Unexpected breakdowns in your facility? They can throw everything off balance – and cost a fortune.
But here’s the good news: you don’t have to wait for things to go wrong. With facility maintenance, you can stay a step ahead of disaster and avoid budget-busting surprises. Let’s take a look at the essentials to keep your building in top form.
Contents:
What Is Facility Maintenance?
Facility maintenance keeps everything in a building running smoothly, from plumbing to HVAC systems.
It’s not just about fixing things when they break: it’s about regularly caring for equipment, systems, and grounds to keep them in great condition. With building upkeep, you can avoid costly breakdowns and have your assets last longer.
Ongoing property care is essential to facility management because it keeps buildings – and everything inside – efficient, safe, and reliable for the long haul.
When done right, you barely notice it. Everything just works as it should, day in and day out.
Who Is Responsible for Facility Maintenance?
Behind every well-maintained facility is a team making sure everything works as expected. From making repairs to setting up maintenance schedules, it’s a combination of brains and hands-on work. Here’s a closer look at who’s involved and what they do.
Facility Manager (aka Building Manager)
The facility managers are responsible for the big picture. They make sure the facility runs effectively and in line with regulations. Their job includes planning, scheduling, and making strategic decisions to keep all assets in good shape.
Responsibilities include:
- Planning upkeep schedules and budgets
- Ensuring health and safety compliance
- Coordinating teams and managing maintenance requests
Many facility managers have certifications from the International Facility Management Association, like the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) or Facility Management Professional (FMP). The CFM is great for those with five or more years of experience, while the FMP is perfect for beginners, helping them build key skills in facility management.
Maintenance Technicians
Maintenance technicians are the hands-on experts. They take care of daily repairs, perform preventive maintenance, and troubleshoot any issues with equipment or building systems. Their job is to prevent problems before they happen and quickly solve any that pop up.
Responsibilities include:
- Conducting upkeep inspections
- Handling mechanical, electrical, and plumbing problems
- Keeping detailed logs of facility equipment maintenance actions
Maintenance staff often have specialized certifications, like plumbing or electrical licenses, giving them the skills to tackle all kinds of technical tasks. These certifications ensure they’re ready to handle the job safely and smoothly.
Learn about how Fluix can improve your maintenance teams’ efficiency
Facility Maintenance Components
Facility maintenance can be broken down into three main components. Let’s examine each one:
- Building Systems: These are the nuts and bolts that keep your facility alive. Whether it’s heating, cooling, lighting, or plumbing, keeping these systems in top condition keeps the building comfortable and functional. And when your energy usage is optimized? That’s when you start seeing savings, too.
- Health and Safety: This one’s big. Health and safety compliance are critical to protecting everyone in the building. Routine inspections and risk assessments are non-negotiable to ensure health and safety stay a top priority.
- Physical Assets: Everything from your machinery to your office furniture need regular care. Routine check ups and repairs keep things working as they should, while planning ahead for upgrades ensures you’re never caught off guard when something wears out.
Importance of Facility Maintenance
Facilities maintenance is the backbone of keeping a building running efficiently and safely. It’s the difference between everything working as expected and unexpected breakdowns that slow things down. Let’s take a closer look at why it matters.
1. Keeps Operations Flowing
Imagine your electrical system breaking down in the middle of a busy workday—total nightmare, right? Regular maintenance helps avoid these kinds of disruptions by keeping crucial systems running, so you’re not left in the dark.
2. Puts Safety First
When it comes to safety, facility maintenance is a must for meeting OSHA standards. By keeping up with checks on fire alarms, emergency exits, and electrical systems, you’re protecting everyone in your facility and steering clear of any compliance problems.
3. Saves Money in the Long Run
By scheduling regular inspections, you catch small issues before they become big, expensive problems. Think about it—replacing a broken elevator costs way more than maintaining it.
4. Protects Your Assets
Your building and its equipment are investments. By taking care of them, you’re ensuring they last longer and function better. For example, regularly servicing your HVAC system prevents breakdowns and improves its efficiency, saving on energy costs.
Make Your Facilities 100% Safe 100% of the Time
4 Types of Facility Maintenance
Think of facility maintenance management like taking care of your health—sometimes it’s routine check-ups, and other times it’s emergency fixes. Here, we’ll break down the different types of maintenance that ensure your building stays in peak condition.
1. Preventive Maintenance
This is the “stay ahead of the game” approach. Preventative maintenance is all about taking proactive steps, like scheduling inspections, cleaning, and small repairs, to avoid any unexpected hiccups.
The goal? To make sure your equipment and systems last longer and work at their best. For example, in a warehouse, regularly checking and maintaining forklifts means they won’t break on a busy shift.
