Preventive Maintenance

What is Preventive Maintenance?

Let’s face it– nothing lasts forever. Machinery, equipment, and assets fail over time, and it’s a constant worry of when it will happen next. If you’re looking to extend the life of assets, reduce costs, improve efficiency, and even improve customer/tenant relationships, predictive maintenance is the key.  In this article, we will uncover everything there is to know about preventive maintenance and why it is so beneficial for your business. 

‍Key Takeaways:

Preventive maintenance is a proactive measure to monitor, inspect, and repair machinery, equipment, and assets before they fail. 

Every asset-intensive industry (i.e. commercial real estate, manufacturing, utilities, transportation, etc.) has a lot to gain by practicing preventive maintenance. 

Preventive maintenance software, including predictive AI-powered maintenance, can help to automate key processes, increase compliance, and improve efficiency. 

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What is Preventive Maintenance?

Preventive maintenance, sometimes referred to as preventative maintenance, is a proactive approach to maintenance that entails inspections, ongoing monitoring and routine check-ups to complete maintenance procedures before issues arise. 

In the realm of commercial real estate, preventive property maintenance involves: 

• Inspecting: Regular inspections take place to review and assess equipment and assets to identify any issues and set up repairs. 
• Servicing: Perform routine servicing like cleaning and tuning equipment (i.e. HVAC systems, furnaces, pool equipment, etc.).
• Repairing: During or after inspections, maintenance teams may make small repairs or replace parts as needed. 
• Testing: Complete tests on critical systems at pre-determined times to ensure that they are functioning as intended. 

Preventive property maintenance aims to reduce overall maintenance costs, extend the life of assets, prevent system failures, and reduce unexpected downtime. Additionally, this proactive approach can enhance safety by minimizing the chance of accidents or dangerous equipment failures. 

What is the Difference Between Preventive Maintenance and Predictive Maintenance? 

Both preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance are proactive by nature, but they are different in practice. 

• Preventive maintenance follows a schedule that is set up in pre-defined intervals. A preventive maintenance checklist can be helpful so that responsible parties or software know exactly what to do. Regardless of equipment and machinery status, preventive maintenance takes place based on a pre-determined schedule. This may require planned downtime. 

• Predictive maintenance leverages data collection to predict future system failures or issues before they occur (based on historical data, analytics, and pattern recognition). It can limit unplanned downtime. Predictive maintenance is heavily powered by artificial intelligence (AI) for pattern recognition and automation, thereby reducing manual labor and saving time. 

Here’s a table that explains their main nuances

• Preventive maintenance: Requires checklists, counters and readings to be recorded, comments and system histories, etc. These take place at periodic, scheduled times. 
• Predictive maintenance: The data entry and needs are more sophisticated. Historical readings are required for analysis, meaning that continuous measurements must be taken and made available. 

For data entry and analysis needs, many companies and property managers are turning to technology for assistance. AI solutions can manage automated data entry, work order analysis, and real-time data visibility to make maintenance more efficient, measurable, and compliant. 

What are the Types of Preventive Maintenance? 

There are different types of preventive maintenance. To determine which type is best for your business and needs, it’s valuable to focus on what will most likely prevent asset failures. 

Identify which critical assets will benefit from this type of maintenance, then choose one or a mixture of the following approaches: 

Time-Based Maintenance (TBM) 

Time-based maintenance is just as it sounds– based on time. It is based on whatever schedule has been set. For example, you may wish to inspect HVAC systems every two weeks, on the 1st of every month, or at the end of every quarter. Time-based maintenance has nothing to do with system or equipment usage; regardless of how frequently or infrequently equipment has been used, the scheduled maintenance takes place. (The main risk here could be over-maintenance, but remember: planned downtime is preferred over unplanned downtime). 

Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM)

Condition-based maintenance uses the equipment or machinery’s status quo as a basis to determine when maintenance is needed. It involves looking out for signs of wear and tear or any need for attention. (This tends to be efficient, but make note that it also requires monitoring technology and may require more resources to implement, which typically means more upfront costs). 

Usage-Based Maintenance (UBM) 

Usage-based maintenance calls for maintenance when a system or machine hits a certain threshold of use, be it hours, production cycles, or miles, to name a few. Usage-based maintenance relies on metrics. (This method can prevent over-maintenance since it’s based on usage, but it may be hard pressed to notice any issues that can occur unrelated to usage). 

Which Industries Should Use Preventive Maintenance? 

It’s safe to say that any industry that involves machinery, hardware, and assets will benefit from adopting a preventive maintenance approach. That being said, asset-intensive industries have the most to gain from doing so. For example, commercial real estate, manufacturing, and utilities are a few that stand out. 

Let’s explore some preventive maintenance examples for commercial real estate to better see how it can reap positive rewards for those who use it:

HVAC 

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and cooling (HVAC) units are a large and necessary investment in buildings. HVAC preventive maintenance can be as simple as scheduling regular seasonal tune-ups or replacing filters to prevent breakdowns or inefficiencies. 

