Dan,

You are absolutely right! We have been dealing with ignorance and apathy about maintenance for many years. With the changes in demographics and economics, and the influx of maintenance related disasters, society is beginning to wake up.

"The society that scorns excellence in plumbing, and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy; will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy because neither its pipes nor it theories will hold water."  John Gardner stated in the 70's

We still have a long way to go but we are making progress!

Building owners carry the risks and liabilities associated with a variety of equipment, systems and infrastructure that requires regular inspection and ongoing maintenance. Facility managers are tasked with the day-to-day responsibility for repairing equipment, as needed, and ensuring regular, ongoing building and equipment maintenance and inspections.

Between the mandated inspection of building equipment and systems and routine equipment maintenance activities, lies a murky, undefined grey area of voluntary inspection, proactive maintenance activities and risk management for the facility manager. This is where the facility manager is tasked with balancing proactive inspection and maintenance activities with reactive maintenance and repair. The better the facility manager is at the responsibility, the smoother and more predictable are day-to-day operations for the facility manager and building owner.

Many facility managers have learned through experience that proactive inspection and maintenance of equipment saves money in the long run. When performed strategically, preventive maintenance is less expensive than reactive, breakdown maintenance.

Yet balancing financial and operational efficiencies with safety, productivity and legal requirements is complex It is important for facility managers to stay current with their municipality or state laws, and where possible, implement processes, if not technology, to better manage the responsibilities associated with their jobs.

For example, in our experience in working in New York City for more than a decade, it is not uncommon for facility managers not to know which inspections are mandated, how frequently they must be performed or when they are due. This is one of the reasons NYC boiler inspection laws recently got stricter.

How is this the case? We have found several common causes and issues:  1) the laws pertaining to buildings and equipment can be very cumbersome, if not overwhelming, as they can be up to hundreds of pages long, 2) Fully understanding or interpreting the laws can be difficult, and 3) job turnover amongst facility managers makes it harder for inspection reminders to reach the right person.

Recently while listening to IAQ Radio I heard some very interesting and exciting news.  Last year ASHRAE elected a new president (William Harrison) and he has determined that the theme of his presidency is going to be "Maintain to Sustain" this is the first year that the HVAC industry has moved their focus to maintenance of HVAC systems as opposed to design and installation.  They also developed with the cooperation of the ACCA (Air Conditioning Contractors of America) a new residential HVAC maintenance standard as well as a new standard #180 to cover installation and maintenance for commercial buildings and HVAC systems.   For any of us that work in the Indoor Environmental Quality arena this is a very important step in the right direction.  Being proactive rather than reactive should be the goal for all of us as we push for the end result of providing safe, clean air quality for our customers.  

With 39 years in construction - the last 18 in public school O & M - my experience has shown me that in a down turning economy public sector facuilities maintenance is most often the first to suffer - lets hope the focus on safety and IAQ and energy conservation and green cleaning and sustainability issues have all given the facilities department a little more importance, acceptance and awareness of how essential what we do is to the daily operation of our institutions.

NYS Education Department has long held to the belief that deferred maintenance costs more in the long run. Lets hope the federal stimilus package gets down to the facilites level and can be put to good use maintianing the nation's investments in educational infrastructure.  

I am sure we can all agree that in many cases maintenance is frequently overlooked. The common practice seems to be, “If it is not broken, then don’t fix it.” Few building owners understand the importance and benefits of an effective preventative maintenance program, preventative being the key word. Simple maintenance practices can be the difference between costly repairs and years of serviceable life.

I feel that the downfall in the economy will spike a trend in maintenance practices and services. People are trying harder than ever to squeeze the maximum life out of their buildings and systems vice costly repairs and replacements. I think people are more receptive to these practices and that the time is right to increase awareness.