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Preventive Maintenance
How to Build a PM Program That Actually Gets Done
Most PM programs fail not because of bad procedures, but because they're not connected to the work order system. Here's the playbook.
TopCMMS gives maintenance teams the tools to eliminate reactive downtime, automate preventive schedules, and put every asset, work order, and part request in one place — with AI that actually helps.
Built for the realities of facility and plant maintenance — not a generic project tool with a coat of paint.
Create, assign, prioritize, and close work orders with full history, photo attachments, and digital sign-off. Track corrective and preventive work in one queue.
Reactive & PreventiveSchedule recurring PM tasks by time, meter, or usage. Attach procedures, checklists, and parts lists. Auto-generate work orders so nothing falls through the cracks.
Automated SchedulingMaintain a complete register of every asset — equipment specs, location, warranty, maintenance history, and QR codes for instant field lookup.
Full Asset LifecycleTrack stock levels, set reorder thresholds, log usage against work orders, and manage purchase orders — so your techs are never waiting on a part.
Real-Time StockAsk plain-English questions, get work order drafts from verbal descriptions, surface overdue PMs, and receive intelligent recommendations — hands-free with voice commands.
Voice & ChatTrack MTTR, MTBF, PM compliance, technician productivity, and cost per asset. Exportable reports and live dashboards give management the visibility they need.
KPIs & DashboardsConnect Allen-Bradley and Siemens PLCs, OPC UA servers, or your SCADA. Live values on every asset page — and faults open work orders automatically, with machine context attached.
Industrial PlanRun every plant and facility from one account. Site-scoped assets, teams, and work orders with roll-up visibility for leadership.
One PlatformReduction in unplanned downtime reported by maintenance teams after their first 90 days on TopCMMS
Faster average work order completion when technicians have access to asset history and procedures on mobile
Preventive maintenance compliance rate achievable when PMs are auto-scheduled and tied to real asset data
Asset records, work orders, and maintenance history — stored and searchable with no additional cost per record
Requesters submit work, managers assign and prioritize, technicians execute with full context, and planners close with digital signatures. Every step logged, every file attached.
Build PM schedules once, and let TopCMMS generate work orders automatically on the right cadence — with the right procedure attached, every time.
Ask TopCMMS anything: "What PMs are overdue on the east wing?" — and get an instant, accurate answer drawn from your real data. Create work orders by voice. Get suggested next steps on failures.
"We cut our reactive maintenance by half in the first quarter. The AI assistant is genuinely useful — not a gimmick. Our techs actually use it."
"Finally a CMMS that doesn't require a consultant to set up. We were live in a day. PM compliance went from 60% to 94% inside 60 days."
"The mobile app changed everything for our field techs. QR code scanning, voice input, photo attachments — they stopped avoiding the system entirely."
Start a free trial today. No credit card required, no lengthy onboarding — your team can be operational in under an hour.
No bolt-on modules, no per-feature pricing surprises. TopCMMS is built as one coherent system for the full maintenance operation lifecycle.
Start Free TrialEvery maintenance activity — corrective, preventive, and inspection — flows through work orders. TopCMMS keeps them visible, assigned, and moving.
Urgent, high, medium, and low priority levels with color-coded visual triage across the whole team's workload.
Assign work to individual technicians or teams. Balance workload across shifts and skill sets.
Attach step-by-step checklists to work orders. Failed checklist items automatically generate follow-up WOs.
Let anyone in your organization submit maintenance requests through a simple, role-restricted portal — no training needed.
Technicians attach photos during and after work. Managers attach manuals and schematics for reference.
Collect technician signatures on completion. Resolution types, completion notes, and part usage all captured at closeout.
Set up PM schedules once. TopCMMS generates the work orders, notifies the right technicians, and tracks compliance automatically.
Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or custom-interval PM schedules with auto-generation into the work order queue.
Trigger maintenance based on runtime hours, cycle counts, or any usage metric you log against an asset.
Attach procedure documents, safety notes, and tool lists that travel with every PM work order — even as procedures evolve.
See exactly which PMs were completed on time, late, or missed — by asset, technician, and site.
Group assets into equipment-level schedules for complex maintenance campaigns across an asset family.
Plan shutdown maintenance windows, seasonal inspections, and one-time campaigns with the same scheduling engine.
TopCMMS connects to the PLCs on your plant floor. Live values stream onto asset pages, and faults open work orders the moment they happen — with the machine state attached. No middleware stack, no separate SCADA project.
Native support for Allen-Bradley CompactLogix, ControlLogix, MicroLogix, and SLC 500, plus Siemens S7 — no gateway software licenses required.
