A Complete Guide for Planned maintenance of construction equipement

April 8, 2024

Ensuring your equipment and fleet vehicles are up to the mark and running efficiently is a part of running your construction program smoothly. Many construction site owners face multiple losses during their projects due to negligence in scheduling the planned maintenance of construction equipment.

In 2016, the National Institute of Standards and Technology provided insight into the costs of machinery maintenance, which were a whopping $74.5 billion. However, the preventable losses due to maintenance were even higher, leading to $119.1 billion in the manufacturing sector.

As a construction site owner, your main goal is to provide your customers with projects on time, without complaints or losses. Keeping track of your construction equipment's maintenance is not only beneficial to your work but will also create a worthy reputation.

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What is the planned maintenance of construction equipment?

It is a procedure that utilizes preventive measures to save you time, money, and labor. Planned maintenance of construction equipment allows you to resolve future issues that might arise with your machinery.

That means you won't be running around trying to fix a broken machine while all construction work stops; you would have already fixed the problem beforehand.

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What are the types of maintenance of construction equipment?

Reactive

This is not considered planned maintenance of construction equipment because it occurs when all hell breaks loose and one of your machinery items or fleet vehicles breaks down, causing havoc on the construction site. We are trying to avoid this kind of maintenance.

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Pro-active

Two types of Proactive maintenance help efficiently utilize time, money, and effort.

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Preventive

These preventive maintenance plans are based on time and usage. Maintenance planning is conducted every six months, annually, or after a certain usage limit (e.g., 12,000 Km or 20,000 miles). However, one must know which equipment needs the most maintenance; otherwise, it could be costly.

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Predictive

This would be a cost-effective option but can be tricky sometimes because it depends on machinery performance to prompt maintenance planning. It can be performed by the technicians or laborers working on the machine and does not require highly qualified professionals.

This technique can also be considered proactive because the problem will likely be resolved when the machine shows initial signs of failure. This type of approach works with every machine individually.

Some examples would be oil changes, pressure checks, tire inspections, brake checks, fluid level checks, and many more.

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Importance of planned maintenance of construction equipment

Reduction of downtime

When you consider planning maintenance on your construction equipment, you are saving yourself from a lot of trouble in the future. For example, your high-powered machine may break down, or your fleet vehicle may be stuck in the middle of its route.

This will delay completing other related tasks. One problem will lead to another, and you won't know how many pieces of equipment will be idle, waiting for operations to restart.

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Safety regulations

21% of all deaths in the US are due to construction accidents, which accounted for 1,008 deaths in the year 2021. While most of these are caused by slips and falls ( 35%), others are due to electrocution(7.6%), being struck (17%), and being caught (5.8%).

As a construction site owner, it is your responsibility to develop a critical and effective equipment maintenance plan to ensure that no such fatalities occur on your property.

If a machine breaks down or experiences a component failure, it can damage not only the operator but also the workers working alongside it, other equipment, and machinery, and be hazardous to the environment.

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Cost saving

According to NIST, in 2016, the profit made due to maintenance planning in construction was up to $73.8 billion! $6.5 billion was garnered from reducing downtime, and the remaining $67.3 billion was from increased sales.

Consider this: If your machine breaks down, you have to order parts immediately, which costs you additional money for next-day delivery and the loss of downtime as well.

Not only this but if that machine causes other machinery to malfunction, it will be a huge mess that will cost you a large sum of money and delay the delivery of the project.

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Increase longevity of equipment.

Wouldn't it be better if you didn't need to order new machinery now and then? Preventive maintenance allows you to maintain the longevity of your heavy machinery by constantly repairing and fixing any kind of malfunction before it gets too bad.

This will save you the hassle of ordering new machinery during a project (if it breaks down suddenly) and downtime.

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How do you prepare for the planned maintenance of construction equipment?

You need to learn how to perform planned maintenance of construction equipment to ensure smooth and effective operation.

You can also utilize Clue's software to keep track of tools that need to be repaired and parts that need to be ordered before they wear out. Let's check out how you can benefit from Clue's insights!

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Step #1: Choose a tracking software

Although you can use Excel sheets, handwritten checklists, or boards to keep check, it is best if you pick Clue to help you assist in tracking, managing, and scheduling maintenance programs. The app will also help you monitor inventory, equipment life span, and workers assigned to the machinery.

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Step #2: List the machinery in need of maintenance

Clue's inventory and rental management features help you know exactly what needs to be restocked, refueled, and repaired. The company also provides an asset management feature that allows you to see an exact report of which machinery is working with the flow and which needs to be replaced, repaired, and inspected.

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Step#3: Create a schedule

You need a maintenance schedule depending on the number of hours the machine has worked or the distances covered. For example,

Clue's app will remind you to schedule a construction equipment maintenance plan every 6000 hours your machine has operated or every 6 months/month/year. Depending on the type of fleet vehicle, it can be every 5000 miles/km.

