Managing Your Educational Facility’s Maintenance

Between the daily in and out of students, teachers, and administrators, educational facilities see heavy wear and tear throughout the school year. Their mechanical systems are certainly no exception. To ensure that your school and its equipment are running at the most efficient levels possible, we’ve broken down a few different styles of maintenance for you to work from. Choose one or a mixture of different strategies to guarantee your occupants will be comfortable, and your school building maintenance bills will be low this coming school year.

Maintenance by the Season

Seasonal maintenance is the most common plan that our expert technicians see. In an educational facility, you need to keep noise levels, occupant comfort, and student safety in mind as to not disrupt the learning environment. Take advantage of the breaks students and teachers receive to perform loud or messy tasks. Then, schedule the necessary tasks that allow you to go less noticed for when classes are in session. We have identified a handful of tasks that must be completed each season below.

[Download our checklist, Education Facility Management Checklist for Back to School to make your school’s operations as efficient as possible.]

Spring:

• During the students’ spring break from classes, complete a thorough inspection of each mechanical system. Complete any necessary upkeep school building maintenance at this time in order to keep noise levels low.
• Ensure that your boiler is stored safely for the spring and summer months ahead.
• Perform an HVAC tune-up during the early spring months to make sure your system is operational for the upcoming cooling season.

Summer:

• During the students’ summer break, complete a thorough inspection of each mechanical system and complete any necessary upkeep maintenance.
• Use this time to make necessary repairs/upgrades to the mechanical system.

Fall:

• During the students’ conference break, complete a thorough inspection of each mechanical system. Complete any necessary upkeep maintenance at this time in order to keep noise levels low.
• Perform an HVAC tune-up during the early fall months to make sure your system is operational for the heater season ahead.
• Ensure that your boiler is ready for the winter months ahead by starting it up.
• Winter-proof your facility. Caulking windows, weather-stripping doors, and insulating where possible will all pay off as the chilly season approaches.

Winter:

• During the students’ holiday break, complete a thorough inspection of each mechanical system and complete any necessary upkeep maintenance.

Create a Preventative Maintenance Plan

In the blink of an eye, a minor facility issue can cause a major problem. To set your educational facility up for long term success, a preventative maintenance plan is a must.

Year-round school building maintenance is essential to ensure each of your mechanical systems is operating to their best ability. By thoroughly keeping your boiler, HVAC, burner, and other significant pieces of mechanical equipment working correctly, your facility will see improved efficiencies in the facility, lower maintenance costs, and long term success.

Plan Ahead with Predictive Maintenance

Similar to preventative maintenance, predictive maintenance, or sometimes called condition-maintenance, attempts to identify when a system is close to failure. Instead of looking at the lifespan of a system, predictive maintenance looks at how the equipment is operating and anticipates failure from there. Our Reliability Team can help you monitor the condition of critical equipment to prevent unexpected breakdowns.

However you choose to complete your educational facility’s yearly maintenance, be sure to reach out to the experts at Rasmussen Mechanical Services for guidance. Our team of expert technicians is happy to step in and assist in your seasonal tasks, preventative maintenance, or advise in predictive maintenance.