practitioner. Your CMMS and property maintenance services can help you structure a preventative maintenance hierarchy, so every need is met in a timely and efficient manner.

By investing in modern maintenance software, acquiring the necessary resources, routinely training your employees, partnering up with maintenance professionals, and prioritizing your preventative maintenance needs, you can minimize your business’ downtime and save money in the long run. The Budd Group can help you develop a custom preventative maintenance plan that’s optimized for your facility. To learn more about our services and values, give us a call today at 800-221-8158!