What Is Corrective Maintenance? (Examples & Steps to Take)

A famous scene from the sitcom “Malcolm in the Middle” shows the dad, played by Bryan Cranston, going to change a light bulb, only to notice that the shelf where he keeps the extra bulbs is loose. As he then gets the screwdriver to fix the loose shelf, he notices the drawer the screwdriver is in sounds squeaky, so he goes to get some WD-40, only to realize that the can is empty. Finally, he gets in his car to pick up a new can, only to realize that his car won’t start, so he goes to the garage to fix the car. These are all examples of corrective maintenance.

While exaggerated for comedic effect, this sequence of maintenance tasks can also play out in the real world. Maybe a maintenance technician is fixing a broken window and realizes that cold air is seeping through, so it needs to be caulked. Or maybe a kitchen staff member is emptying a dishwasher and finds that the dishes haven’t been cleaned well, due to buildup within the machine.

These types of maintenance activities exemplify the need for corrective maintenance, which is a kind of reactive maintenance that falls under a broader responsive maintenance strategy. Specifically, corrective maintenance means fixing systems, assets or property that have broken down or are in the process of wearing out, but generally not to the point where the item in question becomes nonfunctional.

In many cases, corrective maintenance occurs after a need is identified during a separate or unrelated work order. So while reactive maintenance might mean replacing a light bulb that burns out, corrective maintenance might mean fixing the shelves where extra light bulbs are stored, like in the “Malcolm in the Middle” scene.

When Is Corrective Maintenance Necessary? 

As the name suggests, corrective maintenance is necessary when a problem is discovered with a piece of equipment or asset that can be fixed. Typically, it refers to issues identified when a technician is attempting to complete a separate work order, such as during a scheduled maintenance inspection or when making unplanned repairs. Also, this maintenance type often involves correcting an issue before a total equipment failure occurs.

For example, reactive maintenance or emergency maintenance might involve fixing a broken refrigerator. During that work order, however, a technician might identify an electrical problem that was causing the refrigerator to short circuit. So, corrective maintenance might then involve a work order that involves upgrading the electrical panel before malfunctions occur with other appliances.

The exact need for corrective maintenance is subjective, but in general, if you identify an issue that needs to be fixed, and it’s not an emergency, it would fall under the corrective maintenance umbrella.

Planned vs. Unplanned Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance falls into two categories: planned and unplanned.

Planned Corrective Maintenance

Corrective maintenance can be planned in a few ways. One is when it’s part of a run to failure maintenance strategy in that an asset is meant to run until it breaks down and then is repaired or replaced. This strategy is typically used on non-critical assets that are easy and inexpensive to repair. Another way corrective maintenance can be planned is part of condition-based maintenance in which sensors monitoring the equipment detect problems that can be repaired (or corrected) before a failure occurs.

Unplanned Corrective Maintenance

In comparison, unplanned corrective maintenance can occur in two ways. It’s considered unplanned when a preventive maintenance strategy is in place but repairs or maintenance are required in between scheduled maintenance actions. Corrective maintenance can also be unplanned when equipment shows signs of potential failure or reaches unexpected failure and requires repair.

Practical Examples of Corrective Maintenance 

In some sense, corrective maintenance can occur anytime you identify something that’s not an emergency but should still be repaired. Here are some examples of corrective maintenance actions:

• HVAC system: A technician is sent to repair an electrical issue with an HVAC system that isn’t cooling properly during a heat wave. During that repair, they also discover that the air filters are dirty, prompting a corrective maintenance work order request to clean them. 
• Gym equipment: While cleaning gym equipment at the end of the day, a team member notices that a cable is fraying on an exercise machine. So, they put in a corrective maintenance request to replace the cable. 
• Plumbing: Kitchen staff identify that a sink has a slow drain. Rather than waiting for it to become completely clogged, a corrective maintenance request could involve having a plumber snake the drain to get water flowing properly through it.

Corrective vs. Breakdown Maintenance 

Corrective maintenance and breakdown maintenance share the similarity of occurring after a problem has been identified, meaning they are both types of reactive maintenance. However, the key difference is that breakdown maintenance generally occurs when equipment or systems fail and become nonoperational, whereas corrective maintenance involves fixing something that is still in working condition but perhaps on its way toward failing.

What does this look like in practicality? Suppose the heating element in a commercial kitchen’s oven stops working. That would require breakdown maintenance because the oven is no longer able to perform the expected function. Yet if kitchen staff notice that an oven is getting smokier than usual, they might engage in corrective maintenance on their restaurant equipment. For instance, doing a deep clean to remove food residue would help prevent the smoke problem from leading to a bigger issue like a fire.

5-Step Guide to the Process

While performing corrective maintenance can vary based on the individual assets and, of course, the allocated resources, here’s a general five-step guide to the corrective maintenance process:

1. Confirm that a malfunction has occurred or is about to occur. This is especially important if you’re using condition-monitoring technologies to determine maintenance needs.
2. Pinpoint where the malfunction is within the system. Sometimes called fault isolation, determining where the malfunction is within a system can help then determine the root cause.
3. Determine the root cause of the malfunction. Knowing exactly what caused the malfunction is crucial to repairing it.
4. Repair or replace the defective part. If the problem can be fixed, you can repair it. Otherwise, it will need to be replaced.
5. Align or calibrate the new part. Make sure the new part is adjusted properly to work within the overall system.

