Planned preventive maintenance (PPM) and work orders: a simple setup for small teams
A PPM setup a small team can run without a maintenance department: list the assets, write one task list per asset type, schedule it, turn every fault into a tracked job, and close the loop with evidence. What PUWER and HSE guidance say about maintenance, and how it differs from inspection.
By Hovermarks team
Quick answer. For a small team, PPM needs five things: a list of assets, one task list per asset type taken from the manufacturer's instructions, a schedule for each, a way to turn every fault into a tracked job, and a record that the job was closed. In the UK, PUWER regulation 5 requires work equipment to be maintained in good repair, and HSE's guidance says safety-critical parts need a formal system of planned preventative or condition-based maintenance.
Large sites run maintenance from a planning office. Small teams run it from memory, a wall chart and a supplier who rings when the service is due. That works until someone leaves. The setup below needs no planner, just a register, a few task lists and the discipline to close every job.
What the law asks for, and what it does not
PUWER regulation 5 says every employer must ensure work equipment is "maintained in an efficient state, in efficient working order and in good repair", and that where machinery has a maintenance log, the log is kept up to date.
HSE's Approved Code of Practice and guidance on PUWER (L22) fills in the practice:
- Maintenance should follow the manufacturer's recommendations, such as periodic lubrication, replacement and adjustment of parts (paragraph 74).
- Where safety-critical parts could fail and lead to risk, "a formal system of planned preventative or condition-based maintenance is needed" (paragraph 75).
- There is no requirement to keep a maintenance log, though a record is recommended for high-risk equipment (paragraph 78).
- Maintenance work should only be done by people competent to do it (paragraph 79).
For premises, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 17 requires the responsible person to keep the premises and the fire safety facilities, equipment and devices provided under the Order subject to a suitable system of maintenance.
Maintenance is not inspection
Keep the two apart. HSE's PUWER guidance says inspection "does not normally include the checks that are a part of the maintenance activity", although some aspects overlap (L22, paragraph 81). Maintenance keeps equipment working. Inspection under PUWER regulation 6, or thorough examination under LOLER, checks whether it is safe and records the result. One visit can do both, but each needs its own record. See the PUWER inspection checklist for the inspection side.
A five-step setup
1. List the assets
Every asset that needs maintenance gets an entry with an ID, location and make and model, so you can find its manual. If you already have a spreadsheet, start there. The asset register guide covers the fields.
2. Write one task list per asset type
Take the tasks from the manufacturer's instructions, not from memory. Group them by frequency. A task list is a short checklist: what to do, what "done" looks like, and anything to measure.
3. Schedule each list
Attach each task list to the assets it covers, at the frequency the manual gives, and give it an owner. A schedule with no owner is a wish.
| Asset type | Task list | Frequency | Source | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air compressor | Drain receiver, check belts and filters | Weekly | Manufacturer's manual | Workshop lead |
| Air compressor | Oil change, safety valve function | Per manual hours or months | Manufacturer's manual | Service contractor |
| Pedestal drill | Guard, interlock and emergency stop function | Monthly | Own risk assessment | Workshop lead |
| Roller shutter door | Lubricate, check springs and safety edges | 6 months | Manufacturer's manual | Door contractor |
| Emergency lighting | Function test | Monthly | Your fire risk assessment | Site manager |
4. Turn every fault into a tracked job
When a task finds something wrong, record it as a defect against the asset, with a photo and a severity. If it needs work, raise a work order from the defect: who, by when, what parts. If the asset is unsafe, take it out of service until the work is done.
5. Close the loop
A job is finished when the work order is completed with what was done, the parts used and the time taken, and the defect it came from is resolved. Once a quarter, look at which assets generate most work orders. That tells you where the schedule is wrong or the equipment is worn out.
Common mistakes
- Schedules copied from another site. A compressor running two shifts needs a different interval from one used weekly.
- Defects with no owner. A defect logged and never assigned is a record that you knew.
- Contractor work that never reaches the record. Ask contractors to report against your asset IDs, or attach their sheet to the asset.
- Mixing inspection and maintenance records. A service sheet that mentions a guard in passing is not a PUWER inspection record.
How Hovermarks handles PPM
Hovermarks has no separate PPM module. A maintenance routine is a checklist, built from a template or from scratch, on a schedule:
- Schedules cover one asset, a category or all assets, each with a checklist and an optional assignee. Frequencies are daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, six-monthly, annually, or a custom number of days. The next-due date runs from the last completed inspection.
- Reminders. Assignees get a daily email for work due that day and a digest of overdue items. Overdue defects, corrective actions and work orders go to the assignee, or to site managers if nobody is assigned.
- Defects and corrective actions. A failed or flagged checklist creates defects and corrective actions automatically, on every plan. Defects carry a severity from Low to Critical and up to 10 photos.
- Work orders. Raise one from a defect. Work orders have a status (Open, In progress, On hold, Completed, Cancelled), a priority, an assignee, a scheduled date, parts and labour lines, estimated and actual cost, time tracking and a PDF. Completing the work order resolves the defect it came from. Work orders are on every plan.
- Automation. On Professional, rules can raise work orders when an inspection fails, an inspection goes overdue, or a defect stays unresolved.