---
title: "Maintenance backlog: how to measure it | attendo"
description: "What the maintenance backlog is, why it is measured in weeks of work and not in work orders, what to look at besides volume and why it needs cleaning up."
url: "https://attendo.me/en/glossary/maintenance-backlog"
lang: "en"
---

# Maintenance backlog: how to measure the work that piles up

The maintenance backlog is the pending work that could not be done on time: open work orders, postponed preventive jobs and detected anomalies that are still unresolved.

How to calculate it Backlog in weeks = pending work hours ÷ available hours per week

## Not all backlog is bad

A zero backlog usually means you are overstaffed or not detecting anything. A healthy backlog is **stable and sorted**. A dangerous one grows month after month: more work comes in than goes out.

## How to measure it

In **weeks of work**. Saying “we have 340 open work orders” tells you nothing; saying “we have six weeks of backlog” does.

## What to look at besides volume

- **Age.** A work order from eight months ago is not going to get done: close it or plan it again.
- **Mix.** A backlog of postponed [preventive](https://attendo.me/en/glossary/preventive-maintenance) work is a risk; one of non-urgent improvements is normal.

## The usual mistake

Letting it grow without cleaning it up. Duplicate work orders, finished jobs that were never closed and requests that no longer apply inflate the number, and nobody believes it.

## In attendo

Compliance · My team brings together what could miss its deadline and the team’s overdue [tasks](https://attendo.me/en/modules/tasks). You get alerts for overdue plans and unclosed work orders, and the [Kanban](https://attendo.me/en/modules/kanban) board totals the hours in each column.

- [attendo CMMS](https://attendo.me/en/cmms)

## Where it is used in attendo

### Modules

- [attendo Tasks](https://attendo.me/en/modules/tasks): Tasks inside the document or standalone, with a date and an owner
- [Kanban](https://attendo.me/en/modules/kanban): Boards by status for any document type
- [Assets and inventory](https://attendo.me/en/modules/assets): Each asset with its own record, QR code, history and readings

### Industries that use these modules

- [Facility maintenance and services](https://attendo.me/en/industries/facility-maintenance)
- [Repair and after-sales service](https://attendo.me/en/industries/after-sales-repair)
- [IT services and MSPs](https://attendo.me/en/industries/it-services)
- [Manufacturing and industrial plants](https://attendo.me/en/industries/manufacturing)
- [And any other business](https://attendo.me/en/industries)

## Related terms

Maintenance

### Preventive maintenance

PM

Preventive maintenance is work planned by calendar or by usage to keep failures from happening: routine inspections, lubrication, scheduled replacements and regulatory checks.

Maintenance

### Work order

WO

A work order (WO) is the document that describes a maintenance job: what needs to be done, on which equipment, by whom and when.

Support and service

### Ticket backlog

Support backlog

The ticket backlog is the set of open tickets waiting to be resolved at a given moment.

[See all 53 glossary terms](https://attendo.me/en/glossary)

## Shall we look at it with your data?

We will show you how what you just read works in attendo, with your own assets, tickets and customers. If it is not a fit, we will tell you.

- With your operation, not a generic demo
- A real person from our team replies
- No cold calls afterwards

Would you rather talk first?

- Phone [+34 910 053 530](tel:+34910053530)
- Email [sales@attendo.me](mailto:sales@attendo.me)
- Monday to Thursday 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM and Friday 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM (Spain time)