Top 10 Hotel Preventive Maintenance Tips

If you had to make a list of the top ten hotel maintenance tasks that should be done above all others, what you list? Would your list be proactive as in preventive maintenance, reactive as handling the day’s fires, or simply whatever comes to mind? Before deciding, take a look at how the 80/20 rule for maintenance may change your mind.

The 80/20 Rule for Hotel Maintenance

The 80/20 rule for maintenance should be considered a target for a well run Hotel. It means that 80 percent of your maintenance activities should be proactive in nature and only 20 percent should be doing unplanned maintenance items. Why is this general rule of thumb important? Unplanned maintenance is usually more expensive than planned work orders as it normally involves more expensive repairs of assets and additional labor expenses.

For example, if no one regularly inspects the HVAC units for debris or corrosion using a CMMS then there is a good chance that the HVAC units will not last as long and stop working at the least desirable time. Major repair or replacement costs of an HVACunit will crush profitability.

The 80/20 Rule for Hotel Management

The 80/20 rule has another meaning. It means that 80 percent of your work will be on 20% of your assets or 80% of your costs come from 20% of hotel assets. For example, 80% of carpet wear occurs in only 20% of the carpet surface. Why – because this is where the traffic is. The point is focus your efforts on where you will get 80% of your results.

The Top 10 Hotel Preventive Maintenance Areas

Now that the 80/20 target is in focus, the following is our list of the top 10 hotel preventive maintenance areas for hotels:

1. HVAC; 40-60% of the total operating costs of a hotel are energy related. HVAC is also expensive to replace or have emergency work done on.
2. Lighting; Make sure lighting is with energy efficient bulbs, install motion sensors to turn off lights when no one is there.
3. Kitchen; Full kitchens can account for 50% of the utility costs. Inspect all equipment for operating efficiency and problems.
4. Boilers, chillers and other high dollar assets; Inspect for leaks, odd sounds, malfunctioning meters, valves, joints and so on. These items are very expensive to replace and downtime equals bad guest experiences.
5. Plumbing; Water leaks can add 20-50% more to hotel utility costs, can cause floor, wall and corrosion damage.
6. Lobby; The lobby gets more traffic than any other area. Inspections and care of carpets, tiles, furniture, odors.
7. Rooms; Rooms are where guest satisfaction is either won or lost. Carpets, HVAC controls, smells, air vents, doors and all equipment should be in working order.
8. Common Areas; Elevators, business centers, fitness areas, pools, loose railings. Why wait for an accident to happen.
9. Parking Lots; This is often the first place guests form an impression of a hotel. Fix potholes, clean storm drains, make sure lighting works.
10. Other Energy Drains; Each hotel and resort is different. This might be a special attraction or specialized equipment that uses a lot of energy (water, electric or gas).

Hotel 80/20 Maintenance Management With a CMMS

Even in a smaller hotel, the list above can be a lot to keep track of. Relying on a paper based work order system or a PC based to-do list is just not practical in today’s word. If a hotel does not plan and track its maintenance than they run the risk of forgetting a critical inspection or preventive maintenance task.

The solution for hotels is Computerized Maintenance Management System Software (CMMS). A CMMS solution automates the work order process and gives management the tools they need to proactively schedule maintenance as well as track the results. Using a CMMS will enable hotel maintenance management to schedule all work request and work orders ensuring that the proper priority is placed on each task.