What are Maintenance Records?

Maintenance records are written files or notes that provide documentation about the maintenance of a certain piece of equipment. Maintenance records usually refer to the formal documents and reports and files of the organization, some operational reports, or the people working with machines and the company.

It is usually considered a good business practice when one company keeps the mechanical services’ formal records and repairs the company’s operational sector. To keep up with the company’s growth when they regularly record maintenance and management. This usually helps the company where they lack and needs improvement and good conditions and help prevent sudden expenses.

However, the individuals can use record-keeping, too; for example, it is unnecessary to make records only for professional purposes and can be used for daily life purposes. Like many people, keep records of their vehicle’s maintenance and services to keep their vehicles properly and regularly checked. This can be done to keep records of services performed on home appliances like air conditioning units and back-up generators.

Why are these records kept?

Regardless of these reasons, there are other reasons for which this maintenance management is important. For example, maintenance can really help technical services performed on various appliances of your home, including automobiles. So you can keep track of repeated problems.

There’s also a plus point to it, and that is keeping machinery’s services documents in its best way is the proof that the appliance or machinery is handled with great care. The chances to sell the machinery will be great then. This is for business and normal people. For example, if there would be a business with no record of their employees or plants and operations, they have had in the company, who would buy that company or business. Thorough records can also be a cushion against accountability. If a company has to face a problem related to any technical equipment, they can use their detailed records to get the problem’s history and services as proof.

How long do I need to keep vehicle maintenance records?
In the USA, maintenance records for a company’s vehicles must be kept for at least 12 months by the law. In real life, for practical reasons, maintenance records should be kept up to 5 years. The main reason is that mechanical experts can know all repairs during small service and big vehicle service.

What Are The Main Elements and Basic Requirements For Records?

1- Keeping records in personal life is considered the easiest one because of their maintenance. There is no hard and fast rule for keeping them in files; you can put the receipts in them and update them regularly without notifying others. Since in the business matters, you have to report others after keeping the records of maintenance. 

2-  If we see the maintenance record plan being operated casually in business firms, it will be handled formally. The company has to follow up with other methods to maintain the files; for example, they need to make these files with the reference numbers. Those items or equipment that periodically get inspected by the firms or gets the services are mentioned in the maintenance records with dates. The main component in these maintenance records is the back-up copies of all the data. In case the original is lost, the back-up ones will help to get the matter solved. Back-up files are quite easy to make when the data is documented in soft copies, and if the data is in hard copy, then copying them on time, keep them as back up will work.

Update the Record File of Maintenance  

Once the inventory is made, the data recorded in the files should be updated timely. The things that work on maintaining data and criteria should be the date, time, reference, person who performs the services, and the problem. When there is an inspection or making tests on the equipment, the data reports should write down the details of why the problem came up, how the testing took place, who tested the machinery, and how. The equipment reports will be useful when the next testing has to schedule by recording these things.

One of the other factors that really needs attention in records maintenance is the maintenance’s aspects. These aspects mainly focus on whether on the quality or quantity, efficiency or effectiveness or other factors, etc. It is recommended that maintenance records should mainly focus on efficiency, quality, and profitability. 

The companies tend to spend their huge budget on the maintenance department to stay aligned with their progress. Changing approaches that businesses use and other business philosophies can significantly help to reduce maintenance costs.

Maintenance Records and freelancers
As a freelancer, you need to keep records of your work, the number of hours, problems. That can help you in your future work to make your work better. For example, traders have trading journals, programmers, code records, etc. Every single industry needs to keep records, past performance results, and documentation.