Allen-Bradley & SiemensAlready running Kepware, Ignition, or a plant historian? Connect through OPC UA, or push data straight to our REST API from any SCADA system.
Works With Your StackSet fault rules on any tag — a boolean flag, a fault word, or a threshold like motor amps too high. TopCMMS watches every reading.
Rules EngineThe moment a fault trips, a work order is created with the trigger value and a snapshot of the machine's other readings — and your team is notified.
Zero DelayMotor amps, temperatures, run states, and cycle counts stream in real time onto each asset's page — right next to its work order history.
Real-TimeA small collector on your plant network makes outbound-only encrypted connections. Nothing on your OT network is ever exposed to the internet, and data buffers locally through outages.
Outbound-OnlyTechnicians work on the floor, not at a desk. TopCMMS mobile keeps them connected — even when they're not.
A companion mobile app built for field technicians — fast, focused, and easy enough to use while wearing gloves.
Field-ReadyScan any asset's QR code to instantly pull up its work order history, PM schedule, and documentation without searching.
No Search NeededWork orders, notifications, and live machine values update in real time across every device — no refresh needed.
Always CurrentUse voice commands to create work orders, log completion notes, and navigate the app — ideal for hands-free field work.
Hands-FreeTake photos directly from the work order on mobile. Before/after documentation of every repair job.
Real-time alerts for new assignments, urgent work orders, and PM due reminders — delivered to any device.
Start a free trial and explore every feature with your own data — no demo call required.
No per-user trap. No module add-ons. Choose the plan that fits your team size and start immediately.
All plans include a 14-day free trial. No credit card required to start.
For focused maintenance teams replacing spreadsheets, paper, and whiteboards with a real system.
The complete AI-powered maintenance platform for operations that run on uptime.
Your CMMS wired directly into the machines. Live PLC data, instant fault detection, automatic work orders.
For multi-plant organizations with compliance, integration, and scale requirements.
Practical content for maintenance managers, facilities directors, and plant engineers building better operations.
Most PM programs fail not because of bad procedures, but because they're not connected to the work order system. Here's the playbook.
MTTR, MTBF, PM compliance, backlog ratio, wrench time. What they mean, how to measure them, and what to do with the numbers.
Cutting through the hype: where AI is genuinely useful in maintenance operations today, and where it still falls short.
Adoption is a design problem, not a training problem. The changes that actually get field techs to log their work.
What data actually matters, how to capture it without a six-month project, and how to keep it current.
What happens to work order close rates, photo documentation, and parts accuracy when technicians go mobile-first.
Download ready-to-use preventive maintenance checklists for common equipment types: HVAC, pumps, compressors, conveyor systems, and more.
Free DownloadEvaluating multiple CMMS vendors? Use our RFP template to score capabilities, support, and pricing apples-to-apples.
Free DownloadInput your current metrics and see how industry-standard targets compare to your operation — with specific gaps identified.
Free ToolTopCMMS was built because existing maintenance software was either too expensive, too complicated, or too outdated to serve the teams that actually needed it most — small and mid-sized operations without dedicated IT departments.
We set out to build a CMMS that a maintenance manager could set up in a day, that field technicians would actually want to use, and that gave leadership the visibility to make better decisions — without a $50,000 implementation contract.
Every feature is evaluated against one question: does this make the technician's job easier? If not, it doesn't ship.
No per-module add-ons, no per-asset fees, no surprise invoices. What you see is what you pay.
AI in TopCMMS is trained on maintenance operations, not repurposed from a generic chatbot. It knows what a PM compliance rate is.
Row-level security, role-based access, full audit trails. Your maintenance data belongs to your organization.
Founded — with a single goal: make maintenance software that field teams actually use.
Industries served — from food processing and manufacturing to municipal utilities and property management.
Average time from signup to full PM program running — no implementation consultant required.
System availability with enterprise-grade infrastructure — your operation doesn't stop; neither do we.
Most CMMS implementations fail within 18 months because technicians stop using them. The data goes stale. The system becomes shelf-ware. We've prioritized a UI that's genuinely fast and intuitive for mobile field workers — because if the tech doesn't use it, nothing else matters.
We've been deliberate about where AI enters the workflow. It assists; it doesn't replace judgment. The AI in TopCMMS helps you find what you need, draft what you'd write anyway, and surface what you might miss — always with your actual data, not hallucinated advice.
Maintenance data contains sensitive operational information — equipment vulnerabilities, safety incidents, cost data. TopCMMS is built with row-level security by default. Every organization's data is completely isolated. Roles and permissions are granular, practical, and auditable.
Start a free trial — no implementation, no consultant, no credit card.
