That it was done on time
The record of each inspection with its date, compared against the required frequency. Missed ones count too, and it's worth having them on record.
Guide
What is legal maintenance
The kind you don't choose. A regulation imposes it, with its own frequency and scope, and in an inspection what gets checked isn't whether it was done: it's whether you can prove it.
The definition
Legal maintenance — also called mandatory, statutory or regulatory maintenance — is the set of inspections an installation is legally required to undergo, with a frequency and scope that neither the owner nor their technical judgement decides. It differs from voluntary preventive maintenance in two ways: the date is set by the regulation, not by convenience, and there is an obligation to keep documentary proof that it was carried out. That second part causes the most problems, because the work usually gets done, but the record doesn't always.
Which installations are usually affected
It depends on the building's use, its size and the region. These come up almost every time.
- Fire protection: extinguishers, hydrants, detection, emergency lighting and compartmentation.
- Thermal installations: air conditioning, boilers and their periodic inspections and maintenance.
- Low-voltage electrical installations, with their inspections depending on the type of premises.
- Lifting equipment: lifts and hoists, with a maintenance contract and periodic inspection.
- Legionella prevention and control in cooling towers, hot water and other circuits.
- Pressure equipment, chemical storage and fluorinated gases, depending on the installation.
Who is responsible
Generally, the owner of the installation, even when the work is carried out by a contracted maintenance company. That distinction matters more than it seems and explains one of the most uncomfortable situations that come up in practice: a company that outsources its building's maintenance assumes responsibility has moved with the contract, and finds out during an inspection that it hasn't. The maintainer is responsible for carrying out what was contracted; the owner is responsible for the installation being compliant. That's why the calendar and the certificates should sit with the owner, not only in the supplier's system.
What you need to be able to show
An inspection never asks "do you do it?" It asks "show me".
With what scope
What exactly was checked, point by point. "Checked and OK" proves no scope at all.
Who did it and with what qualification
The maintenance company and, when the regulation requires it, the technician's accreditation valid on the date of the work.
The certificates and reports
The documents issued by the inspection or the control body, valid and locatable without having to reconstruct anything.
The equipment's history
What has been done on that installation over time. It's what gets asked for when the question is about a specific piece of equipment.
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Where it fails in practice
Almost never in execution. Inspections get carried out, because they're usually contracted and the maintainer does them. It fails in three specific places, always the same ones: the certificate that stays in the inbox of whoever received it, the frequency that slips by unnoticed until the following year, and the history that has to be rebuilt by hand every time someone asks. All three have the same cause: the proof lives apart from the work. When the inspection record and its documentation hang off the same asset, the inspection stops being a week-long project.
How far this page goes
This is a general explanation and does not count as advice. Which regulation applies to you, with what scope and what frequency, depends on your installation, its use, its power or capacity and the region, and is determined by whoever has the technical and legal competence to do so. Frequencies also change as regulations are revised. If you need to know exactly what applies to you, the right answer comes from a qualified technician or the relevant authority, not from a website — not this one nor any other.
Frequently asked questions
Who must keep the certificates and reports?
The owner of the installation, regardless of who carried out the inspection. It's a distinction that gets overlooked when maintenance is outsourced and is discovered too late: on the day of an inspection, or simply the day the maintainer changes, the documentation needs to sit with whoever is responsible for the installation, not in the archive of a company you no longer work with.
How often does each installation need inspecting?
It depends on the installation, its power or capacity, its location and the regulation that applies to it, which is why there's no universal schedule that works for everyone. What is common to every case is the mechanism: someone with technical competence determines which inspections apply and how often, and from there they become periodicities planned well in advance.
Does a CMMS record count as proof during an inspection?
It's useful for having everything located and showing what was done, when and by whom, which is normally what's asked for. What a system can't do is replace the certificates and reports issued by whoever has the competence to issue them: it stores them, links them to their installation and warns before they expire, but it doesn't generate them.
What is legal maintenance?
The set of inspections an installation is legally required to undergo, with a frequency and scope that the owner doesn't decide. Besides carrying them out, there's an obligation to keep documentary proof.
Who is liable if it isn't done, the owner or the maintainer?
Generally the owner of the installation is liable, even when the work is carried out by a contracted company. The maintainer is responsible for carrying out what was contracted. That's why the calendar and the certificates should sit with the owner.
Which installations are affected?
It depends on the building's use and size, but fire protection, thermal installations, low voltage, lifting equipment and legionella prevention come up almost every time. A qualified technician determines exactly what applies to you.
What needs to be kept?
The record of each inspection with its date and scope, the certificates and reports issued, who carried it out and, when the regulation requires it, their accreditation valid on that date. And the history by installation, which is what gets asked for when the question is about a specific piece of equipment.
Does software guarantee compliance?
No, and be wary of anyone who claims it does. Compliance is the company's responsibility. What a system does is make sure inspections get planned on their own, carried out with a defined scope, and leave enough record to prove it.
Could you prove it tomorrow?
In the demo we set up a couple of your mandatory inspections and see what would come up if someone asked for it today.