Running a restaurant is expensive, but we don’t need to tell you that. You’re already all-too-familiar with the rising costs of rent, minimum wage, food and beyond.

That’s why when it comes to maintaining your equipment and restaurant in general, the last thing you want to do is spend tens of thousands of dollars unnecessarily like so many other restaurants do.

Fortunately, you don’t have to. You can be a proactive business owner who implements simple, effective, money-saving preventive maintenance strategies.

The only question is, do you want to save money? That was a trick question — of course you do!

In this article on restaurant maintenance, we’re going to walk you through:

1. What preventive maintenance is
2. Why preventive maintenance is important
3. How preventive maintenance differs from recurring maintenance
4. 10 maintenance strategies you can implement ASAP

Ready to dive in? Let’s do this!

1. What is Preventive Maintenance?

First things first – what is preventive maintenance?

Preventive maintenance is the practice of regularly inspecting and servicing equipment thereby extending its lifespan and reducing the likelihood it will break down.

Essentially, it’s like a routine health screening for your equipment to make sure it’s working correctly and to maximum capacity.

2. Why is Preventive Maintenance Important?

Rather than being reactive to equipment breakdowns and placing a work order every time something in your venue malfunctions or stops working, you can instead implement preventative guidelines for how you will maintain your equipment and detect problems early on.

By being proactive about your equipment maintenance rather than reactive, you’ll save yourself thousands of dollars in unnecessary repairs that occur due to equipment neglect or oversight.

What’s more — you’ll have greater foresight into what piece of equipment needs to be serviced, and when, thereby reducing the likelihood of equipment malfunctions during service.

3. What's the Difference Between Preventive and Recurring Maintenance?

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Okay, I understand what preventive maintenance is, but how is it different from recurring maintenance?”

The main difference is recurring maintenance is typically done on a daily or sometimes weekly basis. It includes nightly cleanings, waste management, etc. and is a necessary part of running a safe and sanitary restaurant.

In the absence of recurring maintenance, restaurants run the risk of health code violations, negative customer reviews, and an unsafe work environment. This type of maintenance is not optional and must be conducted regularly to sustain a food-service business.

Now that you know what preventive maintenance is, why it’s important and how it differs from recurring maintenance, let’s explore strategies you can implement to save time and money on your restaurant maintenance costs.

4. Top 10 Preventive, Equipment, and Recurring Maintenance Tips for QSRs & FSRs

1.) Familiarize Yourself With Manufacturer Guidelines ‍

Start your preventive maintenance journey by first familiarizing yourself with the manufacturer guidelines. These recommendations are full of valuable information detailing how to care for and service your equipment so you’re able to use it to its full capacity and ensure it reaches its lifespan.

To reduce overwhelm as you sift through manufacturer packets, tackle one category of the equipment at a time, such as the HVAC, (as the guidelines will likely be similar), and then create a spreadsheet that details maintenance best practices. Each set of best practices should include how to care for the equipment, clean it, and when to service/change/replace parts.

Keep your spreadsheet handy as we’ll be referencing it in more detail below.

2.) Create a Maintenance Schedule ‍

Remember that spreadsheet you just created that categorized each equipment type and how to maintain it? Now you’re going to use it to create a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual schedule for how to care for and service each piece of equipment.

There isn’t a one-size-fits-all maintenance schedule, so it’s important you customize your list to meet your specific equipment needs. Initially, this process may be somewhat time-consuming but over time it will save you time and money and you’ll be glad you did it!

To begin, make a column separating daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual tasks. Then fill in what the manufacturer recommends you do to maintain the equipment, and how often.

Some equipment types, such as water valves, only need to be inspected quarterly and replaced every few years. Other equipment types, such as ovens, deep fryers and commercial grills, need to be cleaned, sanitized, and serviced regularly.

3.) Regularly Clean and Sanitize Equipment‍

One of the best (and often overlooked) preventative measures you can take to care for your equipment is to ensure it’s regularly cleaned and sanitized.

Not only will doing so keep your equipment functional and residue-free, but it will also keep your customers safe from harmful bacteria.

Take grease traps as an example — if they aren’t regularly cleaned out, the grease will build up and eventually leads to a clogged waterline. This will cause your system to overflow and require a plumber or certified technician to come out and fix it. In addition to creating an unsanitary work environment, it will also interrupt service and cost your venue time and money.

Avoid costly work orders by making routine cleaning and sanitization part of your staff’s opening and closing checklists, and then ensure the manager on duty checks for completion at the start and end of each shift.

4.) Schedule Regular Fire Suppression Checks‍

According to recent studies, kitchen equipment is responsible for 61% of commercial fires, which is why regular fire suppression inspections are crucial to the health and viability of your equipment and venue as a whole.

To adhere to best practices, schedule a fire suppression inspection every three to six months. During the inspection, a qualified technician will come to your venue and verify if everything is in working order and ready for use should a fire occur.