Start Free TrialWhether you're evaluating options, ready to start, or have a specific question — our team responds within one business day.
We work with maintenance managers, facilities directors, and plant engineers who are done with spreadsheets and outdated systems. Tell us about your operation and we'll show you exactly how TopCMMS fits.
Every industry has its own maintenance rhythms, regulatory requirements, and equipment vocabulary. TopCMMS adapts to your operation — not the other way around.
Unplanned downtime costs manufacturers an average of $250,000 per hour. TopCMMS helps plant maintenance teams drive down reactive work, maximize OEE, and keep production moving.
Track asset criticality by production line impact. Prioritize maintenance work orders by downtime risk, not just who submitted the request.
Calculate Mean Time Between Failures per asset. Spot your reliability weak points and build PM schedules that actually address the failure modes.
Keep critical spare parts stocked with min/max thresholds and automated reorder alerts. Never lose production hours hunting for a bearing or seal kit.
Plan and track major maintenance shutdowns with bulk work order creation, resource scheduling, and real-time progress against planned scope.
Trigger maintenance by runtime hours, cycle counts, or production volume — not just calendar days. Matches real equipment wear patterns.
Maintain complete maintenance records for ISO, OSHA, FDA, and other regulatory requirements. Every PM, every inspection — automatically documented.
"We reduced unplanned downtime by 38% in our first six months with TopCMMS. The PM scheduling with meter-based triggers matched our actual equipment use — not arbitrary calendar intervals."
Facilities managers oversee complex, multi-system buildings with work coming from every direction. TopCMMS gives you one command center for reactive work, PMs, vendor coordination, and compliance.
Manage assets and work orders across all your buildings from one dashboard. Filter by building, floor, system, or asset type.
Let building occupants submit maintenance requests from any device — without giving them access to your full CMMS. Requests flow into your queue for triage.
Assign work to external contractors with limited-access vendor accounts. They update status and attach completion notes; you maintain full visibility.
Schedule and document required inspections — fire systems, elevators, HVAC, electrical — with pass/fail checklists and automatic follow-up work orders.
Organize assets by building, floor, room, and system. QR codes on equipment take technicians straight to the asset record in the field.
Log equipment warranties and service agreements against asset records. Get alerts before warranty expiration so you can act while coverage is still active.
Tenant satisfaction depends on how fast you respond and how well you maintain the property. TopCMMS helps property management teams stay ahead of issues before tenants notice them.
Branded, simple request forms for tenants to report issues. Automated status updates keep tenants informed without burdening your team.
Track HVAC units, appliances, plumbing fixtures, and common area equipment by unit and building. Full repair history per unit at your fingertips.
Automate seasonal inspection and maintenance programs — winterization, HVAC changeover, roof inspection — across all your properties at once.
Coordinate licensed contractors with scoped access to your work order queue. Track vendor performance and invoice documentation in one place.
See exactly what each unit costs to maintain. Inform lease renewal decisions and capital planning with real maintenance cost data.
Conduct move-in/move-out inspections with photo documentation attached directly to unit records. Defensible, timestamped records every time.
Healthcare facilities have zero tolerance for equipment failure. TopCMMS helps biomedical and facilities teams maintain compliance, document everything, and keep clinical environments safe.
Maintain Joint Commission and CMS compliance with fully documented PM programs. Pass audits with inspection histories that go back to day one.
Full asset register for clinical and biomedical equipment — model, serial number, manufacturer, warranty, PM schedule, and complete service history.
Log and track equipment recall notices and safety alerts against specific asset records. Prove compliance with corrective action documentation.
Clinical staff, biomedical techs, contractors, and administrators all see exactly what they need — nothing more. Granular permission controls per department.
Every status change, note, photo, and signature timestamped and immutable. The complete record required for accreditation audits.
Critical-priority work order routing for life safety systems — HVAC, electrical, medical gas, fire suppression — with escalation notifications.
Municipal teams manage aging infrastructure across large geographic areas with lean budgets. TopCMMS gives public works and utilities departments the tools to extend asset life and justify capital spending.
Track pumping stations, water mains, vehicles, lift stations, and other distributed infrastructure assets in a single searchable register.
Field crews access work orders, asset specs, and GIS-linked asset locations from mobile — with offline capability for low-connectivity areas.
Generate compliance reports for EPA, state environmental agencies, and municipal oversight. Documentation that's always current, always auditable.
Track preventive maintenance for vehicles and heavy equipment by mileage, engine hours, or calendar — alongside all other asset classes.
Use asset maintenance cost history and failure frequency data to build defensible capital replacement plans for council and budget approvals.
Water, sewer, streets, parks, and buildings — each department works in their own context while management sees the full operation.
