The honest answer to "how often should PPM be done?" is: it depends on the asset, and anyone quoting one universal frequency for a whole building is guessing. Planned maintenance intervals are set by four forces — statutory-linked guidance, manufacturer requirements, asset condition and usage, and risk appetite.
What sets the frequency
- Statutory-linked guidance — life-safety and compliance-related systems follow recognised inspection and testing cycles; duty holders evidence their obligations through them
- Manufacturer requirements — servicing intervals that keep plant within its design life and its warranty conditions
- Condition and usage — a twenty-year-old boiler in constant use needs more attention than a two-year-old unit on light duty
- Consequence of failure — assets whose failure closes a building justify tighter cycles than assets whose failure inconveniences nobody
Typical rhythm of a commercial programme
Without turning this into a compliance manual — intervals should always be confirmed against current guidance and the specific installation — commercial programmes tend to settle into a familiar rhythm:
- Weekly to monthly — routine checks on life-safety systems, plant room walkthroughs, water temperature monitoring where applicable
- Quarterly to six-monthly — servicing visits for detection systems, mechanical plant checks, door and access system servicing, gutter and drainage attention around seasonal risk
- Annual — the heaviest layer: boiler and heating servicing, air conditioning servicing, emergency lighting full-duration testing, fire door inspection cycles, many statutory examinations
- Multi-year — periodic electrical inspection and testing, decoration cycles, roof condition surveys and similar longer-horizon items
The point is not the specific list — it is that every asset in the register carries its own interval, and the programme is the sum of them. Our PPM checklist covers how to assemble it.
Over-servicing and under-servicing
Both directions cost money. Under-servicing shows up as rising breakdowns, failed inspections and shortened asset life — the classic drift into reactive maintenance. Over-servicing is quieter: paying for quarterly attention that a low-risk asset does not need. The corrective for both is the same — set intervals per asset from guidance and risk, then adjust with evidence from service reports and failure history.
Contractors make the schedule real
A frequency on a spreadsheet means nothing until a competent contractor attends on it. When appointing PPM contractors, weight reliability and documentation as heavily as price: a supplier who holds the schedule and files proper reports is what makes the programme auditable. Regency Contractors Network helps FM and property teams source vetted contractors across the disciplines a planned programme needs.
Frequently asked questions
- Are PPM frequencies a legal requirement?
- The frequencies themselves are generally set by recognised guidance and manufacturer requirements rather than named in statute, but many support statutory duties — and duty holders are expected to follow them or justify departures. Always confirm against current guidance for the specific system.
- Can PPM frequencies be reduced to save money?
- Sometimes, on genuinely low-risk assets and with evidence from service history. Reducing frequency on compliance-linked or high-consequence assets to save money is a false economy that tends to surface as emergencies.
