--- title: "Preventive maintenance: why plans slip | attendo" description: "What preventive maintenance is, how it is organized with task lists and work orders, the three reasons plans slip and the mistake of planning too much." url: "https://attendo.me/en/glossary/preventive-maintenance" lang: "en" --- # Preventive maintenance: what it is and why plans slip Also known as: PM Preventive maintenance is work planned by calendar or by usage to keep failures from happening: routine inspections, lubrication, scheduled replacements and regulatory checks. ## How it is organized You define [maintenance task lists](https://attendo.me/en/glossary/maintenance-task-list): what gets checked on each type of equipment and how often. They produce the preventive work orders, which are carried out with their checklist. When an inspection finds something, it creates planned [corrective](https://attendo.me/en/glossary/corrective-maintenance) work. ## Why plans slip Because preventive work competes at a disadvantage. The emergency has someone on the phone; the planned inspection has nobody to stand up for it. And there are three specific causes: 1. **There is an intention, not a schedule.** If the plan does not create an assigned, dated work order, it does not exist. 2. **Postponing costs nothing.** If nobody sees that an inspection was pushed back, it gets pushed back again. 3. **It is not measured.** Without the ratio of corrective to preventive work in front of them, nobody sees things getting worse. ## The usual mistake Planning too much. A plan that checks everything every month does not get done, and a plan that is not done is worse than no plan: it creates paperwork and a false sense of control. Start with critical equipment and expand once the plan is being met. ## In attendo Plans in [attendo CMMS](https://attendo.me/en/cmms) create work orders by calendar, with a window in which an inspection can move without being late. You get alerts for overdue plans and a plan compliance report, customer by customer. - [attendo CMMS](https://attendo.me/en/cmms) [Calculator](https://attendo.me/en/calculators/corrective-vs-preventive-maintenance): Corrective vs. preventive maintenance What unplanned breakdowns cost you a year, compared with a preventive maintenance plan you set yourself. ## Where it is used in attendo ### Modules - [Assets and inventory](https://attendo.me/en/modules/assets): Each asset with its own record, QR code, history and readings - [attendo Checklist](https://attendo.me/en/modules/checklists): Inspections with photo, signature and location, closed on site - [Scheduling and calendar](https://attendo.me/en/modules/calendar): The team’s schedule, based on each person’s real working hours ### Industries that use these modules - [HVAC and refrigeration](https://attendo.me/en/industries/hvac) - [Elevators and escalators](https://attendo.me/en/industries/elevators) - [Facility maintenance and services](https://attendo.me/en/industries/facility-maintenance) - [IT services and MSPs](https://attendo.me/en/industries/it-services) - [And any other business](https://attendo.me/en/industries) ## Related terms Maintenance ### Maintenance task list Job plan · PM routine A maintenance task list is the set of operations carried out on a type of equipment, with their frequency. It is the template that preventive work orders come from. Maintenance ### Corrective maintenance Corrective maintenance is the work done after a piece of equipment fails, to bring it back into service. Maintenance ### MTBF Mean time between failures MTBF (mean time between failures) is the average time a piece of equipment runs properly between one breakdown and the next. It measures reliability. ### On the blog #### Corrective vs. preventive maintenance: which one really costs more Everyone says preventive maintenance is cheaper, but few companies prove it with their own numbers. That is why it is the first thing dropped when an emergency hits. Here is the math, including the uncomfortable part: when corrective is the right call. 5 min read #### How to build a preventive maintenance plan that actually gets done The hard part of preventive maintenance is not designing the plan. It is keeping it alive past the first few months. When a plan is abandoned, it is rarely for lack of will. It was usually sized wrong from day one. 5 min read #### Assets on a map: from the customer’s GIS to maintaining every item Streetlights, street furniture, trees or a network of installations spread across a city. Your customer already has that inventory in a GIS. Re-entering it by hand throws away their work and loses where each item actually is. 5 min read [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)