Start a free trial or talk to our team about your specific operation.
TopCMMS is built on enterprise-grade infrastructure with data isolation, encryption, access controls, and audit trails as foundational requirements — not add-ons.
All data is encrypted at rest using AES-256. All data in transit uses TLS 1.2+ encryption. Your maintenance data is unreadable without your authentication credentials.
Database-enforced row-level security ensures that each organization's data is completely isolated. No multi-tenant data leakage is architecturally possible.
Seven distinct user roles — Admin, Manager, Planner, Technician, Requester, Vendor, Read-Only — each with precisely scoped permissions. No over-privileged accounts.
Multi-factor authentication available on all plans. Enterprise plans support SSO via SAML 2.0 for centralized identity management through your existing provider.
Every action in TopCMMS is logged: who created, modified, or deleted a record, and when. Immutable audit logs support compliance and incident investigation.
Continuous database backups with point-in-time recovery. Your data is never at risk from hardware failure, software errors, or accidental deletion.
Contact our team at security@topcmms.com for security reviews, compliance documentation, or to report a vulnerability.
Contact UsEffective date: January 1, 2026 · Last updated: July 1, 2026
TopCMMS ("we," "us," or "our") is a software-as-a-service company providing computerized maintenance management software accessible at topcmms.com and app.topcmms.com. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, and protect information about you when you use our services.
Account information. When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, job title, and organization name. We use this to identify your account and communicate with you.
Usage data. We collect information about how you interact with the software — pages visited, features used, and actions taken — to improve product performance and user experience.
Maintenance data. Work orders, asset records, PM schedules, inventory records, and other operational data you enter into TopCMMS are stored and processed on your behalf. This data belongs to your organization.
Device and log data. IP addresses, browser type, device identifiers, and access timestamps are collected in server logs for security and troubleshooting purposes.
Payment information. Payment card data is processed by our payment processor (Stripe). We do not store payment card numbers on our systems.
We use the information we collect to:
We do not sell your personal information or your organization's maintenance data to third parties. We do not use your maintenance operational data for advertising purposes.
We share your information only with service providers necessary to operate TopCMMS — cloud infrastructure providers, payment processors, and email delivery services — and only to the extent required for those services. All service providers are bound by data processing agreements.
We will disclose information if required by law, legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of TopCMMS, our users, or the public.
We retain your account data for as long as your subscription is active. After account closure, we retain data for 90 days to support reactivation, after which it is permanently deleted. You may request immediate deletion of your data at any time by contacting privacy@topcmms.com.
Depending on your location, you may have the right to:
To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@topcmms.com. We respond within 30 days.
TopCMMS uses cookies for session authentication and to remember your preferences (such as theme and language). We use no third-party advertising cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings, but this will prevent you from logging into the application.
We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including encryption at rest and in transit, row-level database isolation, and regular security reviews. For details, see our Security page.
TopCMMS is a professional business tool and is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify registered users by email of any material changes at least 30 days before they take effect. Continued use of TopCMMS after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
For privacy questions or to exercise your data rights, contact us at:
privacy@topcmms.com
TopCMMS, Inc. — United States
Effective date: January 1, 2026 · Last updated: July 1, 2026
By accessing or using TopCMMS ("Service"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you are using the Service on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms, and "you" refers to that organization.
TopCMMS provides web and mobile software for maintenance management, including work order tracking, preventive maintenance scheduling, asset management, inventory tracking, and related features. We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue features with reasonable advance notice.
You must provide accurate, current information when creating an account. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account credentials and for all activities that occur under your account. Notify us immediately at security@topcmms.com if you suspect unauthorized access.
You agree not to use TopCMMS to:
You retain ownership of all data you enter into TopCMMS. By using the Service, you grant TopCMMS a limited license to host, process, and display your data as necessary to provide the Service. We do not claim ownership of your maintenance operational data. You can export and delete your data at any time.
Paid subscriptions are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis. All fees are non-refundable except as expressly stated. If your payment fails, we will notify you and provide a 10-day grace period before suspending access.
We may change pricing with 30 days notice for monthly subscribers and at renewal for annual subscribers. Annual discounts are locked for the duration of the billing period.
TopCMMS and its underlying software, design, and documentation are the intellectual property of TopCMMS, Inc. Nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership of our intellectual property to you. Your license to use the Service terminates when your subscription ends.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. We do not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, TOPCMMS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, OR BUSINESS. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM SHALL NOT EXCEED THE FEES YOU PAID IN THE 12 MONTHS PRIOR TO THE CLAIM.