The app is also designed with such high technology that it will send you alerts in case of climatic changes ( ex, rain, snow, storm, etc.).

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Step#4: Train your staff to upkeep the machinery

In a case study, 150 samples were studied, and data showed that 64% of errors were skill-based, indicating the poor training of the staff present on the site.

Even though Clue can help you track your employees' work hours, in and out timings, and categorize responsibilities effectively, it is still important that you train your staff well enough that they don't abuse the machinery or try to work on it with visible defects showing.

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Step #5: Allocate someone to carry out the procedure

You can use Clue to allocate different responsibilities to every employee. You can find a trustworthy person or gather up a whole team to put all their focus on this issue.

This way, if something goes wrong, you have someone to hold accountable and get to the root of the cause. You can also use this tool to plan incentives for employees who work skillfully and efficiently.

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Step #6: Maintain a checklist

Only 23% of organizations consider using construction project management software like Clue to run their business, which shows why 70% of these have had project failures in the past 12 months, wasting 122 million USD from the 1 billion USD investments.

With Clue's insights on reports and further action that needs to be taken, the app makes your job much easier by keeping a maintenance history record. This way, you can make a checklist of which items need further repair and which ones can be utilized again.

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Step #7: Get advice from professionals

Bring your team of technicians and operators to the site and train them to provide you with analytics and reports through the Clue app. The app will integrate and provide data to the team of professionals while bringing back complete diagnostics and satisfying results.

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Step#8: Identify and find solutions for equipment failure problems

When you connect your heavy machinery and fleet vehicles through the GPS tracking system to Clue's app, you will be aware of any problems leading to equipment failure. Aging equipment accounts for 40% of equipment failure, so it is important to maintain it for longevity.

Some machinery breaks down suddenly and causes a lot of downtime, which can be due to worn-out parts, temporary stalling, or sputtering over time. Others might give up due to a lack of maintenance in lubrication, oil changes, overexertion, or collisions.

Although failures are sometimes unexpected and due to electrical shocks or overloads, it is always useful to connect your machinery with Clue's app, which provides data warnings to keep you up to date with upcoming issues that need to be resolved.

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What are the important steps to take while performing equipment maintenance?

Here is an extra treat to help you gain more knowledge in assessing a perfect maintenance running plan. Even though Clue will help you determine all of these problems on its own, it's still your responsibility to order such repairs immediately!

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Keep note of fluid levels.

With the fuel management category, you can track engine oil, hydraulic oil, transmission fluid, and engine coolant simultaneously. These indicate a machine's true health.

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Don't forget lubrication!

As mentioned earlier, lubrication is crucial to a machine's working ability. Without proper and frequent lubrication, the parts will wear out before the end of their life cycle.

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Always keep electrical wiring in the cover.

Electrical wiring will keep your workers safe from shocks or accidents and ensure the longevity of your assets. A secure cover can help prevent rainwater, melted ice, or snow from entering your wiring.

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Check for any potential leaks.

Keep an eye out for leaky valves. Timely inspections can save you a lot of time and effort. Leaks can cause many problems, so it's better to check those whenever possible.

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Be aware of the tire and axle coordination.

Fleet vehicles usually acquire mud, debris, or loose gravel on the way, which can cause poor tire and axle coordination. Getting it cleaned regularly can prevent sudden breakdowns on the field.

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Get Clue to help you!

The planned maintenance of construction equipment is a very crucial aspect of running a construction project, and heaps of paperwork, manual jotting, and paper checklists won't be a favorable option for an aspiring contractor. Instead of losing profits, customers and running around for repairmen and new parts, consider utilizing Clue's software, which brings all your management problems under one glass pane.

With Clue, you won't have to remind everyone about potential repairs and preventive maintenance; rather, the app itself will highlight issues, analyze data, and report on the health of your assets/machinery.

When 53% of large general contractors are using such software to maintain safety/inspection checks on their sites, what's stopping you?

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FAQs

What is the most important part of the planned maintenance of construction equipment?

The most important part of planned maintenance includes routine scheduling for mandatory service tasks such as lubrication and oil or filter changes. Fluid analysis is crucial in all equipment servicing. Additionally, visual inspections are vital, transforming routine maintenance into a proactive approach.

How can I track and monitor the maintenance history of my construction equipment?

Manual Logs: Keep detailed records of maintenance activities manually.

Barcode Scanners: Use barcode scanners to track equipment and maintenance records.

RFID Tags: Implement RFID tags for efficient equipment tracking.

Sensors and IoT: Utilize sensors and IoT technology for real-time monitoring.

Choosing the Right Method: Select the most suitable method based on your specific needs and resources.

What indicators suggest it's time for immediate maintenance of construction equipment?

Low Fluid Levels: Leaking coolant or hydraulic oils indicate a problem.
Exhaust Problems: Unusual exhaust emissions suggest maintenance is needed.
Dashboard Warning Lights: Warning lights on the dashboard signal that immediate attention is required.