Beginner’s Guide to Restaurant Equipment Repair & Maintenance

Running a restaurant can feel like sprinting a marathon — you’re constantly hustling to ring customers up and get their orders out, while also providing high-quality service and working to hit your margins day after day, month after month, year after year. Amidst the frenzy, there is still a sense of order because you have established processes and reliable equipment. But when something goes wrong, like your drains get clogged, your refrigerator starts running too warm or an oven stops working, your finely tuned operation can fall into chaos. 

That’s why having solid equipment repair and maintenance practices in place is crucial. Restaurant equipment repair and maintenance is simply the act of repairing and maintaining restaurant equipment to keep your restaurant running as efficiently as possible. Ideally, a strong restaurant equipment maintenance strategy means you can minimize equipment downtime, and if something does break down, you have a plan in place to get things back to normal quickly.

Check out our ultimate guide on how to create a preventive maintenance strategy for your commercial restaurant equipment — from ice machines to food processors to commercial ovens and broilers — to ensure that your restaurant is always running at its optimal speed. After all, time is money in this business.

Why Is Restaurant Equipment Repair & Maintenance Necessary?

While food and drinks are the front-facing aspects of restaurants, it’s the commercial kitchen equipment behind the scenes that enables restaurants to operate. From quick-service restaurants to fine-dining establishments, restaurants fully rely on crucial assets like convection ovens, reach-in refrigerators and stainless steel work tables to be able to operate efficiently and profitably. 

If your refrigerator breaks, for example, you could have food losses that erase your profit for the month. And if your heating system breaks down in the middle of winter, customers might not be willing to dine with you — even if they get their order and leave quickly, the negative experience can hurt your long-term growth.

On an annual basis, restaurants in the U.S. spend a combined $28 billion on repair and maintenance, yet they lose far more — $46 billion — due to equipment downtime, according to 86 Repairs. So, in many cases, proactive maintenance can save you money. Even if you have leased foodservice equipment from a restaurant supply store, repairs and maintenance are crucial. For one, you don’t want to experience downtime, period, but most rental agreements also require lessees to avoid or fix damages.

Types of Maintenance for Restaurant Equipment & Supplies

There are two main categories of restaurant equipment repair and maintenance, both of which have their place at different times. These include:   

Reactive Maintenance

Reactive maintenance involves responding to equipment issues after a problem has been identified. For example, there might not be anything to repair with a stove until a burner stops working, in which case you’d need to engage a vendor (or your facilities maintenance team) to fix the burner. 

Within the reactive maintenance umbrella, there are two subcategories:

• Corrective maintenance: Corrective maintenance involves fixing an issue after a problem has been identified, but usually the equipment or property is still functional to some degree. For example, a drain might be slow but not fully clogged. So, corrective maintenance could involve snaking the drain to solve the issue before you can no longer use that sink. Also, corrective maintenance is often required as a result of another maintenance task being done. For example, maybe a technician is fixing the gas line to an oven and realizes that the oven light needs to be replaced, so they correct that.
• Emergency maintenance: While corrective maintenance involves fixing something that usually isn’t urgent, emergency maintenance involves making repairs that need to be fixed right away or else the business can’t function properly or a more serious problem could develop. For example, a gas leak requires emergency maintenance. A refrigerator that’s getting too warm might all fall under emergency maintenance if it’s your only food storage source and you have a lot of food that could spoil. However, if you can move the food to another location, then it might not be quite as urgent. 

Proactive Maintenance

In contrast to reactive maintenance, proactive maintenance involves checking equipment and performing maintenance or repairs before a noticeable problem occurs. It’s a little bit like a chef tasting dishes before serving them to see if they’re too salty, rather than waiting to see if the customers complain.

