The Ultimate Guide to Maintenance Inspections with UrAudits

March 15 , 2024

Every firm needs maintenance inspection. The primary purpose is to avoid expensive breakdowns, extend and protect equipment life, and also to prevent terrible accidents.

You have heard of the one at the Valero McKee Refinery, where their maintenance team ignored an old pipe for over 15 years. The result led to the accident that hurt several workers and caused $50 million in damage. The uncontrolled wear and tear cracks let out propane vapor, which caught fire.

Clearly, standard inspection methods come with issues due to dependency on paper forms and data entry by hand. This makes the maintenance audits even more critical. Having to deal with these glitches makes them much less useful.

Now, with the advent of new digital tools, things are now different. Now, you can have maintenance scheduling, inspection, and auditing apps like UrAudits to perform maintenance inspection with just a few clicks.

So, this blog post is all about maintenance inspection. We’ll talk about best practices, the different types, and the difficulties that come up.

By using new technologies, like a maintenance inspection app called “UrAudits,” businesses can speed up the inspection process and make it safer and more efficient overall.

What is a Maintenance Inspection?

A maintenance check includes reviewing systems, facilities, or equipment to find problems that are occurring or could occur. This process helps determine what resources, such as people, money, tools, and supplies, are needed to keep operations running smoothly.

By starting a full maintenance check program, you can protect your assets, make them last longer, and make your customers happier. This proactive method ensures that operations run smoothly and that breakdowns or malfunctions cause only a few problems.

Maintenance Checks Types

Regardless of the sector, there are five standard inspection check-ups for maintenance.

Corrective Maintenance Inspection

You can also call this type a “breakdown maintenance check-up”. After the issue occurs, you need to perform a corrective maintenance inspection. The repair team quickly fixes the problem and gets the equipment working again. These reactive checks are necessary to fix the issues and prevent them from happening again, but they are not the best type. They can cause costs to go up and operations to be interrupted.

Predictive Maintenance Inspection

Firms use pioneering techs like vibration analysis, oil analysis, and thermal images. With these, they can spot awaiting failures or early wear and tear signs.

With this predictive inspection data, companies can precisely plan their maintenance. They can make sure that their equipment is always up and running well. And they can avoid fixes that aren’t needed.

When detecting early signs of wear and tear or failures that are about to happen, these digital techs can help keep work up, make it more efficient, and save money.

Planned Maintenance Inspection

Planned maintenance checks are a must for evading unplanned stoppage and returning to normal operations after a fault. For this to work, you have to follow a set plan and set rules.

Checks and planned repairs come in two main types: –

1. Preventive Maintenance Inspection (PMI): – The goal of this type of inspection is to devise a way to check for and fix complications before they take place. For instance, car manufacturers usually commend changing the oil every 3,000 miles for the best performance. Not performing regular maintenance checks can lead to unforeseen glitches.

2. Planned/Unscheduled Maintenance Inspection: – It revolves around fixing harms as they occur, even when you have a recovery plan. For instance, when the warning light comes on, you change the oil on the spot. It means you must act directly. Unplanned audits can lower preservation costs by immediately ordering replacements or urgent order avoidance.

Reactive Maintenance Inspection

“Run-to-failure” maintenance audit is another term. It means fixing issues with any equipment or machinery only after they occur. This method doesn’t include any proactive checks or safety steps. It could cause unplanned downtime, higher fixed costs, and even safety risks.

Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) Inspection

This focuses on monitoring equipment parameters to determine what care it needs. CBM checks confirm that maintenance is only done when specific demands are met. This way, you can slow down downtime to boost efficacy.