Advantages of Corrective Maintenance 

Even though corrective maintenance is reactive, it still provides advantages over ignoring issues until total failure occurs. Specifically, some of the top advantages of corrective maintenance are that it:

• Reduces emergency maintenance: Fixing equipment before it breaks down can help your company avoid more expensive emergency maintenance costs, such as having to pay a rush fee to an emergency technician.  
• Decreases equipment downtime: Being a little more proactive than emergency maintenance also means that you can decrease unplanned downtime of your most critical assets. For example, identifying that an HVAC system’s filters need to be cleaned can mean that the system is less likely to fail after correcting that. That means you can prevent problems like having to temporarily close if you don’t have heat during a cold front.
• Helps maintenance teams save time: Corrective maintenance tasks add to your equipment maintenance log, but ultimately, that can save time. For one, emergency maintenance can take longer, as it could involve a complex repair versus a quick corrective maintenance repair. Corrective maintenance can also save time in comparison to proactive maintenance, as you’re only doing these tasks when problems occur, as opposed to checking things on a set maintenance schedule when work might not be necessary.

Disadvantages of Corrective Maintenance 

Although corrective maintenance provides some advantages over other maintenance approaches, there are some downsides to consider, too. Some of the top disadvantages, especially in comparison to preventive maintenance (PM), include the following:

• Not predictable: Since you don’t know when the corrective maintenance work is needed, it’s hard to know if you’ll have the right staff on hand to do the task or if your team’s schedule will allow it to be completed quickly.
• Shorten asset lifespan: If you’re always waiting until something goes wrong before fixing it, that can shorten an asset’s lifespan compared to preventive maintenance. Think of taking care of a car. If you only bring your vehicle in for maintenance when the check engine light comes on, then it might not last as long as if you changed the oil on a set schedule and did routine inspections on other car parts.
• Costs can be higher if corrective maintenance repairs are serious: Although corrective maintenance might cost less than having to do emergency repairs, it can cost more than proactive repairs. Cleaning HVAC filters preventively on a planned maintenance schedule, for example, can be part of your ordinary labor costs, whereas replacing HVAC components that get damaged due to debris buildup can add significant new expenses to your maintenance budget.
  

Corrective vs. Preventive Maintenance

So, how exactly do corrective and preventive maintenance compare? Yes, corrective maintenance is more proactive than other reactive maintenance strategies, but it’s still performed as a response to issues as they are discovered, rather than preventing them altogether through scheduled PMs. Preventive maintenance takes a more proactive maintenance approach that involves regularly scheduled inspections, servicing and maintenance on essential equipment to prevent unexpected breakdowns. In turn, this improves equipment reliability, extends asset life and helps avoid costly downtime.

But one isn’t necessarily better than the other. In fact, incorporating both strategies helps create a balanced maintenance plan. By applying preventive maintenance to critical equipment and corrective maintenance to non-essential assets, businesses can manage costs while keeping essential operations running smoothly. Each approach has its benefits and drawbacks, so using a blend of the two allows organizations to stay proactive while also responding to equipment needs as they arise.

How to Improve Your Overall Strategy

While corrective maintenance can be useful for non-essential assets, you don’t want it to be your only strategy, especially for your most crucial assets. Instead, you want to get ahead of the problems before they happen so that you can keep costs down and increase equipment uptime.

To move from a corrective maintenance approach to a more proactive one for bigger assets, consider the following steps:

1. Invest in a preventive maintenance program: Sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Avoid unplanned corrective maintenance issues by investing in a more proactive, PM schedule, ensuring that you have the right people and technology in place to perform routine maintenance on equipment.
2. Build out your maintenance team: Part of investing in a PM plan might involve hiring more maintenance staff so that you can have the resources to prioritize regular inspections, cleanings and other preventive tasks. 
3. Train staff to use maintenance software and technologies: Investing in preventive maintenance software and technologies can help your maintenance team track work orders and identify assets that should be checked on, but if staff doesn’t get up to speed on these tools, that limits their effectiveness. So, make sure you also dedicate resources to training, which can pay off in the long run, just like preventive maintenance itself. 
4. Automate work order requests: While the people component of preventive maintenance is crucial, you can save time and increase effectiveness with automation. Using computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software can allow for automated work order requests, such as scheduling and assigning work orders on a set interval, along with automated reminders to make sure the work gets done on time.
5. Always have necessary parts in stock: Lastly, making sure you have the right asset  management and parts inventory systems in place can help you avoid all types of corrective maintenance. If you’re missing spare parts like air filters, for example, you might delay maintenance until those arrive, but during that time, maybe the overflow gets blocked in your air-conditioning system, causing a breakdown. Here, too, using a CMMS can help you keep track of all your necessary parts and schedule automated reminders to reorder them when you’re running low.

Overall, corrective maintenance has its place when it comes to fixing issues before they turn into larger problems, but you can often save time and money with preventive maintenance measures that minimize the need for it in the first place. And the right software goes a long way toward making this PM approach easy and cost-effective.

See for yourself how Coast’s CMMS can help you build out a strategy to reduce the need for corrective maintenance.