When budgets are tightened, preventive maintenance (PM) is often the first area put on hold. On paper, delaying a few inspections or work orders might seem like an effective way to save taxpayer dollars—but those “savings” are short-lived. In reality, every dollar of deferred maintenance can end up costing $4–$7 more later on.
What starts as a few manageable tasks can quickly escalate into expensive emergencies that strain capital budgets and disrupt essential community services. Over time, the focus shifts from planned maintenance to constant crisis response, leaving staff busy with reactive repairs instead of proactive planning.
In this article, we’ll explore five ways deferred maintenance increases costs and risks for public facilities and how a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) can help you get ahead of issues, protect taxpayer dollars, and keep critical services running smoothly.
The Compounding Costs of Deferred Maintenance
- Rising Repair Costs: Emergency repairs are expensive, especially in government facilities operating under service-level agreements. Overtime labour, rush shipping, and collateral damage can make one reactive repair cost 2–3 times more than scheduled work. For example, a boiler outage at a recreation centre or HVAC failure in the public library doesn’t just strain budgets; it closes doors to citizens who depend on these services.
- Shorter Asset Lifespans: When municipal assets like fleet vehicles, water pumps, and building systems run to failure, their lifespan shrinks by up to one-third, while deferred costs grow by 7% annually. That means replacing a $300K chiller or $1M roof system years early, putting pressure on already-stretched capital budgets.
- Energy Waste and Operational Inefficiency: When systems like HVAC or lighting aren’t properly maintained, energy waste can increase by 10–15%. For a municipal portfolio, that means thousands of dollars a month in wasted electricity. Meanwhile, unscheduled downtime in a wastewater plant or emergency service facility can disrupt operations and essential services for citizens.
- Compliance and Risk Exposure: Regulatory compliance is critical for public agencies. Skipped fire inspections, missed elevator checks, or neglected electrical maintenance can lead to fines, insurance increases, or safety liabilities. In the public sector, these issues don’t just cost money; they damage public trust.
- Team Burnout and Staffing Challenges: Constant emergencies burn out maintenance teams. Overworked staff face high stress and turnover, leading to skill shortages and declining morale. At the same time, delayed maintenance erodes community perception when citizens see declining facility conditions or frequent service interruptions.
Shifting to a Proactive Strategy
The key is shifting the mindset: preventive maintenance isn’t an expense; it’s a protective investment that preserves limited budgets, supports community services, and safeguards staff time.
The ROI of Preventive Maintenance
Studies show well-run PM programs can reduce total maintenance costs by 12–18% and return $4–$7 for every $1 invested. Across municipal facilities, parks, and roads, this translates to more reliable infrastructure and reduced emergency expenses.
Practical Steps for Facility Managers
- Rank Critical Assets: Identify which facilities and systems are critical to community operations, such as emergency services, water treatment, or public safety, and prioritize them. For linear assets, a simple asset attribute can identify this. For buildings, information collected through a facility condition assessment can assist. [link to previous January article]
- Use CMMS Tools: Implement a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) to automate your preventive schedules and manage maintenance work order prioritization more efficiently
- Report the Results: Track reduced downtime, lowered repair expenses, and extended asset lifecycles to demonstrate the ROI of preventive maintenance to city leadership and council
The Role of CMMS in Preventive Maintenance
A CMMS is one of the most effective tools for moving from reactive repairs to proactive management. It gives public sector assets a single platform to plan, track, and verify maintenance work across departments, improving order, accountability, and communication.
Here’s how a CMMS can help strengthen preventive maintenance:
- Automated Scheduling: Keeps preventive maintenance tasks on time and consistent, reducing missed inspections or service intervals
- Maintenance Work Order Prioritization: Logs all requests in one place and helps you prioritize based on urgency, safety, and impact
- Data-Driven Decision-Making: Provides a clear record of asset history and maintenance costs, improving transparency for leadership and council reporting
- Field Mobility: Allows technicians to access and close out work orders directly from the field, saving time and increasing accuracy
- Performance Tracking: Helps you measure PM completion rates, response times, and cost savings to demonstrate tangible program success
For facility management teams, these capabilities translate into fewer disruptions, longer asset life, stronger accountability and improved execution to both leadership and citizens.
Fort Erie Streamlines Preventive Maintenance
The Town of Fort Erie, ON modernized its preventive maintenance program by centralizing data through PSD Citywide’s integrated platform. Managing over $2 billion in assets, the town replaced 50+ disconnected data sources with connected systems that support proactive planning and real-time tracking.
With tools like Citywide Maintenance and Citywide GIS, staff can now schedule recurring work, monitor asset conditions, and respond faster to issues. “The Maintenance Module was a game changer,” says Pedro Serrano, Asset Management Analyst. “What started as manual routes on paper is now automated with geolocation and reminders.”
By uniting data and maintenance in one system, Fort Erie transformed reactive repairs into a sustainable, preventive approach that saves time and extends asset life.
Take Control of Your Preventive Maintenance Schedule
Reactive maintenance always costs more, whether it’s in dollars, downtime, or public trust. Every deferred inspection or delayed work order adds risk and future expense.
Now is the time to reclaim control of your preventive maintenance schedule. Use data, clear priorities, and the right technology to reduce risk, extend asset life, and deliver dependable service to your community.
About the Author
Christie Wiggers
Christie Wiggers is the Director, Implementation Services at PSD Citywide and an experienced leader. She possesses over 17 years of project management, GIS, CMMS, and municipal infrastructure asset management experience. Christie has overseen 100+ EAMS and CMMS implementation projects for PSD Citywide, including complex, multi-year engagements, and is effective at engaging with various levels of municipal stakeholders. Christie is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute and certified in asset management through the Institute of Asset Management (IAM).
