Winter Readiness: The PPM Checks to Do Before the Heating Season

Is Your Building Ready for Winter?

Summer is over and temperatures are beginning to fall.

For building and facilities managers, that means attention starts turning towards heating systems and winter maintenance.

After months of relatively low demand, boilers, pumps, heating controls and other systems may soon be expected to operate for much longer periods.

The worst time to discover something isn't working properly is the first genuinely cold morning of the year.

That's why autumn is an important time for Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM).

Rather than waiting for winter to expose a problem, facilities teams can use the weeks beforehand to inspect critical assets, review outstanding maintenance and address potential issues while there is still time to act.

Winter maintenance should be planned in autumn, not triggered by winter.

Why Winter Readiness Matters

Cold weather places different demands on a building.

Heating systems operate more frequently.

Pipework is exposed to lower temperatures.

Roofs and drainage systems have to cope with increased rainfall, leaves and potentially freezing conditions.

External lighting becomes more important as daylight hours shorten.

Even relatively minor maintenance issues can become much more disruptive when the weather changes.

A proactive approach can help reduce the likelihood of unexpected failures and give maintenance teams more time to address problems before they become urgent.

1. Check Boilers and Heating Plant

Heating plant is an obvious place to start.

Before demand increases, relevant heating equipment should be checked and serviced in line with the appropriate maintenance requirements and manufacturer's recommendations.

Depending on the building and system, this could include checking:

• Boilers and associated plant
• Pumps
• Valves
• Pressure levels
• Controls
• Thermostats
• Sensors
• Filters
• Signs of leaks or corrosion

The objective is to identify potential problems before the system is operating under sustained winter demand.

If servicing or repairs are due, completing them early also provides more time to obtain replacement components or arrange specialist support where required.

2. Test Heating Before You Actually Need It

A heating system that worked perfectly last winter isn't guaranteed to perform exactly the same way this year.

Systems may have had limited use during warmer months and faults can develop without being immediately obvious.

Testing heating systems before they are required continuously gives teams an opportunity to identify issues such as unusual noises, inconsistent temperatures, faulty controls or areas of the building that are not heating as expected.

It is much easier to investigate these problems during mild autumn weather than when occupants are already complaining about the cold.

3. Inspect Pumps, Valves and Controls

A boiler may be operating correctly while another part of the heating system prevents heat from reaching where it is needed.

Pumps, valves and control systems all play an important role in distributing and regulating heat around a building.

Maintenance teams should consider whether equipment is operating correctly and whether any known faults remain outstanding.

Building Management System settings may also need reviewing to ensure heating schedules reflect current building occupancy and operating hours.

Changes made during summer or previous maintenance work should not be assumed to remain appropriate for winter operation.

4. Check Pipework and Insulation

Cold weather increases the risk associated with exposed or poorly insulated pipework.

A frozen pipe can cause significant disruption and, if it bursts, potentially extensive water damage.

Before temperatures fall, inspect vulnerable pipework and ensure appropriate insulation remains intact and in good condition.

Particular attention may be needed in areas such as:

• Roof spaces
• Plant rooms
• External locations
• Unheated areas
• Service cupboards
• Vacant parts of a building

Damaged or missing insulation should be addressed before freezing conditions arrive.

5. Review Frost Protection

Where buildings or systems include frost protection measures, autumn is the time to make sure they are ready to operate.

This could involve checking frost thermostats, trace heating and other relevant protective systems.

Vacant or lightly occupied buildings can require particular attention.

Reduced occupancy doesn't necessarily mean maintenance requirements disappear. In some cases, limited heating and fewer people present to notice a problem can increase the importance of proactive monitoring.

6. Inspect Roofs, Gutters and Drainage

Winter readiness isn't only about heating.

Autumn leaves, heavy rain and winter weather can expose weaknesses in roofs and drainage systems.

Blocked gutters or drains can cause water to accumulate where it shouldn't, potentially resulting in leaks, damp or damage to the building fabric.

Before winter, consider checking:

• Gutters
• Downpipes
• Roof drainage
• Visible roof condition
• External drains
• Known areas of water ingress

Where roof access is required, inspections should always be carried out using appropriate safety procedures and competent personnel.

7. Check Doors, Windows and Building Fabric

A heating system has to work considerably harder if the building is losing heat unnecessarily.

Damaged seals, poorly closing doors and other defects in the building fabric can contribute to heat loss and uncomfortable internal conditions.

Autumn provides an opportunity to identify obvious issues before heating demand increases.

Addressing relatively small defects can also support energy efficiency by reducing unnecessary heating demand.

8. Review Ventilation and HVAC Systems

Winter doesn't mean ventilation becomes less important.

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems still need to operate effectively to maintain appropriate internal conditions.

Maintenance requirements will depend on the equipment installed, but facilities teams may need to consider filters, air handling units, controls, sensors and other components.