Fire Alarm Systems

FIre alarm and safety system testing at regular intervals make for a surefire way to ensure everything is working as intended in case of an emergency. 

Plumbing 

Keep an eye out for leaks and check water heaters for any buildup. 

Roofing 

Inspect roofs for any missing or damaged shingles and clean gutters regularly to prevent clogs or foundational issues. 

Both the interior and exterior of commercial real estate buildings require constant attention. With preventive maintenance software, property management teams and owners can maintain peace of mind by knowing that workflows are always assigned, scheduled, and tracked. Preventive maintenance software provides automated escalations and benchmarks, making it easy to compare building performance and effectively manage building operations. Using this type of software enables property managers to retain adequate oversight, reach maximum compliance, and ensure that properties are always running at the highest standard. 

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Benefits of Preventive Maintenance 

There are an array of benefits that come along with preventive maintenance. While every industry has their own areas of focus, the advantages of preventive maintenance exist across the board and include: 

Longer Asset Lifespan 

With preventive and predictive maintenance, businesses can extend the lifespan of equipment by 35-80%. As a result, companies have to invest less in buying new equipment. 

Increased Efficiency 

Data from a 2024 Siemens report showcased that unplanned downtime at the world’s 500 biggest companies cost $1.4 trillion in losses annually. With less downtime and equipment that runs more smoothly, businesses can boost efficiency and productivity, all while saving money. 

Saved Costs 

Predictive maintenance saves up to 40% of costs as compared to reactive maintenance, according to the US Department of Energy. With longer equipment lifespans along with less downtime (opportunity cost), being proactive about maintenance surely pays. 

Improved Customer/Tenant Satisfaction 

At the end of the day, every business lives to serve its end user by adding value to their lives. This is particularly true in commercial real estate where the status and environment of a building is that in which people live, work, and play. With fewer equipment interruptions and a safe and beautiful environment, tenants are more likely to be happy where they are (and, in turn, renew leases). 

Enhanced Safety 

By implementing regular maintenance, you can improve safety and reduce the likelihood or risk of accidents happening. 

Challenges of Preventive Maintenance 

With all the glory of preventive maintenance that is to be had, it’s a wonder why anyone would skip out on implementing it. However, it’s important to take note of considerations and challenges in advance so that you can be prepared: 

Upfront Costs 

When it comes to resources, time, and training, preventive maintenance requires all of the above, which is an upfront cost. Given the long-term and overall benefits, the costs tend to be outweighed, but they do require sufficient planning. 

Equipment Downtime 

Scheduled maintenance can lead to equipment downtime. The good news is that you can plan for it, as opposed to a system failing without notice, which tends to cause a lot more problems. 

Scheduling 

Scheduling preventive maintenance can become complex, especially as the amount of systems that need to be checked grows. Companies can leverage preventive maintenance software that makes scheduling and tracking workflows a breeze. 

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Best Practices for Implementing Preventive Maintenance 

Interested in getting started and planning your own preventive maintenance schedule? 

Check out the below list of best practices to help reduce common mistakes, save time, and make for a successful preventive maintenance plan:

• Communicate Clearly: Be extra descriptive and clear with instructions - every technician or maintenance worker may interpret directions differently, so it’s best to be as detailed as possible. 
• Timing is Everything: Overmaintenance and undermaintenance can cause issues, so it’s crucial to get timing right, especially when setting up any time-based management (TBM). 
• Document Diligently: Document everything! Not only does this help to ensure that maintenance is performed on schedule, but it can also be used to improve over time. With preventive maintenance software, you can access service histories, collaborate across teams, and gain access to a single source of truth. 
• Prioritize Properly: Focus on equipment that has the highest likelihood of failure and/or the greatest impact if it goes down. 

How Visitt Enables AI-Powered Predictive and Preventive Maintenance 

Designed for commercial real estate (CRE) success, Visitt is a powerful preventive maintenance and predictive AI-powered platform that features:

• A centralized, mobile-first system to assign, schedule, and manage recurring maintenance and inspections 
• Data capturing via image, videos, QR codes, chats, custom forms, checklists, and more 
• Instant work order generation when there’s an issue or failure during an inspection that needs attention 
• Access to a real-time, unified command center for alerts, reporting, compliance, and data (plus, embedded chat-based communication) 
• Automated alerts for urgent issues that require immediate action, including when thresholds are breached to a fast response via escalation 
• Centralized critical documentation (certifications, manuals, COIs, etc.) with search, tagging, and expiration reminders 

With Visitt in tow, you can extend the lifespan of your equipment and reduce capital expenditure (CapEx) costs. 

Closing Thoughts

The old adage of, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” often ends up costing companies a lot of money and doing more damage than good. Preventive maintenance is a proactive approach to caring for machinery, equipment, and assets that leads to cost savings, boosted efficiency, enhanced satisfaction, and improved safety.

With the aid of preventive maintenance software, on-the-go workflow assignment, tracking, and oversight is seamless and stress-free. 

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