Under the proactive maintenance umbrella, there are a few subtypes, including:

• Routine maintenance: Routine maintenance involves general maintenance tasks to help extend the life and maintain uptime for equipment and kitchen supplies, usually on a set schedule. For example, cleaning stoves every night isn’t just a sanitary issue, but it’s also part of routine maintenance in that it helps avoid issues like grease build-ups that can cause equipment to malfunction or start a fire.
• Preventive maintenance: Preventive maintenance and routine maintenance have some overlap, but generally preventive maintenance involves performing more complex maintenance tasks on a proactive basis. Cleaning might be routine, for example, while testing your electrical system’s ability to handle additional loads or replacing refrigerator seals after a certain amount of time could be considered preventive maintenance.
• Condition-based maintenance: Condition-based maintenance involves regularly checking the condition of equipment, often by using Internet of Things (IoT) devices like sensors that inform you how equipment is performing. The data from these devices might show that performance is slipping, such as if you see that a fridge is having difficulty holding a constant temperature. It might not be to the point where the food is spoiling, but by noticing this condition, you can proactively make repairs.

While these distinctions can exist under proactive maintenance, some people consider all of these categories to be preventive maintenance. The delineation isn’t necessarily the most important factor, but instead, it matters whether or not you’re preventing equipment issues that can hurt your business.

Benefits of Preventive Maintenance

Performing preventive maintenance may seem like going above and beyond, but it can be fundamental to running a strong business. Preventive maintenance provides the following benefits:

• Saves costs: As mentioned, restaurants lose a lot of money due to equipment downtime. So, spending time on preventive maintenance, such as regularly lubricating parts of your ice cream machine or inspecting commercial ice makers weekly, can help avoid costly breakdowns. If equipment fails, you’d likely spend more on emergency maintenance and lose money on issues like food spoilage.
• Increases equipment performance and lifespan: Preventive maintenance also helps optimize equipment performance and longevity, which also results in cost savings and provides a better customer experience. For example, getting more years out of your heavy-duty deep fryer means not having to spend money on a new one as frequently.
• Improves equipment resale value: Maintaining your equipment can help keep it in good working order, which can then improve resale value, such as if you decide to upgrade to an espresso machine and want to sell your current coffee maker.
• Enhances operational efficiency: When equipment starts to break down, it can hamper operational efficiency, even if there’s no emergency. For example, a slow drain can cause a backup in clean dishes and flatware, which causes a backup in getting food out to customers. So, inspecting drains on a regular basis and flushing the lines can help keep your kitchen running smoothly.
• Reduces safety risks: Preventive maintenance can also reduce safety risks, especially fire hazards. By doing deep cleans and inspections, you can reduce the chances of gas explosions or cooking equipment breaking down and causing a fire.
• Helps maintain food quality: Keeping your equipment in good working order also helps maintain food quality and safety. Proper commercial refrigeration, for example, helps keep food tasting fresh.

How to Implement a Preventive Maintenance Strategy for Restaurant Equipment

To implement a preventive maintenance strategy for restaurant equipment, consider the following seven steps:

1. Create an asset inventory: First, list out all of your assets that need to be maintained, ranging from cooking equipment to prep tables and beverage dispensers. Depending on how thorough you want to be, you might also include property like your front glass door, which you might test out at regular intervals to ensure the safety of your restaurant. Ideally, this inventory can be easily accessible and protected. For instance, storing it in asset management software that relevant employees can access is better than storing it in a binder that could get lost or damaged. 
2. Determine which assets are the most critical: Once you list out your assets, prioritize them. You might not have the resources to inspect every piece of equipment every week, but checking your most critical assets more regularly can help your restaurant run smoothly.
3. Get an understanding of equipment warranties: Making sure you understand the warranties for your equipment can help you further prioritize preventive maintenance strategies and schedules. For example, if critical equipment is out of warranty, you might inspect that more frequently, because a breakdown there would be costlier than equipment covered by a warranty.
4. Plan out an inspection and maintenance schedule: Next, you can set up an inspection and maintenance schedule. Some assets might be checked and worked on at regular intervals, like inspecting your HVAC system every six months, while others might be usage-based, such as replacing your dishwasher’s filter after a given number of runs. Using IoT devices to count these runs could be useful here.
5. Develop preventive maintenance checklists and procedures: In addition to having a schedule, it helps to have clear checklists and procedures that employees can follow when inspecting and working on equipment proactively. For example, preventive maintenance on a stove might involve a checklist with steps for cleaning and looking for parts that are wearing out.
6. Assign tasks to the involved stakeholders: All employees should be clear about their responsibilities. Assign specific tasks to specific employees or vendors to ensure the work gets done.
7. Budget for repairs and replacements: As part of preventive maintenance, sometimes you have to replace parts or make repairs after identifying issues or because a certain amount of time has passed. So, you should set a budget for this work by looking at manufacturer-recommended maintenance schedules and calculating the costs of following them, along with estimating the historical average of maintenance costs. You may need to update this budget over time as you get more data from your preventive maintenance strategy.

