PLANNED PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS
Planned maintenance contracts for building safety systems
A maintenance contract is the longest commitment most duty holders make and the one that gets the least scrutiny. It is usually rolled over, rarely re-tendered, and almost never checked against the statutory duty it is supposed to discharge. Getting the scope right at the point of letting is worth more than anything you can do afterwards.
The desk scopes the contract, approaches the market anonymously, and comes back with firms that have confirmed capacity, the right accreditation for every line in scope and the financial standing to see the term out. Free to the building owner or operator.
Fire and life safety
- · Fire alarm servicing and remote monitoring
- · Emergency lighting testing regimes
- · Extinguisher servicing and dry riser maintenance
- · Sprinkler and suppression system servicing
- · Fire door inspection and repair cycles
Fire safety specialists →Water hygiene
- · Monthly temperature monitoring and flushing
- · Tank inspection, cleaning and chlorination
- · Thermostatic mixing valve servicing
- · Logbook and written scheme management
Water hygiene specialists →Lifts and escalators
- · Planned maintenance visits and call-out cover
- · Entrapment response within a defined time
- · Defect remedials and report close-out
- · Obsolete and legacy equipment support
Lift specialists →Electrical
- · Fixed wire testing on the correct rolling cycle
- · Portable appliance testing and registers
- · Reactive fault finding and remedial works
- · Thermographic surveys and load assessment
Electrical specialists →HVAC and mechanical
- · Planned maintenance to SFG20 task schedules
- · F-gas leak checks and refrigerant records
- · Ductwork hygiene cleaning and air handling servicing
- · Boiler and commercial gas servicing
HVAC specialists →Contract structure
- · Term length, break clauses and price review mechanism
- · What sits inside the fixed price and what is chargeable
- · Response times, and what happens when they are missed
- · Novation and handover from the outgoing provider
What we check before a firm reaches your shortlist
- Whether the proposed scope actually produces the statutory certificates you are relying on, or only the servicing around them.
- Accreditation matched to every line in the contract, including monitoring and remedial work.
- Realistic attendance times for your postcodes, including out of hours and emergency cover.
- Use of subcontractors, and who is actually on site under the contract.
- Financial standing proportionate to the term, so the contract survives its own length.
- What is excluded. On maintenance contracts, the exclusions matter more than the inclusions.
Common questions
Our current contract expires next year. When should we start?
Six months out for a single building, nine to twelve for a portfolio. Contracts that get re-let in the last few weeks get re-let to the incumbent by default, on the incumbent's terms, which is usually why the price went up.
Should we bundle all five lines with one provider?
Sometimes. A single provider gives you one point of contact and one invoice. It also gives you a firm doing at least one of those lines outside its real competence, usually through a subcontractor. We will tell you which of your lines are safe to bundle and which need a specialist.
Does a maintenance contract produce the statutory certificates?
It depends entirely on how the scope is written, and this is the single most common gap we see. Servicing a fire alarm is not the same as the statutory inspection regime, and a contract can be fully delivered while leaving you without the evidence you need. We check the proposed scope against the duty before it reaches you.
Can you help if our current provider is failing?
Yes. Provider replacement is one of the most common reasons a brief reaches the desk. Tell us what has gone wrong, what notice period you are in and whether there are outstanding actions the incoming firm inherits.
What contract lengths do contractors expect?
Three to five years is common for planned maintenance, often with a break. Longer terms buy a better rate and cost you flexibility. We will not pretend there is a single right answer; it depends on how stable your estate is.
OPEN A BRIEF
Re-tender or let a maintenance contract
Tell the desk what is in scope, how many sites and when the current arrangement ends. We come back with firms that can carry it, and we flag where the scope leaves you exposed. Free to the building owner, always.