Measures that slow the loss of wear reserve: cleaning, lubricating, adjusting, replacing wear parts on schedule.
Servicing (Wartung) means measures that slow the loss of the existing wear reserve. It covers planned work such as cleaning, lubricating, adjusting and replacing filters and wear parts. Under DIN 31051, it is one of the four basic measures of maintenance. Servicing intervenes in the condition in order to preserve it. It does not determine the condition and does not fix a damage. That is what separates it from inspection and from repair.
The manufacturer's information in the instructions for use sets the type and scope. § 10 BetrSichV requires this: maintenance measures must be carried out on the basis of a risk assessment, and the manufacturer's instructions must be taken into account. Whoever services must be competent, authorized and instructed, or a contractor with comparable qualifications. In the F-gas Regulation, “maintenance or servicing” has a narrower meaning: it covers activities that open the refrigerant circuit. Leak checks expressly do not count and require certified personnel.
For cost, servicing is the plannable part. It recurs at an interval and can be agreed as a flat fee in the maintenance contract. For elevators, it can be recovered from tenants under tenancy law, to the extent it is part of supervising and caring for the installation (§ 2 no. 7 of the German Operating Costs Ordinance). It gets tricky when one visit mixes several services: if a defective part is replaced during servicing, that is repair and has to be shown separately. Servicing is also no substitute for a formal inspection. The inspection under the BetrSichV compares the actual with the target condition and assesses the deviation (§ 2(8)), and it is tied to the qualification of the inspecting person. A technician who determines the condition during servicing has therefore not automatically carried out an inspection.
What matters
- Compare the servicing plan with the instructions for use: intervals and tasks must match the manufacturer's information.
- Have the service report record what was cleaned, lubricated, adjusted and replaced.
- With replaced parts, check whether it was wear according to plan or a failure.
- Track servicing dates and inspection dates separately.
Suppose a maintenance contract provides two visits a year for a ventilation system. The operator compares the plan with the instructions for use and sees that the manufacturer specifies shorter filter replacement intervals. He has the intervals adjusted in the service specification instead of reordering filters one at a time as needed.
In the original wording
“Maintenance measures may only be carried out by competent, authorized and instructed employees or by other contractors suited to carry out the maintenance work who have comparable qualifications.”
Unofficial translation