Maintenance Check-Up Instances in Different Sectors

Below are examples of maintenance checks that can be applicable in various sectors: – –

• HVAC systems need regular upkeep. This includes checking the coils, cleaning the filters. It also covers the preventative checks, like keeping an eye on motor vibrations and using thermal imaging to find leaks in the pipes.
• Building Maintenance: It requires regular inspections of electrical systems, fire alarms, plumbing, and other essential systems to catch problems before they occur.
• Machine Maintenance: It covers greasing the bearings and changing the belt’s tension. You can also ensure that the safety interlocks work correctly.
• Automobile Maintenance: – It includes changing the oil, rotating the tires, and replacing the filter. On the other side, corrective maintenance fixes worn-out brake pads, flat tires, and engine problems.

Ensure smooth maintenance checks with our multipurpose building inspection app, UrAudits. It is available for Android and iOS. From electrical systems to HVAC upkeep, permit your team to conduct in-depth inspections anytime, anywhere.

Try our inspection app for Android or iOS today for proactive maintenance and efficient problem-solving.

Significance of Periodic Maintenance Inspections

The 2022 Maintenance Manager Report says that 39.9% of managers worry about reliable equipment nearing the end of its useful life. Scheduled maintenance checks, repairs, and service can help find problems early and prevent them from happening, saving money on repairs and replacements.

Regular inspections and repairs are the best way to ensure workplace safety. By quickly finding and fixing possible safety hazards, your company can make the workplace safer and lower its legal risks.

Tools must be kept in good working order to meet regulatory standards. You can do this by doing regular audits, keeping tools in good shape, meeting industry standards, and ensuring operations run smoothly.

How Often Must You Do Maintenance Inspections?

The type of check and the importance of the equipment affect how to make the best inspection plan. For example, preventive inspections of low-risk equipment are usually done once a month, while checks of necessary machinery in production lines are done every week to avoid costly downtime.

The quantity of information exist and even the budget limit effects the decisions-making. Making a good schedule is easier when you use industry norms, manufacturer suggestions, and professional advice.

Digital audit applications like UrAudits make inspection and upkeep work better. They make it easier to plan audits ahead of time, give corrective actions, and keep track of them.

Analyzing data from the past helps managers find and fix problems that continue to occur, and real-time information helps them develop strong repair plans.

Maintenance Audits Challenges

70.6% of managers say they face difficulty planning and scheduling maintenance. This is a big issue that can have bad results. Skipping compulsory inspections, such as the twice-weekly checks of pipeline valves, can lead to leaks that can hurt the environment and stop production.

One approach that is becoming more popular is using an Android or iOS app for inspection, like UrAudits. Our apps can divide a 180-day upkeep plan into 30-day, 4-day, and 7-day plans for easy maintenance inspection management.

When choosing an inspection app, it is important to give the ones with complete training courses the most weight. The chosen app should also work well with current maintenance tools to simplify the switch and complete the most work.

Maintenance Checks Best Practices

Inspection and repair processes that take a lot of time, are complex to understand, and are prone to mistakes need strategic approaches: –

• Carefully track findings, observations, and corrective steps during each audit. This can give confidence you that everything is being monitored.
• Make key tasks and equipment a top priority that needs to be done on the spot. And let your team members know exactly how important they are so they can act quickly.
• Change maintenance plans as required by exploring persistent problems and changing methods for dealing with them.
• Use standard digital inspection checklists for each piece of equipment and location to ensure they are always used correctly.
• Automate tasks to make reporting and notifications so that everyone is updated and there is no manual tasking.
• Plan and inform auditors in advance so they can prepare on time.

You could use an iOS or Android inspection app, like UrAudits, to create standard checklists. This would keep everyone on the same page, and the team could view them from their Android and iOS devices, even when they’re not online.

Use inspection data for ongoing tracking to easily decide which fixes need priority and how to improve your maintenance plans.

Use past data to find and fix problems that keep happening, which will cut down on downtime and stop them from happening again.

Maintenance Inspection Checklists

The UrAudits checklist library offers FREE maintenance audit checklists that you may use immediately to begin your maintenance self-assessments.