You may cancel your subscription at any time. Cancellation takes effect at the end of the current billing period. We may suspend or terminate your account for material breach of these Terms with notice where practicable. Upon termination, your data remains accessible for 90 days for export before permanent deletion.
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We may update these Terms. We will provide at least 30 days notice by email before material changes take effect. Continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance.
For questions about these Terms:
legal@topcmms.com
TopCMMS, Inc. — United States
Most PM programs fail not because the procedures are wrong — but because they're not connected to the work order system. Here's the playbook for building a preventive maintenance program that field techs actually complete.
Walk into most maintenance shops and you'll find the same story: a PM binder on the shelf (or a spreadsheet someone stopped updating), techs who do PMs from memory, and a manager who doesn't know which PMs are overdue until something breaks.
The failure mode isn't ignorance — most maintenance managers know exactly what PMs their equipment needs. The problem is execution. PMs live in one system (or no system), work orders live in another, and there's no connection between the schedule and what actually gets done.
A functional PM program has three components that must be integrated:
If you're building your PM program from scratch — or rescuing one that's been neglected — here's a practical 90-day timeline:
Days 1–30: Asset inventory. Start with your highest-criticality equipment. Document every asset that could cause a production stoppage, safety incident, or compliance failure if it went down. For each asset: model, serial number, location, and current maintenance status.
Days 31–60: PM schedule build. For each critical asset, define the minimum viable PM schedule. Pull manufacturer recommendations, but apply judgment — not every recommended interval survives contact with your actual operating conditions. Build the schedule in your CMMS, attach procedures, and set your triggers.
Days 61–90: First compliance cycle. Run your first full PM cycle and track completion. Expect friction — some techs won't know the system yet, some procedures will be wrong, some assets won't be where they're supposed to be. Use the friction as data. Fix the procedures. The goal is 80% completion by day 90, not perfection.
PM compliance rate is simply: PMs completed on time ÷ total PMs scheduled × 100. A rate below 70% means your PM program is largely aspirational. Above 90% and you're operating a genuinely proactive maintenance function.
Track compliance weekly, by asset class and by technician. Low compliance by asset type usually means the schedule is wrong. Low compliance by technician usually means a training or workload issue. The data tells you where to intervene.
"We went from 58% PM compliance to 91% in two months after connecting our PM schedule to auto-generated work orders. The techs didn't change — the system did."
Ready to build a PM program that runs automatically?
Start Free TrialMTTR, MTBF, PM compliance, backlog ratio, wrench time. These five numbers will tell you more about your maintenance operation than any other data you could collect. Here's what they mean, how to calculate them, and what to actually do with them.
What it is: The average time from when a failure is reported to when the asset is returned to service.
How to calculate: Total downtime ÷ number of failures in a period.
What to do with it: High MTTR usually points to one of three causes: parts availability (techs waiting on parts), diagnostic time (techs spending too long figuring out what's wrong), or skills gaps (wrong technician assigned to complex repair). Break it down by asset type and technician to find the bottleneck.
What it is: The average operating time between failures for a piece of equipment.
How to calculate: Total uptime ÷ number of failures. (Note: MTBF is a measure of reliability, not total asset life.)
What to do with it: Track MTBF per asset over time. A declining MTBF signals that a machine is entering end-of-life or that your PM intervals are too wide. Use it to make the case for capital replacement before catastrophic failure, not after.
What it is: The percentage of scheduled preventive maintenance tasks completed on time.
How to calculate: PMs completed on time ÷ PMs scheduled × 100.
What to do with it: Below 70% means reactive work is crowding out planned maintenance — a self-reinforcing cycle. The fix is usually to reduce the work order backlog first, then gradually increase PM scope as the team's reactive load decreases. Target: above 90%.
What it is: The number of open work orders relative to the team's weekly work capacity.
How to calculate: Open WO hours of estimated work ÷ team's available hours per week.
What to do with it: A healthy backlog ratio is 2–4 weeks. Less than 2 weeks suggests the team is understaffed for a reactive model. More than 6 weeks means backlog is structurally unmanageable — you'll need to either add capacity or renegotiate response expectations.
What it is: The percentage of a technician's shift actually spent performing maintenance work (as opposed to traveling, waiting, searching for parts, or administrative tasks).
How to calculate: Requires time studies or work sampling. The industry average is 25–35%. World-class operations reach 55%.
What to do with it: Low wrench time usually means too much time spent on travel, parts hunting, or non-maintenance tasks. Each of these has a specific fix: route optimization, parts staging areas, and role clarity. Mobile CMMS access is one of the highest-ROI interventions for wrench time because it eliminates the return-to-shop for paperwork.
TopCMMS tracks all five of these KPIs automatically — no spreadsheets required.
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