Ensuring regular and timely building maintenance is essential for preserving and enhancing your property’s value, ensuring the safety of all occupants, and minimising costly disruptions.
However, there are two main types of building maintenance: Preventative and reactive.
In this article, we will outline the differences between the two, explore the benefits of each, and help you as a property owner or manager optimise costs and efficiency in your future building maintenance.
Preventive vs Reactive Building Maintenance
What is Preventive Building Maintenance?
Preventive building maintenance is a more proactive approach that involves everything from regular structural inspections and servicing, to minor/non-pressing repairs. Preventative maintenance, as its name suggests, aims to prevent issues from occurring or escalating.
The key is to identify and then resolve problems early whilst they are simple, cost-effective and non-disruptive. In many ways, preventative building maintenance can be thought of in the same way as regular health check-ups: It’s about catching small issues while they are still easy to treat.
Examples of preventative maintenance includes:
- Scheduled inspections, including for HVAC, lighting and structural elements
- Cleaning and lubricating equipment
- Replacing worn parts before signs of actual failure
- Routine safety checks
What is Reactive Building Maintenance?
Reactive maintenance, such as building repairs, is performed after a problem has been identified. This corrective form of ongoing building maintenance concentrates on addressing issues when and if they arise.
In most scenarios, reactive maintenance is the go-to strategy for non-critical assets, but it can also be a helpful approach when operating on tight budgets without funds for regular servicing.
Some examples of reactive maintenance include fixing a leaking roof after water damage has occurred or repairing a broken elevator only when it is no longer working.
Understanding the Key Differences
Here is a breakdown of the differences between preventative and reactive building maintenance.
1. Timing
Preventative
Reactive
Maintenance is scheduled and proactive.
Maintenance is conducted when needed and in reaction to a failure.
2. Costings
Preventative
Reactive
Costs are higher upfront but taper in the long term.
Costs are low upfront but can become higher in the long term.
3. Downtime and Disruptions
Preventative
Reactive
Generally minimal and planned, allowing for contingency planning.
Often unplanned and therefore longer/more disruptive.
4. Longevity
Preventative
Reactive
Asset and element life span is generally long.
Neglecting issues can reduce the lifespan of a building or its elements.
5. Risk
Preventative
Reactive
Risk levels are lower and the likelihood of an emergency decreases.
Risk levels are higher and the likelihood of an emergency increases.
6. Organisation
Preventative
Reactive
Requires ongoing planning and scheduling.
Requires minimal planning except for during emergencies or breakages/malfunctions.
Pros and Cons of Preventative Maintenance
On the one hand, preventative maintenance reduces unplanned downtime, disruption and emergency repairs. It is an effective way to extend the lifespan of assets, elements and equipment, whilst ensuring safety and compliance. Overall, it is likely to enhance your building’s value and increase satisfaction of occupants and tenants.
However, on the other hand, this form of building maintenance does require ongoing and upfront costs for servicing and inspection. The labour-intensive activities require more staff and require more ongoing planning. When it comes to non-critical assets, as well, there is a risk of “over maintenance”.
Pros and Cons of Reactive Maintenance
Reactive maintenance offers a number benefits, including the lower initial costs seeing as there are no regular or ongoing servicing or inspection requirements. Similarly, less time is required to plan and schedule the maintenance.
However, the long-term costs or sudden and unexpected emergency building repairs can be more costly in the long run. There is also a higher probability of major failures, safety hazards are large-ticket repairs, which can prove to be costly, disruptive and time-intensive to fix.
Which Building Maintenance Strategy Saves More?
Which strategy saves more time, money, and hassle?
It should be clear by now that both strategies offer advantages and disadvantages. It is all about the trade-off.
Preventative maintenance, despite larger upfront investment, generally results in less total maintenance over time, fewer disruptions and enhanced asset reliability and longevity.
Reactive maintenance may seem cost-effective in the short term, but it can often lead to significantly higher costs over time due to emergency repairs, unplanned downtime, and asset replacements.
So what do we recommend? Not an either-or approach. Rather a more balanced approach—using preventive maintenance for critical systems and reactive maintenance for non-essential assets—can deliver the best results overall.
BiM Remedial: Preventive and Reactive Services
The team at BiM Remedial specialises in a broad range of remedial building services for commercial, multi-residential, and residential properties across Sydney, with particular expertise with large commercial projects.
Our highly skilled in-house team delivers waterproofing, leak repair, concrete cancer repair, and façade restoration services, helping to minimise future disruption, enhance value and longevity, and ensure cost-effective repair solutions.
Plus, we can assist in coordinating plumbing and electrical services so whether you require preventative or reactive remedial work, we can help ensure your buildings remain functional, safe, and visually appealing. Additionally, importantly, we consult directly with you to find a long-term maintenance strategy that meets your needs, suits your building and works within your budget.
Ready to find out more? Get in touch with BiM Remedial to discuss all things building maintenance today.
