As a hotel manager, you probably already feel like you have thousands of things to do every day. But taking the time to create and follow a hotel maintenance checklist can help you fix many potential issues long before they become serious problems. In this way, your hotel maintenance checklist will save you a lot of future headaches. And potentially, a lot of money too.
In this post we will outline how to design and implement an effective hotel maintenance checklist that will help you prevent costly breakdowns and potential guest dissatisfaction in the long-term.
Preventative Hotel Maintenance Checklist
Step 1 – Itemise All of Your Hotel’s Assets and Systems
To begin with, make a list of every asset and system in your hotel that you know will require ongoing maintenance.
This will include:
- Plumbing, electrical, and heating systems
- Elevators and escalators
- Fire safety systems, including alarms and sprinklers
- Catering facilities, including ovens, fridges, and freezers
- Guest amenities, including gyms, pools, saunas, etc.
Then you should make a separate list for every system you identify:
- Relevant regulations and standards – for example, the fire safety regulations concerning extinguishers, sprinklers, and other systems.
- Recommended maintenance schedules as specified in the manual.
- Warranty details.
- Servicing contacts – i.e. Who specifically would you contact if each system were to break down? Gathering this information in advance would save you from having to source support in an emergency.
- Special considerations. For example, the older each system is, the more often it may require servicing. An asset’s location may also affect its maintenance schedule. If you are near the sea, for instance, then any assets located outdoors may be vulnerable to corrosion from sea salt.
Step 2 – Assign Maintenance Roles & Responsibilities
The good news is that you do not have to oversee every aspect of hotel maintenance by yourself.
Assign roles for every key aspect of maintenance throughout your hotel, and you will create accountability. Everyone will know what is required of them, and when.
Sometimes, the maintenance could become a simple ongoing responsibility for an employee. Housekeeping staff could check furniture for signs of wear and tear, and ensure that all appliances in all rooms are in good working order. And your kitchen staff are probably already perfectly aware of the condition of each key item of equipment they use.
For some systems in your hotel, such as your plumbing, electrical, and fire safety systems, you will probably have to enlist expert help for most service checks and maintenance tasks. In which case, your maintenance checklist should specify who is responsible for ensuring you stick to the servicing intervals, and who is responsible for arranging the specialist maintenance.
Step 3 – Organise Maintenance Tasks By Frequency
Create a list of maintenance tasks, and organise them by how frequently they will need completing.
This will include:
- Daily Tasks – Including routine inspections, cleaning rotas etc.
- Weekly Tasks – Including fire alarm, emergency lighting, and security system tests.
- Monthly Tasks – Including more detailed and comprehensive inspections of key systems, and deeper cleaning procedures.
- Quarterly Tasks – This may include certain professional servicing procedures of heating systems, elevators, fire safety equipment, and other systems.
- Annual Tasks – This may include assessing your hotel’s structure for signs of wear and tear, along with annual service checks for all of your key systems.
Step 4 – Ongoing Recording and Monitoring
Your preventative hotel maintenance checklist should be just that – a checklist. This means you should be able to check off once each daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual task has been completed.
As well as a tick, the checklist should indicate which specific member of staff conducted the test. There should also be space to add notes, so you can record any emerging issues with a date that they were first identified.
You may wish to invest in hotel maintenance software, which can help you keep on top of preventative maintenance with automated reminders, real-time monitoring of progress, and other features.
Specialist Hotel Insurance From James Hallam
A good hotel maintenance checklist can help you prevent many future issues, from a case of food poisoning due to a faulty fridge, to customer slips and trips due to worn carpets. And if you can avoid these issues, you can also avoid any resulting costly claims that may arise.
Nonetheless, accidents do happen. Which is why comprehensive hotel insurance can give you total peace of mind that you will be covered for all costs should anything ever go wrong.
Read our full guide to hotel insurance.
James Hallam is an independent Lloyd’s broker with a dedicated team of experienced insurance specialists. We are committed to protecting your hotel, your staff, and your guests from every risk you might possibly face.
Find out how we can help you get a bespoke and cost-effective hotel insurance policy today.