An issue that comes up time and time again with maintenance departments is the budget and in some cases, the deferred maintenance budget.
Deferred Maintenance
The Comprehensive Maintenance Plan defines deferred maintenance as "postponing routine maintenance and replacement of building components, infrastructure, and architectural finishes." What this means is that regular and preventative maintenance can be put “on the back burner” due to budget constraints or issues that need prioritized attention. A better definition is: Deferred maintenance is the practice of postponing maintenance activities such as repairs on both real property (i.e. infrastructure) and personal property (i.e. machinery) in order to save costs, meet budget funding levels, or realign available budget monies.
Is It Worth It
Now is this something that becomes detrimental to your maintenance department's long-term budget? Not necessarily, but it certainly could be. The issue with deferred maintenance is that the work still needs to be done eventually, only now you run the risk of paying alot more to fix it.
According to Rick Biedenweg, President of Pacific Partners Consulting Group and former Assistant Vice President of information resources at Stanford University, “Every $1 deferred in maintenance, costs $4 of capital renewal needs in the future.” In essence, his work proves the ‘pay me now or pay me more later’ adage.
Actual Cost
Biedenweg worked with the educational system and their needs, but his numbers and research can be used with any type of maintenance department. Their research indicates educational institutions should be spending 0.5% of their building and system’s current replacement value (CRV) on ongoing maintenance and regular preventive maintenance and 1.5% of CRV on capital repairs.
Read More: Cut Costs NOT Corners
Deferred maintenance may be a popular term that we all hear about, but it is important to learn how it affects your maintenance department. One way to monitor deferred maintenance, is with Maintenance Tracking Software. By utilizing the reports, you are able to plan ahead and stay on budget.
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