Facility Maintenance
What needs attention
- Cleaning and visual checks are useful but cannot replace electrical protection testing or fire-system functional testing
- Infrared scanning identifies temperature patterns; it does not prove a connection is correctly torqued or a breaker will trip
- Changing HVAC filters by a calendar alone can under-maintain or waste filters because loading varies by site
- Water leaks and blocked drains can become electrical, indoor-air-quality, slip and structural hazards
- Fire alarms, sprinklers, smoke control, lifts, access control and emergency power must be tested as interacting systems
- Deferred defects accumulate into correlated failures during heat, storms, fire or power loss
- A completed work order is not proof of safe restoration unless readings, valve positions, alarms and interfaces are verified
Controls that reduce risk
- Create one controlled asset register and assign a named technical owner to every life-safety asset
- Mark statutory, manufacturer and risk-based tasks separately in the maintenance system
- Prioritise overdue work by consequence rather than oldest date alone
- Use permit-to-work, lockout/tagout and fire-impairment procedures for hazardous interventions
- Keep current single-line diagrams, valve charts, cause-and-effect matrices and safe operating procedures at the site
- Track repeat defects and eliminate their root causes instead of repeatedly resetting equipment
- Stock critical consumables and spares with shelf-life control
- Audit a sample of closed work orders in the field to confirm actual restoration
Understand and apply the guidance
Owning and maintaining a building is no easy task. As the owner of a building, you might have a long list of things to do to keep things running smoothly. Or maybe you’ve given those tasks to the building manager so you can focus on more important things. No matter what, buildings need to have a lot of work done on their HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire safety systems.
HVAC Systems
In most buildings, heating and cooling is one of the things that uses the most energy. By doing regular maintenance and checks, you can keep your HVAC systems running smoothly and use less energy.
- Seasonal maintenance:- Every spring, you should do maintenance on your cooling system, and every fall, you should do maintenance on your heating system. A mechanical contractor should be hired to do seasonal maintenance.
- Air filters:- Air filters need to be checked every 3 to 4 weeks to make sure they haven’t become clogged. Every three to six months, you should change your air filter.
- Regular checks of the system:- Check your thermostat once a month to make sure it is working right. Also, make sure there are no clogs or obstructions in your drip pan and drain lines.
Electrical Systems
It is less expensive to keep electrical systems and equipment in good shape than to pay big bills when they break down.
Some ways to maintain an electrical system are to
- Clean the inside of the switchgear panels,
- Test and calibrate the trip settings of breakers and ground fault interrupters,
- Tighten and torque mechanical connections according to the manufacturer’s instructions,
- Do infrared scans.
- Test and check every light switch, electrical fixture, and outlet
- Arc flash research
Electrical system maintenance should be done with the help of a qualified electrician.
Plumbing Systems
As you use your plumbing system throughout the day, it is always getting worn down. Keeping up with maintenance will keep your systems running and keep problems from happening with your plumbing.
- Fix and repair small water leaks in pipes, faucets, and fixtures before they get worse.
- Check for signs of corrosion
- Check water pressure and keep it up to date
- Make sure the water heater is at the right temperature and has no leaks
- Do a backflow test
Fire Protection Systems
It is very important to keep up with maintenance for your fire sprinkler and alarm systems. Working with a qualified fire protection contractor will help you keep up with your fire protection systems’ inspection and testing needs.
- Check gauges, valves, control panels, and power supplies once a week or once a month.
- Every three months, check alarms, hydraulic nameplates, connections to the fire department, and supervisory signal devices.
- Check pipes, fittings, control valves, seismic bracing, sprinkler heads, alarm switches, gauges, backflow preventer, anti-freeze loops, fire department connections, and visible piping every year. Check waterflow alarms, control valves, the main drain, fire pumps, and the annual flow of water from hydrants.
- Every 5 years, hoses, containers, and pipes are inspected, standpipes are tested, internal pipes are inspected, and obstructions are looked into.
All of the systems in your building need to be maintained, inspected, and fixed on a regular basis. Taking care of your systems’ maintenance will help you avoid repairs and replacements that will cost a lot of money in the future. To keep your systems running well, it’s important to hire professionals who have been trained and certified to check and fix them.
Common unsafe practices
- Copying generic maintenance frequencies without checking the approved system and local requirements
- Letting backlog age without risk-based escalation
- Opening live electrical panels for routine cleaning without isolation, arc-flash assessment and competent staff
- Resetting a breaker repeatedly without finding the fault
- Disabling a fire alarm, pump or sprinkler valve without impairment controls and notification
- Closing ceilings or shafts before inspecting concealed work
- Treating HVAC, plumbing, electrical and fire contractors as separate silos
- Accepting 'checked OK' without readings, photographs, defect details and restoration evidence