It's also worth checking whether any seasonal settings need adjusting as the building moves from cooling towards heating operation.

9. Prepare for Shorter Days

By winter, many buildings are operating during hours of darkness.

That makes lighting another important part of seasonal preparation.

External lighting around entrances, pathways, car parks and other relevant areas should be checked so faults can be addressed before daylight hours reduce further.

Emergency lighting should also continue to be inspected and tested in accordance with the building's applicable maintenance and testing requirements.

10. Check Backup and Emergency Systems

Winter weather can increase the potential for disruption to utilities and building services.

Where a building has generators, uninterruptible power supplies or other backup systems, make sure the relevant maintenance and testing schedules are up to date.

The same principle applies to other critical systems.

An emergency isn't the time to discover that equipment hasn't been maintained.

Look Back at Last Winter

One of the most useful winter readiness checks doesn't involve inspecting an asset at all.

Look at your maintenance history.

What happened last winter?

Were there recurring heating faults?

Did a particular pump repeatedly fail?

Were certain areas difficult to heat?

Were temporary repairs carried out?

Did occupants repeatedly report the same problem?

Were there assets that engineers recommended replacing?

Maintenance history can provide valuable clues about where problems might occur again.

If the same asset generated multiple callouts last winter, it may deserve attention before this winter begins.

Deal With Outstanding Maintenance

Most buildings have outstanding maintenance tasks.

Some will be relatively minor.

Others may become much more important once winter arrives.

Autumn is a good opportunity to review open maintenance jobs and decide whether any need prioritising before colder weather arrives.

A small heating fault in July might have had little operational impact.

The same fault in January could be a very different story.

Check Your Maintenance Schedule

Winter preparation also provides a useful opportunity to review your wider PPM schedule.

Ask:

What maintenance is due over the next three months?

Are any critical assets approaching a service date?

Are inspections already booked?

Are specialist contractors required?

Are replacement parts likely to be needed?

Are there maintenance tasks that should be completed before temperatures fall further?

Planning ahead can help avoid situations where an important service becomes overdue at exactly the point an asset is needed most.

Think About Your Suppliers Too

Not every maintenance activity will be completed by an internal facilities team.

Specialist contractors may be required for heating, HVAC, electrical systems, lifts, fire systems and other equipment.

Before winter, consider whether the contractors you may rely on are ready too.

Do you have current contact details?

Are maintenance agreements in place?

Do you know who to contact if something fails?

Are there any outstanding visits or inspections?

Winter demand can affect maintenance providers as well as buildings, so arranging planned work early can help avoid unnecessary delays.

Planned Maintenance Versus Winter Callouts

Reactive maintenance will always be necessary.

Unexpected failures happen, even in well maintained buildings.

But there is an important difference between responding to something genuinely unexpected and responding to a problem that could reasonably have been identified beforehand.

Emergency callouts can be disruptive, inconvenient and potentially expensive.

PPM aims to reduce that risk by identifying issues while they are still manageable.

The objective isn't to eliminate every breakdown.

It's to reduce avoidable ones.

Don't Forget Your Records

Completing maintenance is only part of good building management.

The work also needs to be recorded.

Maintenance records can help teams understand:

• What work was completed
• When it was carried out
• Who completed it
• What faults were identified
• What repairs were recommended
• Whether further action is required
• When the next maintenance activity is due

Over time, this history becomes increasingly valuable.

Instead of treating every fault as a new problem, facilities teams can see what has happened previously and make better informed decisions.

How Liaison Maintain Supports Winter Readiness

Liaison's Maintain platform helps building and facilities teams manage both planned and reactive maintenance from one central environment.

Planned maintenance activities can be scheduled so teams have greater visibility of what needs completing and when.

Maintenance records can also build over time, helping organisations understand an asset's history rather than treating each job in isolation.

This can support a more proactive approach to building management by helping teams identify upcoming maintenance, track completed work and maintain a clearer record of activity across their buildings.

When winter approaches, that visibility can make it much easier to understand what has already been completed and what still requires attention.

Don't Wait for the First Cold Morning

The first cold spell shouldn't be the test of whether your building is ready for winter.

By that point, heating systems are already needed and any failure immediately becomes more disruptive.

Autumn gives facilities teams something incredibly valuable:

time.

Time to inspect.

Time to test.

Time to repair.

Time to arrange contractors.

And time to deal with problems before they become emergencies.

That's the real value of winter PPM.

Conclusion

Winter readiness doesn't need to begin when temperatures reach freezing.

In fact, by then some opportunities for preventative action have already been missed.

Checking heating plant, pipework, controls, drainage, lighting and other critical systems during autumn gives building managers an opportunity to identify potential problems before winter demand increases.

Combine those checks with maintenance history, upcoming PPM schedules and outstanding repairs and you have a much clearer picture of whether your building is genuinely prepared.

Because the best time to discover a heating problem isn't on the coldest morning of the year.

It's several weeks before it.