An Information pack produced for the food businesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Maintenance Schedules
Why is maintenance important?
There are a number of reasons why both the premises structure and equipment require scheduled maintenance:

1. It ensures the effective and safe operation of equipment. For example, it is essential that equipment designed to
keep food hot or cold works correctly. Faulty equipment operating at the wrong temperature can lead to growth
of food poisoning bacteria.

2. It should mean that the life expectancy of the premises structure and equipment is increased. Also, the
likelihood of faults and breakdowns should be reduced.

3. It will reduce the risk of direct contamination of foodstuffs during storage, preparation and cooking. For
example, contamination of food from flaking wall plaster or rust particles from corroded equipment.

4. It is a legal requirement of the Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 that food premises
and equipment must be maintained in good repair and condition.

5. Smooth, sound surfaces are easier to clean than damaged ones, so cleaning and disinfection will be improved.

Why schedule maintenance of food premises?

1. By scheduling maintenance checks you will ensure equipment and structure are examined on a regular basis.

2. The Food Safety (General Food Hygiene) Regulations 1995 require proprietors of food businesses to identify
potential food hazards, decide which of these hazards need to be controlled to ensure food safety and then put
into place effective control and monitoring procedures to prevent the hazards causing harm to consumers. A
system to maintain and check structure and equipment will help to identify hazards which you will then be able
to control.

Why have a written maintenance schedule?

1. It is an offence to sell food which is unfit, substandard or which may cause harm to the person consuming it.
The principle defence available to a person accused of selling such food is one of due diligence. This requires
them to prove they ‘took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid committing
the offence’. Written records would be considered extremely important when trying to establish a defence in
cases where, for example, a loose nut or bolt from a badly maintained food mixer had found its way into a
product.

2. It clearly demonstrates that measures are in place to control food safety hazards even though written records are
not necessarily a legal requirement.

3. Having identified all the areas and equipment that require regular maintenance it provides a checklist to help
ensure things are not missed.

This Food Safety Pack was devised, written and produced by the Food Safety Team of Wyre Borough Council’s Environmental Health Service Unit. 1
An Information pack produced for the food businesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

How to set up a maintenance schedule

Please follow the easy to use step by step guide below.
Step 1

Identify all items of equipment and structure that require routine maintenance and decide on the frequency of
maintenance these items will need; 1, 3 or 6 monthly.

Step 2

Record these items in the appropriate box (according to frequency of maintenance) on the maintenance schedule
checklist. The list over the page should help to get you started.

Step 3

You are now ready to undertake your maintenance inspection. Enter the date of check in the first column and initial the
second column.

Step 4

Using the Maintenance Schedule Checklist, look at the items of structure and equipment due for inspection.

Step 5

In the third column of the Maintenance Record, identify all details of works required.

Step 6

Once any necessary works have been completed, note what was done in the fourth column.

Step 7

The last column on the record should be signed by a responsible person (usually the supervisor) once any works
required have been completed satisfactorily.

Step 8

Completed and ongoing schedules should be kept on file and used for monitoring and reviewing maintenance
requirements.

This Food Safety Pack was devised, written and produced by the Food Safety Team of Wyre Borough Council’s Environmental Health Service Unit. 2
An Information pack produced for the food businesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Items which you may wish to include in your

Maintenance Schedule
(and suggested maintenance frequencies)*

Item Frequency
Refrigerators/freezers................................... Monthly
Chilled display units ................................... Monthly
Chopping boards and knives/utensils ......... Monthly Monthly Monthly
Mixers/slicers/mincer .................................. Monthly Monthly Monthly
Bain-maries/hotholding cupboards ............. 3 monthly
Dishwasher ................................................... 3 monthly
Wash hand basins/sinks ............................... 3 monthly
Cream/ice cream equipment ......................... 3 monthly
Cupboards/shelving ..................................... 3 monthly
Worktops and tables .................................... 3 monthly
Lighting ....................................................... 3 monthly
Ventilation/extraction systems .................... 3 monthly
Cookers/ovens............................................... 3 monthly
Griddles and grills ....................................... 3 monthly
Deep fat fryers ............................................. 3 monthly
Microwaves .................................................. 6 monthly
Cooling racks/trays ...................................... 6 monthly
Waste disposal system .................................
Potato rumblers and chippers ......................
Windows and doors .....................................
Walls, floor and ceiling ...............................

* Note the frequencies shown are for guidance only. It is the responsibility of the food business proprietor to determine
the level of maintenance required, together with the manufacturers specifications/ recommendations

This Food Safety Pack was devised, written and produced by the Food Safety Team of Wyre Borough Council’s Environmental Health Service Unit. 3
An Information pack produced for the food businesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Maintenance Schedule Checklist

Items to be Checked: Monthly

Kitchen

Fridges 1 and 2
Dishwasher

Storeroom

Freezer

Items to be Checked: 3 Monthly

Kitchen

Cooker
Grill
Microwave

Prep Room

Potato rumbler

This Food Safety Pack was devised, written and produced by the Food Safety Team of Wyre Borough Council’s Environmental Health Service 4
Unit.
An Information pack produced for the food businesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Items to be Checked: 6 Monthly

Kitchen

Windows
Doors
Floor and walls

Prep Room

Window
Doors
Floor and walls

This Food Safety Pack was devised, written and produced by the Food Safety Team of Wyre Borough Council’s Environmental Health Service 5
Unit.
An Information pack produced for the food businesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Maintenance Record

Date of Checked by Details of Work Required Date and details of work done Supervisors
check (initials) initials
Fluorescent light fitting with faulty starter switch
4/11/95 PRS - new starter switch required. 6/11/01 NJW
Window adjacent to preparation table cracked
and peeling - fill holes and reseal with suitable
paint.

4/11/95 PRS Ventilation system not working effectively - call Engineer

engineer to check fault. attended NJW
7/11/01
system fixed

This Food Safety Pack was devised, written and produced by the Food Safety Team of Wyre Borough Council’s Environmental Health Service Unit. 6