Overview
Building services maintenance is predominantly based on a breakdown or time-based strategy, which do not always provide the plant reliability required in critical business environments. Condition based maintenance (CBM) provides a means of improving the conventional maintenance regime by evaluating indicative parameters of plant condition such as temperature, vibration, oil condition and power quality. In addition, CBM can enhance fault detection in many plant items, this potentially reducing failure rates. Also, potential benefits are gained by providing a greater understanding of pant performance, by reduced labour time and repair budgets. It can also improve the energy efficiency of many items of plant. This publication is an Application Guide to aid facilities managers and maintenance personnel in understanding the basic concepts of each CBM method, indicating the potential applications, capital costs and benefits associated with each method.
The CBM methods covered in the Guide are:
- Vibration analysis
- Acoustic emissions monitoring
- Thermography
- Wear and oil analysis
- Power quality monitoring
- Monitoring via building management systems.