Facility maintenance is different from cleaning (janitorial) and from construction. Its goal is that the building keeps working at the lowest total cost, without surprises.
The Main Types
- Reactive: fix it when it fails. Low planning effort, but failures happen at the worst time and emergency rates apply.
- Preventive: tasks on a calendar, such as filter changes and inspections. This is where most buildings should spend first.
- Predictive: act on measurements, such as infrared scans or vibration readings. Best for costly equipment.
- Compliance: inspections the law or your insurer requires, such as fire sprinklers and elevators. These are not optional.
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Who Does the Work
Small buildings usually call individual trades. Larger portfolios often use in-house technicians plus contracts, or one facility maintenance company. See in-house versus outsourced.
Where to Start
- List every system and its age.
- Find the compliance items first.
- Build a schedule with the preventive maintenance checklist.
- Set a budget with the budget calculator.
Keep the records: they prove compliance, support warranty claims and help when you sell the building.