Just like any vehicle, construction equipment must be properly maintained to stay in optimal working condition. Learn how to prevent costly repairs and protect your investment in tools and machinery with our guide to construction equipment maintenance.
What is construction equipment maintenance?
Construction equipment maintenance is the process of proactively managing service schedules for tools, vehicles, and heavy machinery used on the jobsite.
The goals of an ongoing construction equipment maintenance plan are:
Ensure all equipment is safe, fully operational, and available when needed
Prevent damage, breakdowns, and malfunctions
Stay compliant with inspection and maintenance requirements
Preventative maintenance vs. reactive maintenance
Effective equipment management is based on preventative maintenance—or regularly inspecting and servicing machinery to prevent future issues and mitigate the effects of general wear and tear. An example of preventative maintenance is checking a seatbelt in an excavator and replacing it when you find a frayed edge.
Reactive maintenance is maintenance performed in response to a catastrophic event that affects the equipment’s usability or functionality. For example, if you wait until the seat belt in that same excavator breaks while in use to replace it, you’ve performed reactive maintenance. The person performing work in the excavator when the seatbelt fails will need to stop immediately to arrange for repairs or risk a safety violation, causing a disruption to the day’s workflow.
While you can never fully eliminate the need for reactive maintenance, preventative maintenance is by far the more efficient, effective way to make sure your crews have reliable access to the machinery they need to complete daily tasks.
Why is construction equipment maintenance important?
Construction equipment maintenance is important because properly maintained equipment is:
Safer - Preventative maintenance reduces the risk of safety incidents caused by worn or damaged parts
More reliable - Machinery that is well-maintained is less likely to malfunction or break unexpectedly
More cost effective - Keeping vehicles clean and fully operational protects value
Easier to schedule - Knowing where equipment is and when it will or won’t be available makes it easier to plan project schedules
Tips for improving your construction equipment maintenance process
The larger your fleet grows—both in quantity and in the variety of machinery you use—the more difficult it becomes to manage. If you’re struggling to maximize usage and control equipment costs at your construction business, follow these best practices to improve your equipment maintenance process.
1. Track the critical details
What are the most important details you need to know about each of your assets to more effectively manage maintenance? Think about the attributes that help identify the equipment (like make, model, and serial number), its condition (like current location, mileage, and hours used/scheduled), and maintenance requirements.
Make a list of all the info you want to collect about each piece of equipment and create a document where you can organize and easily update that data as needed.
2. Collect and organize documentation
Just like attributes, you’ll want to organize all equipment-related documentation in a convenient, easily accessible location. Manufacturer guides, usage manuals, diagrams, and any records of past inspections, services, or repairs, should all be kept on file.
Review each document and if possible, separate or highlight key information so that it’s easy to scan.
3. Conduct regular analysis
Equipment maintenance is an ongoing process in construction. Once you have a starting pool of data, you'll have to continually update and monitor it.
As you complete equipment inspections, make sure to record the dates and note any observations. Document any repairs and keep statistics like location, fuel consumption, mileage, and usage hours up-to-date.
Depending on what makes sense for your business, run reports or conduct a manual assessment of equipment data on a monthly, weekly, or quarterly basis. Regular analysis will help you identify issues, stay aware of upcoming service, and efficiently schedule tasks.
4. Get your crews on board
You’ll need the support of field crews to help collect equipment data. Explain the importance of preventative maintenance and give clear instructions for when and how employees who are using, inspecting, and working near machinery should collect and share the requested information.
The easier you can make the data capture process, the more likely it is that your field crews will be compliant.
5. Use software solutions
With all the data involved in construction equipment maintenance, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, especially if you’re using physical files or basic spreadsheets. Consider investing in software designed to help track construction equipment and automatically notify you when equipment needs service.
There are many digital tools available. To help narrow your search, start with options that prioritize ease-of-use, both for the field and office. Field crews should be able to quickly update equipment status with minimal interruption to their tasks. Data should automatically be shared with the office in an impactful, scannable format, so you don’t have to spend hours translating it.
How Raken helps protect your heavy equipment
Simplify equipment maintenance with Raken’s easy-to-use construction equipment management software.
Our streamlined web and mobile app makes data collection and reporting a breeze. You can:
Optimize equipment use with detailed tracking
Control budgets with automated reporting and dashboards
Extend equipment lifespan with proactive maintenance
We’re the field’s favorite app for a reason—we make some of the most tedious tasks of the workday the easiest. Ditch the paperwork and use Raken to track, maintain, and report on your assets with minimal manual effort.