Unfortunately, companies and property owners still view planned preventative maintenance as a costly and unnecessary expense. Some go as far as to consider planned maintenance as a waste of time and resources.
It’s an easy mentally to understand. The average business owner is so distracted with immediate problems, that the issues of tomorrow are dealt with when they come around.
The “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” rational is overused refrain when the topic of planned preventative maintenance comes up.
An average property management team implements a policy of reactive maintenance instead of planned maintenance.
When a part wears out, it’s replaced.
When a machine breaks down it’s fixed.
And when the regulatory required annual maintenance time rolls around, a system is maintained.
Most buildings chug along like this for years; lurching from one crisis to the next, and never really getting on top of the property’s maintenance needs.
Today we’re going to argue that the above method of management isn’t just ineffective, we are also going to argue that it is also unnecessarily expensive.
Unfortunately, companies and property owners still view planned preventative maintenance as a costly and unnecessary expense. Some go as far as to consider planned maintenance as a waste of time and resources.
It’s an easy mentally to understand. The average business owner is so distracted with immediate problems, that the issues of tomorrow are dealt with when they come around.
The “Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it,” rational is overused refrain when the topic of planned preventative maintenance comes up.
An average property management team implements a policy of reactive maintenance instead of planned maintenance.
When a part wears out, it’s replaced.
When a machine breaks down it’s fixed.
And when the regulatory required annual maintenance time rolls around, a system is maintained.
Most buildings chug along like this for years; lurching from one crisis to the next, and never really getting on top of the property’s maintenance needs.
Today we’re going to argue that the above method of management isn’t just ineffective, we are also going to argue that it is also unnecessarily expensive.
PLANNED MAINTENANCE VS. REACTIVE MAINTENANCE
While reactive maintenance is concerned with solving problems when they appear planned maintenance is concerned with stopping these problems from developing in the first place.
To get a clearer picture of the difference between reactive and planned maintenance, imagine a water pipe during a frosty winter night.
Planned maintenance of this pipe would have involved pipe lagging, e.g. insulating the pipe long before winter.
Reactive maintenance, would concern itself with repairing this pipe only after it had been damaged due to freezing.
Lagging a pipe is much cheaper than repairing or replacing a burst pipe.
The above is an admittedly simplistic example, but it illuminates a greater point. An intelligently implemented planned maintenance system is a much more cost-effective property maintenance strategy than relying on service maintenance alone.
CLINGING TO THE REACTIVE MAINTENANCE STRATEGY
So why do so many property managers still cling to a reactive maintenance policy? Well, it’s understandable when you consider that every so often something will happen that just couldn’t be planned for.
Accidents, human error, break-ins, and a myriad of other unforeseen circumstances, can still happen despite a property manager’s best-laid plans.
Therefore, reactive maintenance and reactive repairs can never be fully eliminated.
The major thought-failure, however, is the assumption that all issues that disrupt a property can’t be anticipated. And as such, it’s best to avoid investing money into any maintenance until it is absolutely necessary.
This mindset rejects planning, in favour of fixing an issue when it comes around. This will inevitably -- over time -- lead to higher maintenance costs.
As the old saying goes: prevention is better than a cure, but it’s equally true that preventative maintenance will almost always be cheaper than any repair job.
Still not convinced? Why not get in contact with one of our team members to discuss the money-saving advantages of implementing a planned maintenance strategy in your property. Alternatively, you can visit our planned maintenance page.
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