Preventive Maintenance Checklists for Crucial Restaurant Equipment

While restaurants can differ a bit in terms of what goes into their preventive maintenance checklists, here are some examples to help you get a sense of what to include.

Cooking Equipment

• Clean ovens, grills, fryers, grinders, slicers and blenders daily
• Check for worn-out parts in kitchen appliances monthly
• Inspect and calibrate all temperature and time controls on ranges monthly

Refrigeration Equipment

• Monitor temperature settings for walk-in coolers and freezers daily
• Inspect and clean door gaskets and hinges weekly to ensure seals are tight
• Check drain tubing for blockages monthly
• Calibrate thermometers quarterly

Dishwashing Equipment

• Inspect hoses daily
• De-lime sinks and dishwashers weekly
• Inspect drain lines weekly
• Check water temperature and rinse pressure settings weekly
• Clean dishwashers every 20 cycles
• Check dishwasher gaskets monthly

HVAC Systems

• Clean hood, filters, ductwork and fan weekly
• Check exhaust fans for signs of wear or damage weekly
• Clean/replace air filters monthly
• Do a full system checkup annually

Plumbing

• Inspect pipes and drains for leaks or clogs daily
• Check bathrooms for faulty handles or loose faucets daily
• Clean grease traps quarterly

Restaurant Equipment Repair & Maintenance Tips

In addition to following checklists such as the ones above, some additional tips to help optimize your restaurant equipment repair and maintenance strategy include:

• Follow manufacturer recommendations: Manufacturers often provide recommended maintenance schedules and practices, such as for cleaning and part replacements, that help your equipment run optimally.
• Stay on top of your warranty: Doing so can help ensure you don’t miss eligible claims and opportunities to extend warranty coverage.
• Train your employees on proper maintenance procedures: Preventive maintenance only works if employees are following proper maintenance procedures, so you may need to provide additional training.
• Use the proper tools and cleaning supplies: Just like you need the right employee procedures, you need the proper tools and supplies to get the job done. Consider taking inventory of current supplies, so you can procure new ones as needed.
• Stick to your routine maintenance schedule and keep records: Doing the little things right, like routine cleaning of food prep stations, can help prevent bigger issues down the line. And keeping records can help everyone stay accountable and on the same page regarding what tasks need to be completed.
• Call a maintenance professional if you don’t know how to repair something: If you identify something in need of repair and your employees don’t know how to fix it, call a professional. That’s typically money well spent to prevent a larger issue from developing, like unsafe repairs that lead to more damage.
• Use software to stay on top of everything: Lastly, consider using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software like Coast to streamline all your maintenance needs. This digital solution makes it easier to establish your asset inventory and create work orders to get everyone on the same page and ensure maintenance tasks don’t slip through the cracks.

See for yourself how Coast’s CMMS can help you improve restaurant equipment repair and maintenance. We work with businesses like McDonald’s and Tim Hortons and can help your restaurant save time and money. Sign up for a free account today.