General Maintenance Audit Checklists

Ensure your equipment and assets are in top shape with these complimentary maintenance checklists: –

• HSE (health safety and environment) Maintenance Audit
• Electrical Monthly Maintenance
• Conveyor Preventive Maintenance
• General Maintenance, Health & Safety
• HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) Preventive Maintenance
• Machine Preventive Maintenance
• Automatic Door Maintenance

Buildings Maintenance Audit Checklists

Examine your buildings and facilities with these free maintenance checklists: –

• Condo Maintenance
• Elevator Maintenance
• Sump Pump Maintenance
• Commercial Kitchen Inspection
• Warehouse Upkeep
• Gym Daily Maintenance
• Hotel Maintenance
• Plumbing Preventive Upkeep

Electrical Panel Maintenance

• Hallway Cleaning & Preservation
• Building Preservation Inspection
• Building Exterior Maintenance
• Club Building Upkeep

Automobiles Maintenance Checklists

Make sure your fleet of vehicles is well-maintained and keep a thorough maintenance record by using these free checklists: –

• Forklift Preventive Maintenance
• Automotive Preventative Maintenance
• Tractor Maintenance
• Vehicle Maintenance Logs
• Truck Maintenance Log

Use our vehicle inspection app to ensure your automobiles work well and last as long as possible.

Get a free 14-day trial via sign-up to try the automotive inspection app UrAudits and build these checklists immediately!

How Can You Perform Maintenance Audits?

A strong maintenance inspection program must maximize your equipment’s performance, dependability, and worth. Here are five key steps to take to set up a long-standing maintenance plan: –

Making plans and getting ready for the inspection

How will the equipment affect operations? How safe are they? And how much will they cost? These are significant concerns that you must be aware of. For this, make a list of inspections, including the time and who will do them. You’ll need to gather digital checklists, reference materials/ tools, etc.

Briefing before the inspection

As the maintenance manager or supervisor, you must write down the scope of the check. Also, write down the main points of focus and the safety rules and debate possible perils. Then, tell the team how things should work, their roles, and any possible risks.

Carrying Out the Inspection: – Members of the on-site team follow the checklist, review each item, and make digital notes and pictures of any problems they find. Depending on the business, they may use expert methods like oil analysis, thermography, or vibration analysis.

Looking at and reporting on data

Inspectors examine inspection data and suggest ways to fix problems or conduct more research. They should make clear, concise audit reports with their results and suggestions and share them with others.

Closing the loops

Deal with problems right away to keep them from getting worse. Change the way you do maintenance based on the needs of the technology and the way it is being used.

By carefully following these steps, businesses can ensure their equipment works at its best and have as little downtime as possible, increasing total productivity and efficiency.

Perform Maintenance Checks with UrAudits

UrAudits inspection app is available for USA and UK clients as a powerful tool for maintenance inspections that extend the life of assets and prevent costly breakdowns. It allows users to evaluate safety, performance, and condition-based measures easily.

Our manufacturing auditing app is flexible enough to meet a wide range of needs thanks to its ready-to-use and editable maintenance audit templates. Users can easily set up regular and frequent checks, which makes maintenance more efficient.

An auditor app is a complete suite to business success and makes tasks easier and the workflow more organized. Users can quickly take and monitor corrective actions, which ensures that problems are fixed quickly.

UrAudits makes creating and sharing inspection data easy, encouraging openness and teamwork. With its advanced inspection dashboard, users can find patterns that keep happening, monitor how assets or equipment are working, and quickly make smart choices.

UrAudits Available as:

• Manufacturing inspection app 
• Vehicle inspection app
• Energy and Agriculture Inspection app
• Logistics inspection app

And much more…

As for a complete list, visit our main page.

UrAudits’ Android or iOS inspection app (or even as a web app) basically gives users a complete way to monitor and manage maintenance plans. This lets them deal with problems before they happen and improve the performance of their assets.

Download UrAudits now.