In facility maintenance management (FMM), work falls into two groups. Planned work is scheduled in advance: cleaning rounds, inspections, servicing. Reactive work happens because something broke or someone complained.
Why the balance matters
Reactive work interrupts the day, needs urgent labour and often costs more per job. A team that is always reacting has little time left to plan. There is no universal target for the split, so measure your own and watch the trend.
How to measure it
- Tag every work order as planned or reactive when it is created.
- Count each group per site, per month.
- For reactive jobs, record the asset and the cause.
- Look for assets that appear again and again.
How to shift it
- Turn repeat reactive jobs into scheduled inspections.
- Use checklists so small defects are logged before they become faults.
- Make it quick for anyone on site to report a fault, with a photo.
- Review preventive schedules after each quarter, not each year.
Keep the evidence
Photos, time stamps and sign-off on every job make audits and client reviews simpler, and they show the planned work was done.