2. Predictive Maintenance
This is the “high-tech” approach. Predictive maintenance uses sensors and data to predict when something might go wrong, so you can fix it before it becomes a real problem.
For example, your facility could install sensors on its elevators to track usage and wear. The data will let you know exactly when parts are starting to wear out, so you can schedule repairs before anything actually breaks.
3. Corrective Maintenance
This is the “fix it when it’s not working right” approach. Corrective maintenance is what happens when something’s already gone wrong.
Sometimes it’s planned, like scheduling a repair after spotting a small issue during an inspection. Other times, it’s completely unplanned, where something suddenly isn’t working properly and needs attention.
For example, if a patient monitor in a hospital starts acting up, corrective maintenance steps in to fix or replace it right away, so their care isn’t affected.
Work Order Template Work Order Template You can download a work order template here for free
4. Reactive Maintenance
This is the “wait until it breaks” approach. Reactive maintenance only kicks in once something is already broken and needs to be fixed immediately. There’s no planning ahead, this approach deals with problems as they happen.
Unlike corrective maintenance, which can address issues early, reactive maintenance waits until something fully breaks before jumping into action.
While reactive maintenance works fine for smaller, non-critical issues, relying too much on it for key systems can be risky and more expensive in the long run.
For example, you replace light bulbs only after they burn out. No big deal, right? But if you wait for something bigger to fail—like an essential piece of machinery—it can cause major disruptions and cost a lot more to fix.
Most facilities mix and match these maintenance strategies to cover all the bases.
4 Common Facilities for Maintenance
Every facility has its own maintenance needs, but one thing is constant: without ongoing upkeep, things can fall apart — sometimes literally. With that in mind, let’s examine some sector-specific maintenance challenges:
1. Commercial Buildings
In office spaces, maintenance is all about making sure things are safe, comfortable, and functional. From keeping the HVAC systems working so everyone can enjoy the right temperature year-round to ensuring elevators are reliable, there’s always something that needs attention.
Even parking lots and hallways need regular care to avoid accidents and keep things looking professional.
Challenges: Managing a variety of systems, from heating and cooling to elevators and fire safety, requires constant coordination.
2. Hospitals
Hospitals take maintenance to another level. With patient care on the line, everything has to work perfectly. From maintaining imaging equipment to ensuring backup power systems are ready for emergencies, there’s no room for error.
And let’s not forget about strict sanitation rules that have to be met 24/7—OSHA doesn’t take breaks, and neither can a hospital’s maintenance team.
Challenges: Keeping expensive medical equipment and the overall facility running smoothly while complying with strict health and safety regulations.
3. Universities
Universities are like mini-cities. They have everything from lecture halls and labs to dorms and dining halls. Maintenance teams here are juggling a lot: replacing lights in classrooms, making sure research equipment is functioning, and handling emergency repairs when leaks or flooding occur.
Challenges: The sheer number of buildings and facilities on a university campus means maintenance teams are constantly on the move, handling a little bit of everything.
4. Hotels and Hospitality Venues
In hotels, resorts, and even casinos, maintenance is key to creating a flawless guest experience. HVAC systems keep rooms cozy, pools and spas need to be pristine, and plumbing has to be dependable.
Guests expect everything to be perfect, from the moment they walk through the door, so maintenance in hospitality is all about preventing issues before they even have a chance to happen.
Challenges: Behind-the-scenes work has to happen quickly and quietly, ensuring that guests never notice a thing.
How Technology Streamlines Facility Maintenance
Maintaining facilities can feel like a race against time, but technology can make your daily work a whole lot more efficient. Enter the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), a tool that helps you plan, monitor, and oversee facility maintenance tasks.
With CMMS, you can organize work orders, schedule maintenance, track assets, and manage inventory levels – all in one place.
Here’s what makes maintenance software so effective:
- Preventive Maintenance Scheduling: Set up work orders and automated upkeep reminders to prevent breakdowns and keep everything on track.
- Real-Time Asset Tracking: Monitor all assets from one dashboard, so you know exactly when equipment or systems need attention.
- Inventory Control: Automate reorder alerts to ensure you never run out of critical parts or supplies.
- Data Insights: Use advanced analytics to see what’s working with your teams, equipment, and facilities – and spot areas for improvement.
If you’re looking for a CMMS that keeps your technicians connected and productive, Fluix delivers. Fluix software is user- and mobile-friendly and is built for teams on the move.
Whether it’s an office building or a large facility, Fluix helps you stay proactive, prevent costly downtime, and make smarter decisions with real-time data at your fingertips.
