How to Create An Electrical Preventive Maintenance Checklist

Many businesses operate on large electrical systems. A failure of the electrical system can devastate business operations, forcing work to stop. Machinery and equipment often have electrical components. These components can also fail, causing machinery to fail. 

Electrical preventive maintenance can help prevent failures and lessen downtime if the equipment or system fails. To be effective, maintenance tasks must be performed on schedule. An electrical preventive maintenance checklist can track when maintenance is due and help you stay on schedule. 

What Is Electrical Preventive Maintenance? 

Electrical preventive maintenance describes maintenance tasks performed at regular intervals to prevent damage and malfunction to electrical connections and equipment. During electrical preventive maintenance, systems are tested and monitored, and maintenance teams replace any broken parts before the equipment actually fails. 

Electrical preventive maintenance includes all electrical components. Examples of equipment candidates for electrical maintenance are lighting and electrical distribution systems, generators, transformers, machines, and computers. 

Preventive maintenance is in contrast to reactive maintenance, which waits until a problem occurs to fix it. Reactive maintenance results in downtime. Preventive maintenance also differs from predictive maintenance. Predictive maintenance determines the condition of the equipment or system, then using artificial intelligence, estimates when maintenance is necessary. 

Benefits of Electrical Preventive Maintenance 

Electrical preventive maintenance can benefit businesses in several ways. Preventive maintenance is a form of asset management. It improves the efficiency and reliability of systems and equipment and lowers the total cost of ownership. Well-maintained electrical equipment will also use less energy, saving you money. 

Preventive maintenance also improves the company’s bottom line because it helps the company avoid downtime. Downtime is expensive because you must pay workers even if they can’t work, and you risk losing customers if you can’t deliver your product or service. The cost to solve a problem is almost always less if the system or equipment is still operating because you can shop around when buying parts. However, if the equipment is down, you have limited options and often pay considerably more for the part than is reasonable. 

Finally, preventive maintenance prevents injuries and saves lives. When heavy equipment starts wearing out, it can become a safety hazard. Preventive maintenance checks for potential issues and fixes them before they can cause a risk. It also helps ensure your company complies with regulatory compliance issues during inspections. 

Electrical Preventive Maintenance Checklist 

You perform preventive maintenance tasks at a specific time based on equipment usage, the manufacturer’s suggested schedule, or when analytics indicate. A checklist can help you prioritize assets and set suitable intervals for checkups and maintenance tasks. A checklist is necessary to ensure each job is performed on time and nothing is forgotten. 

Here are tasks that would be part of an industrial and commercial checklist. 

1. Inspect electrical panels and wiring for damage or loose connections. 

2. Test and calibrate electrical instruments and devices. 

3. Check grounding and bonding systems for proper function and connection. 

4. Test and replace worn or damaged electrical cords and cables. 

5. Inspect and test emergency and backup power systems. 

6. Inspect and test fire protection and alarm systems. 

7. Clean and lubricate electrical equipment as needed. 

8. Replace outdated or unsafe electrical equipment. 

9. Update electrical system documentation and drawings. 

10. Test and inspect lightning and surge protection systems. 

While keeping a manual checklist is possible, using preventive maintenance software improves workflow and eliminates errors. It automates the process and uses GPS and other data to help ensure the required maintenance is completed. It can also integrate with Internet-connected sensors to detect when equipment ceases to perform optimally, so you can tune up the equipment before it affects safety or quality. 

How to Measure the ROI of Electrical Preventive Maintenance 

For most companies, one of the primary reasons for preventive maintenance is to improve the company’s financial performance. Just as with any investment, you want to ensure a good return. To gauge the ROI of your electrical preventive maintenance program: 

1. Track the cost of your repairs or replacements before and after implementing the program. 

2. Calculate the labor and other savings from reduced downtime. 

3. Add the savings from the reduced repairs and downtime together, then divide by the cost of the preventive maintenance program to calculate the ROI. 

Getting Started With Electrical Preventive Maintenance 

Electrical preventive maintenance increases the lifespan and efficiency of systems and equipment, reduces downtime, and improves safety. It also keeps your company in compliance with regulatory issues. A checklist is critical to ensuring preventive maintenance tasks are performed on schedule. Preventive maintenance software automates the checklist process, using analytics and other information to generate work orders at the right time for each maintenance task. Setting up your own maintenance checklist can help you achieve the optimum ROI for your electrical preventive maintenance program. 

ServiceChannel provides facilities management software to help you develop and implement your electrical preventive maintenance checklist. Our customers have cut their repair and maintenance costs by 18 percent to 22 percent. Explore our preventive maintenance software today.