What is planned preventative maintenance? A guide to commercial plumbing maintenance in Melbourne
What is Planned Preventative Maintenance?
In around 1500, Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus stated that prevention is better than cure. 522 years may have passed, but good old Desiderius is still correct; prevention is always the best way to remain safe from any problem.
This is true not only for health but in plumbing; it’s always better to take care that a problem doesn’t happen at all than having to solve that problem. Preventative plumbing maintenance is the act of maintaining plumbing fixtures and assets to ensure future problems don’t occur. Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) is a type of insurance policy and works by investing in a small amount to maintain plumbing resources rather than pay more for a replacement or even worse, damages occurring from a large plumbing fault such as a roof leak or burst water pipe or flexi hose.
McCarthy Plumbing Group are based in Laverton North’s industrial heartland and are the experts in commercial plumbing maintenance Melbourne businesses can rely on, servicing industrial factories and commercial properties in central and West Melbourne. Our commercial and industrial plumbing clients rely on our team to conduct efficient preventative plumbing maintenance to ensure their operations aren’t ever affected by plumbing emergencies.
We maintain our clients’ plumbing assets by following robust schedules. The following outlines the steps we take when assisting a client with their planned preventative maintenance commercial plumbing in Melbourne.
Commercial plumbing site inspection
Our Operations Manager will attend your commercial or industrial premises and conduct a thorough site inspection, auditing all plumbing fixtures and compiling a plumbing asset register. The inspection will be transferred into a comprehensive planned preventative maintenance (PPM) plumbing plan, with workflows created on our job management software simPRO.
The inspection, and following site visits, will inevitably focus on the following main preventative maintenance areas:
Water Leaks
- Our plumbers will check for mould and mildew
- Thermal imaging cameras will be utilised for in wall leak detection of the commercial premises to check for moisture
- Puddles and water spots will be photographed and be included in the immediate rectification recommendations on the report
Water Pressure
- Your commercial property’s water pressure will vary based on the site and water usage. Sanitary plumbing fixtures on site will have a pressure range between 300-600kpa through to fire services requiring working pressure of 1700kpa. McCarthy Plumbing Group can advise you of the different plumbing services you have installed on your site and the regulations attached to each service to ensure compliance at all times
Hot Water Systems
- Our plumbers will check your hot water system’s productivity levels by checking its age, if they have leaks, water temperature outputs, overflows, safety valves, frost protection valves. Any safety concerns will be itemised and prioritised.
Backflow Prevention Testing
- Backflow can be extremely dangerous, and if it occurs Sewage can travel through to your drinking water supply through backflow, or back-siphonage, causing infections and diarrhoea. Larger buildings and commercial premises are required to have backflow prevention devices which require annual testing to ensure effective operations
Corrosion
- The plumbers at McCarthy Plumbing Group will check for rust and limescale around all fixtures and fittings such as taps, showers and eye wash stations
- They will also check for signs of rust and corrosion of pipes to ensure the quality of drinking water isn’t affected.
Valve Efficiency
- An audit of all safety & shut off valves will be inspected to ensure they are working efficiently, and all defective valves will be recommended to be replaced immediately. As a part of our audits we ensure a site valve schedule is established ensuring in the event of a burst or accident the correct valves are isolated.
Drainage
- Our plumbers are all trained in effective drain clearing and jetter operations and during the commercial plumbing maintenance inspection will test drain line flow rates and complete CCTV camera inspections of all drains.
- Blocked drains can cause major plumbing problems in future and need to be rectified in a timely manner
Roof plumbing
- Our roof plumbers will conduct a thorough roof and gutter inspection, including roof condition report, downpipe inspection and environmental examination to prevent future roofing problems.
Other plumbing
- No commercial or industrial premise is the same; we work with clients who have extensive gas fitting needs, chemical drainage requirements, fire services and laboratories. We can tailor our technician/s to the needs of our commercial plumbing client.
Why choose McCarthy Plumbing Group for commercial and industrial planned preventative maintenance?
Commercial and Industrial businesses in Melbourne choose us as their trusted Melbourne commercial plumbers for numerous reasons including:
- Safety. We believe in investing in training and put all of our plumbers in Working at Heights and Operate a Drain Cleaning system courses before they conduct any roof plumbing or drain jetting work. Our plumbers always wear harnesses on roofs, wear PPE at all times and follow our robust SWMS during all jobs
- Award Winning. We are a three time National award winning plumbing company, having won the MyBusiness Trade Services Award in 2019 and 2020 and the Australian Small Business Champion Plumbing Services Award in 2021
- Associations. We’re members of the Master Plumbers Association of Victoria, and our Director David McCarthy is also a representative on the Master Plumbers National Council of Australia.
- Expertise and Capabilities. We’re licensed and fully insured plumbers with over 20 years industry experience. You can rely on us for our accountability and quality workmanship.
We understand how crucial it is for a business and its plumbing equipment to be in operation, and how frustrating and costly it is when this factory equipment breaks down.
As your preferred commercial plumber, McCarthy Plumbing Group can ensure your premises are always maintained and compliant and can offer 24/7 emergency commercial plumbing maintenance. For an obligation free site meeting, please contact us today on 9931 0905 or email info@mccarthyplumbinggroup.com.au and we can answer any queries you may have in completing a commercial preventative plumbing maintenance plan.
