Guide · Choosing
What maintenance software is for
It is the record of what maintenance you owe, what you have done and what it proved. Everything else follows from that.
Three things in one record
Strip away the screens and every maintenance system keeps three lists:
- What you owe: the services, inspections and repairs each asset needs, and when.
- What you have done: every job, who did it, when, with what parts.
- What it proved: the readings, photos, certificates and signatures that show the duty was met.
Why a spreadsheet stops being enough
A spreadsheet can hold the first list. It struggles with the second, because jobs happen on the move, and it rarely holds the third at all. When an inspector or a client asks “show me”, the evidence is in a van, an inbox and someone’s memory.
What the name means
CMMS stands for computerised maintenance management system. You will also see EAM for larger estates and CAFM for buildings. The words differ; the three lists are the same.
What to look for
A system earns its place when the record fills itself in as the work is done: the job on the phone, the reading typed once, the certificate filed against the duty it proves. See the seven questions guide for how to tell.
Checklist
- You can see what you owe, per asset, with dates
- You can see what was done, by whom, when
- You can show the evidence for any duty in a few minutes
- The record fills in as the work is done, not afterwards
Sources
Our own advice, from running maintenance. This guide quotes no studies and no figures.
Related guides
Choosing · 2 min read
Choosing maintenance software: the seven questions
Seven questions that sort the systems your team will use from the ones it will quietly stop using.
Starting · 2 min read
Moving off spreadsheets without losing anything
Your spreadsheets hold years of knowledge. Move it in the right order and nothing is lost or typed twice.
See it on your own sites.
Free for one site, up to 3 people and 2,000 assets. No card.