Maintenance costs can be approximately between two and six percent of a restaurant’s overall budget, according to the National Restaurant Association. Having a fund for the repair or replacement of equipment or the building itself is important, too. This amount is usually one-and-a-half percent of your sales each month. Accumulating the unspent amount will help you prepare for costly replacements that are necessary.
Maintenance Keeps Restaurant Equipment Working Normally
Lack of maintenance and cleaning is the cause of the majority of restaurant equipment failures. The cleaning and care recommendations from the manufacturers are usually included in the manuals, but this cleaning and maintenance is not always done regularly.
Do Not Misappropriate Equipment to Keep Your Restaurant Running Normally
Using a hose in a kitchen to clean the floor, for example, is not a normal cleaning process and it causes problems for restaurants because the wiring on the underside of the equipment is not protected from the water spray and this could cause a problem with the electrical areas of the machines.
Regularly maintaining equipment and using it the way it should be used can help avoid big or unexpected problems. A small problem can be troubleshooted on the telephone, which avoids the time-consuming and expensive service calls from repair companies.
Maintain Your Refrigeration and HVAC System to Avoid Costly Repairs and Replacements
Most of the repairs and maintenance for a restaurant involve the refrigeration and HVAC system. You would need to hire a company that would send a licensed employee to do any work on these items in your restaurant. They could maintain refrigerant in your refrigeration equipment, keep fan motor bearings lubricated, replace fat belts, and clean the refrigeration coils. This maintenance would help you avoid replacing the condensing unit or compressor.
Being knowledgeable about the maintenance of equipment helps restaurant management employees prevent emergency breakdowns and costly replacements. For example, a refrigerator uses air flow to remove heat. The restaurant employees should know how to use this machine, stacking items apart from one another to have enough air circulation so that the compressor will not need to be strained and cause a problem for the refrigerator.
De-scaling Helps You Maintain the Life of Your Machines
Other items that need to be maintained are the other equipment, such as combination ovens, steamers, coffee makers, combination ovens, ice machines, and any other equipment that heats water or has water within it, and may have the buildup of minerals on the probes and heating elements. Problems with these mineral deposits increase the time required for the equipment to heat and work the way it should. De-scaling is usually the maintenance that is done to remove the mineral deposits on the equipment.
Test Your Wastewater Valves and Maintain Your Water Quality
Having backflow services done protects your water quality. You would have a plumbing company employee who is certified come to your restaurant for a maintenance check-up of the valves that prevent wastewater from your bathrooms from going to the pipes where the fresh water comes to the faucets and equipment.
