Building Operations & Maintenance Building or Facilities operations and maintenance encompasses all that broad spectrum of services required to assure the built environment will perform the functions for which a facility was designed and constructed. Operations and maintenance typically includes the day-to-day activities necessary for the building and its systems and equipment to perform their intended function. Operations and maintenance are combined into the common term O&M because a facility cannot operate at peak efficiency without being maintained; therefore the two are discussed as one.
The scope of O&M includes the activities required to keep the entire built environment as contained in the organization's Real Property Inventory of facilities and their supporting infrastructure, including utility systems, parking lots, roads, drainage structures and grounds in a condition to be used to meet their intended function during their life cycle.
These activities include preventive and predictive (planned) maintenance and corrective (repair) maintenance. Preventive Maintenance (PM) consists of a series of time-based maintenance requirements that provide a basis for planning, scheduling, and executing scheduled (planned versus corrective) maintenance. PM includes adjusting, lubricating, cleaning, and replacing components. Time intensive PM, such as bearing/seal replacement, would typically be scheduled for regular (plant or "line") shutdown periods. Corrective maintenance is a repair necessary to return the equipment to properly functioning condition or service and may be both planned and un-planned. Some equipment, at the end of its service life, may warrant overhaul. The definition of overhaul is the restoration of an item to a completely serviceable condition as prescribed by maintenance serviceability standards.
Requirements will vary from a single facility, to a campus, to groups of campuses. As the number variety and complexity of facilities increase, the organization performing the O&M should adapt in size and complexity to ensure that mission performance is sustained. In all cases O&M requires a knowledgeable, skilled, and well trained management and technical staff and a well planned maintenance program. The philosophy behind the development of a maintenance program is often predicated on the O&M organization's capabilities. The goals of a comprehensive maintenance program include the following:
Reduce capital repairs.
Reduce unscheduled shutdowns and repairs.
Extend equipment life, thereby extending facility life.
Realize life-cycle cost savings.
Provide safe, functional systems and facilities that meet the design intent.
