Maintenance schedule template

What's in the template

How to set up the schedule

1. List the assets by walking the site with whoever looks after them: machines, vehicles, lifting gear, extraction, compressors, fire equipment, heating and air conditioning. A fixed asset register is a good starting list, though it won't include hired or leased kit.
2. Write down the tasks for each asset from the manufacturer's manual, your risk assessments and any inspection the law requires (below).
3. Convert each frequency to days, and where the law sets a maximum interval, schedule inside it.
4. Enter the date each task was last done. If nobody knows, do it now and start the clock from today.
5. Set a warning period long enough to arrange the work: a day or two for your own checks, a month for contractors you have to book.
6. Review the list weekly, filtered to Overdue and Due soon, and change a last-done date only when the work is finished and recorded.

What the law says (UK and US)

• Work equipment (UK): PUWER requires work equipment to be maintained in an efficient state, in efficient order and in good repair, and HSE adds that any maintenance log for machinery must be kept up to date.
• Inspections (UK): equipment exposed to conditions that cause deterioration liable to result in danger needs inspecting at suitable intervals, by someone with enough knowledge and experience to know what to look for. HSE says to set the frequency by risk assessment, taking account of the manufacturer's recommendations, and to keep the result at least until the next inspection.
• Lifting equipment (UK): under LOLER, a competent person must thoroughly examine lifting accessories and equipment used to lift people at least every 6 months, and other lifting equipment at least every 12 months, unless an examination scheme drawn up by a competent person sets other intervals.
• Extraction (UK): HSE says local exhaust ventilation should have a thorough examination and test at least every 14 months, and the record must be kept for at least 5 years.
• Portable appliances (UK): HSE says the law doesn't require portable appliance testing at set intervals, or every year; how often depends on the equipment and where it's used.
• Forklifts (US): OSHA requires powered industrial trucks to be examined before being put into service, at least daily, or after each shift where they're used round the clock.

Other rules, such as those on pressure systems and fire safety, may also apply. This summarises official guidance and isn't legal advice.

Example: a joinery workshop's schedule

The example sheet holds eight tasks for a fictional 50-person joinery workshop. On 14 October 2026 one was overdue: the monthly braking-time check on the spindle moulder, due on 8 October. Three were due soon: the weekly guard check on the panel saw, the dust extraction's examination and test, and the quarterly check of portable power tools. The extraction test is booked every 12 months, comfortably inside the 14-month maximum. The 90-day check on portable tools is the workshop's own choice for a dusty site, not a legal interval.

Every Monday the workshop manager filters to Overdue and Due soon and books contractors from the list; each finished task's record is filed before its last-done date changes.

Common mistakes

• Updating the date without a record. If an inspector or insurer asks, the sheet says it was done but nothing proves it.
• Listing only what contractors do, and missing the daily and weekly checks your own staff carry out.
• Scheduling right up to a legal maximum, so one cancelled visit puts you out of date.
• Leaving out hired, leased or borrowed equipment that still needs checks while it's on your site.
• One name against every task. Give each task a responsible person who is actually there to do it.