Preventive maintenance for small hotels: annual calendar

How much does NOT doing preventive maintenance cost?

A R$300/night room out of service for 10 days due to maintenance = R$3,000 lost. Now add: room closed from an AC failure in December, another with an invisible leak causing mold, a third with a breaker constantly tripping. Each week of downtime is revenue that never comes back — do the math with your nightly rate. The bottom line: preventive maintenance costs a fraction of an emergency repair at odd hours.

The difference between calling a technician during business hours (preventive) and at 10 PM on a Saturday is pure money: the technician charges 3x, takes longer, and still leaves the guest unhappy — who posts a bad review before leaving.

How to build the annual calendar (month by month)?

Lead with your local climate and operational schedule: January (post-peak, general overhaul), March (roof and gutters before the rainy season), May (heating before cold weather), August (AC before summer), October (exterior painting), December (electrical and safety review). Each month gets a system: January = water systems, March = structure, May = heating, August = cooling, October = finishes, December = electrical and safety.

Make a simple table: month | system | what to do. Post it in the staff room, digital or on paper. No fancy design needed.

Month	System	What to Do
January	Water systems	Tank, pipes, water heater
March	Structure	Roof, gutters, door frames
May	Heating	Electric shower, heating element, pipes
August	Air conditioning	Filter, condenser, refrigerant
October	Finishes	Facade paint, common areas, furniture
December	Electrical	Breakers, wiring, lighting

How does the 30-minute weekly walk-through work?

Every Monday morning, one person (front desk, housekeeping, or you) walks through the rooms with a checklist: tests the shower, opens drains, flips switches, tries the AC remote, checks doors, runs a hand over walls looking for moisture, verifies the breaker is stable. Notes: "all good" or "AC making odd noise", "silent leak in the tank", "mold in the northwest corner". Those details become preventive tasks before they become emergencies.

The secret: fixed schedule, written checklist (no relying on memory), even simple records. If it's not documented, it becomes mental chaos.

In-house team or outsourced: who does what?

Weekly walk-through: in-house (housekeeping knows the properties). Monthly preventive maintenance: outsourced on contract (plumber 1 day in March, electrician in December). Emergency: whoever is closest. The fixed low cost (annual contract with technician, reduces cost by 20–30%) beats paying hourly rates for emergency calls.

Confirm with your accountant the contract format (service invoice) that counts as a tax-deductible expense.

How to record without bureaucracy?

Keep it simple. One spreadsheet: date | room | what was done | who did it | next date. Or even a WhatsApp note thread with your team. What matters: not forgetting. If your booking system has a notes field, put it there.

If the property is larger (more than 10 rooms), take a before-and-after photo of the work (especially for visual fixes — exposed pipe covered, light replaced): proof that it was done and shows guests you care.

What signs indicate an expensive problem is coming?

Water bill climbing with no extra guests = invisible leak. Mold in a corner or musty smell = moisture in the structure before infiltration. Breaker tripping repeatedly = electrical overload. AC with new noise or weak output = compressor wearing out. Door not closing right = plywood swollen from moisture. None of these signals is the end of the world — they're warning lights 30 days before an emergency landing.

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