It goes without saying that this is one of the most crucial preventive maintenance measures you can implement. Otherwise, you risk the safety of your employees and can end up losing tens of thousands of dollars as a result.

5.) Train Staff on Equipment Handling and Maintenance

Your employees are the people who work closely with your equipment, and rely on it for day-to-day operations. As such, they need to be informed on how to properly handle and care for it.

Each time you onboard a new employee, ensure you have training procedures in place that include how to handle and maintain any equipment relevant to that specific position. This will empower your staff to feel confident and comfortable as they work with your equipment.

Additionally, whenever you purchase new equipment or make updates to existing equipment, notify your staff immediately, and schedule a training session.

By ensuring your employees are trained on equipment maintenance, you won’t have to worry about equipment mishandling or neglect.

6.) Designate Responsibility

Maintaining equipment is no easy feat, and shouldn’t fall into the lap of just one person. Instead, once your staff is trained on how to maintain your equipment, you can assign specific maintenance tasks to your FOH, BOH, and managerial staff thereby allowing them to divide and conquer.

Depending on your restaurant type, this can be done in a variety of ways. For example, if you’re a QSR, you might opt to assign shift-based tasks that are rotational, and equal across the board. Whereas, if you’re an FSR with a head chef, bartender, server etc., these tasks may be assigned based on position and department.

Regardless of how you choose to assign responsibility, the important thing is that your staff know what’s expected of them at the start and conclusion of each shift, allowing them to do their job thoroughly.

Also, implement a checks and balances system where someone such as a manager or head chef is signing off on the completion of all required tasks.

7.) Conduct Monthly Inspections‍

On a monthly basis, inspect your equipment to ensure it’s working properly and doesn’t need to be serviced by a technician. Check for things such as leaky water valves, grease build-up, loose wires, HVAC systems, refrigeration air filters, and so forth.

By keeping a close eye on your equipment, and checking for residual build-up, blockages, and other issues, you’ll have foresight into what needs to be serviced (and when) so you don’t end up creating an unexpected work order that could have otherwise been prevented.

8.) Schedule Regular Maintenance According to Equipment Usage ‍

You know how a ceiling fan collects dust and residue the more it’s used? Well, the same goes for your restaurant equipment. The more frequently it’s used, the more regularly it will need to be maintained.

For example, if your venue is located in a tropical climate and your AC unit runs continuously, then the filters, coils, and fins will require more regular maintenance than a venue that seasonally uses its AC unit. In this scenario, failure to follow a regular maintenance schedule will result in lower air quality and a decline in overall performance.

Depending on the equipment type, you may service the equipment yourself, or create a recurring work order to have it serviced by an outside technician.

By scheduling maintenance based on equipment usage, you’ll extend the lifespan of your assets and reduce the chance of unexpected breakdowns.

9.) Track Equipment Servicing‍

Each time you have a piece of equipment serviced, create a spreadsheet to track the details. Make sure to include what was serviced, when, why, the outcome, and any other relevant details.

Having this information handy will help you track equipment depreciation, make more informed business decisions (i.e. should you continue to repair this piece of equipment or replace it instead), and find anomalies.

For example, let’s say the staff toilet keeps overflowing and you’re considering replacing the plumbing system which would be time-consuming and costly. But when you review your equipment servicing checklist, you realize each time the plumber unclogged the toilet, he mentioned disposable gloves were the reason. Upon further inspection, you discover your staff had been throwing disposable gloves down the toilet, and now know replacing your plumbing is unnecessary — instead, this is an opportunity to train your staff on proper septic handling. ‍

10.) Keep Your Venue Pest Free‍

Rodents and insects can wreak havoc on your venue, and restaurant equipment. In addition to being unsanitary and hazardous to the health of your staff and customers, rodents can also chew through electrical wires, contaminate food, and destroy equipment.

Fortunately, you can avoid pests altogether by following proper food storage practices, and keeping equipment and work areas clean, sanitary, and sealed.

To keep rodents and insects out, follow a regular cleaning and sanitation schedule, and regularly inspect your kitchen and storage areas.

In conclusion, preventive maintenance will help you proactively manage your business assets and reduce your out-of-post expenditures by eliminating unnecessary repairs. It will also help you extend the longevity of your equipment so you can get more bang for your buck.

Give your bottom line a boost, and implement these 10 preventive maintenance tips today!‍

*Pro Tip: If you’re ready to streamline preventative maintenance, have ResQ take it off your plate. ‍

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Here at ResQ our team of experts was curated to help you streamline your restaurant’s maintenance with end-to-end support. Rather than spending countless hours keeping track of multiple spreadsheets, warranties, service history, and so forth across different restaurant locations, our team will do it for you.

With ResQ, you can automate, track and centralize all your preventive maintenance tasks and data in one place accessible anytime, anywhere.

Talk to a ResQ Expert today to see how we can save you time and money.