Umbrella term under DIN 31051 for servicing, inspection, repair and improvement. Keeps an asset in a functional condition or returns it to one.
Maintenance (Instandhaltung) is the umbrella term for everything that keeps an asset in a functional or safe condition or returns it to one. DIN 31051 divides it into four basic measures: servicing, inspection, repair and improvement. Servicing slows down wear, inspection determines the condition, repair fixes a damage or failure, and improvement raises reliability without changing the function of the asset. The Industrial Safety and Health Ordinance uses the term in § 2(7) and names inspection, servicing and repair as its components.
Legally, the employer must take maintenance measures so that work equipment stays safe throughout its entire period of use, and must carry out necessary measures without delay (§ 10 BetrSichV). The measures follow the risk assessment and the manufacturer's information. Only competent, authorized and instructed employees, or suitable contractors with comparable qualifications, may carry them out. For elevators, the type and intensity of use must also be taken into account (Annex 1, no. 4.2).
How you separate the four terms decides cost and responsibility. Under tenancy law, for certain installations such as elevators, supervision, care and checks are recoverable from tenants, while maintenance and repair costs are not (§ 2 no. 7 and § 1(2) no. 2 of the German Operating Costs Ordinance). In the contract, the split drives the price: basic servicing covers servicing and often inspection, and repairs come on top. An improvement is sometimes described in a quote as a repair. So check whether installing a new, better component really fixes a damage or is a modernization. If the measure changes the function or safety of the asset, it can trigger duties of its own as a modification or substantial modification.
What matters
- Require quotes and invoices to separate servicing, inspection, repair and improvement.
- Keep the manufacturer's servicing intervals in the asset file and check whether the contract covers them.
- Plan maintenance by condition rather than by calendar where findings from inspections and reports suggest it.
- For every measure, check whether it is a modification that requires an inspection.
Suppose a service company replaces a bearing on a pump and fits a new seal. The quote lists the item as “servicing pump.” The operator sees that the bearing failure followed from an earlier finding. That is repair and does not belong in the servicing flat fee. He has the item shown accordingly.
In the original wording
“Maintenance is the totality of all measures to preserve the safe condition or to return to it. Maintenance includes, in particular, inspection, servicing and repair.”
Unofficial translation
Related regulations
In vi
- Service contracts: Scope, price and deadlines of every contract at a glance