🗓️ PM Scheduling: How to Set Up a Preventive Maintenance Schedule That Actually Gets Done

A PM schedule is a list of recurring jobs. Each one has a place it belongs to (a unit, or a whole building), a repeat interval and a next due date. When the job is done, the next due date moves. That is the entire idea, and the reason most schedules fail is not the idea. It is that the list lives somewhere nobody looks, so the next due date quietly stops being true.

This post covers what a schedule has to record, how to choose intervals, and how to set one up and keep it honest in Equipment Tracker. If you want the short product description, the preventive maintenance scheduling page has it, and the 8 July post on recurring PM scheduling covers when the feature first shipped. This one is the how-to.

What is PM scheduling?

PM scheduling is planning maintenance on a calendar instead of waiting for something to fail: change the filter on a date, clean the coil on a date, check the drain pan on a date. For a property manager it is the difference between knowing next month's work and finding out about it from a tenant. For a facility director it is the list that shows what is overdue before an audit or a budget meeting asks. For a technician it is tomorrow's route.

A spreadsheet can hold a PM schedule. What a spreadsheet cannot do is notice that Thursday has passed, tell you on Friday morning, and move the next date when you finish. That is the part worth handing to software.

What does a PM schedule have to record?

Five things are enough. Leave one out and the schedule turns into a note.

• ▸ What the job is. A short title, and a line of instructions if the job is not obvious.
• ▸ What it belongs to. One specific unit, or a whole location for jobs that are not about one machine, such as walking the roof or checking every mechanical room.
• ▸ How often it repeats. A number and a unit: every 30 days, every 6 weeks, every 3 months.
• ▸ When it is next due. An actual date. This is the field people skip, and it is the one the whole schedule runs on.
• ▸ Who does it. Optional on a solo account. On a team, the person it is assigned to.

How often should each task repeat?

That depends on the equipment, how hard it runs and what the manufacturer's maintenance instructions say, so treat any interval you read, including these, as a starting point and change it to match the unit in front of you. Equipment Tracker's six presets fill in a title, a description and a starting interval that you can edit before saving.

How do you set up a PM schedule in Equipment Tracker?

On the phone, tap PM Schedules on the home screen, then + to open a new schedule. Or open a unit and use its PM Schedules card, which lists that unit's schedules only. The steps:

• ▸ Pick the location, and a unit if the job is about one machine. Leave the unit empty for a location-wide job.
• ▸ Choose a preset, or type your own title. Add instructions if the next person will need them. There is also a box for special tools needed.
• ▸ Set how often it repeats in days, weeks or months, and set the next due date.
• ▸ Optionally assign it. Assigning a specific technician needs a Team workspace; on a solo account you can pick yourself or leave it unassigned.
• ▸ Set the reminder. The phone alerts you at the time you choose, and you can add up to four more reminders on the same schedule.

What happens when the work is done?

Tap Complete on the schedule. The app opens the service log for the job, where you pick any parts used. Each part shows how many are on the shelf, and with Deduct from stock ticked the count comes down by what you used. When you finish, the app saves a service record on the unit, updates the Last Replaced date on the parts you picked, and sets the next due date. Owners and managers are also offered Create Invoice.

If you finish late, the app asks you one question: keep the original schedule, or move forward by however late it was. Finish on time or early and it keeps the original schedule without asking. That is deliberate. A filter that was due on the 1st and done on the 9th is a different decision for a job tied to the calendar than for one that should be a fixed number of days apart, and the person standing there knows which it is.

How do you see everything that is coming due?

Two views. The PM Schedules list filters by Overdue, Due Today, Coming Up or All, grouped by building or as one list by date. The Maintenance Calendar puts every PM due date on a month grid, along with accepted maintenance plan visits, open work order due dates and equipment and part replacement reminders. Each day with work shows a count, in red when something on it is overdue. A PM's future repeats appear up to 12 months ahead in a lighter style, as a preview; the next due date is the one that counts.

You can filter the calendar by location. There is no filter by technician yet, and everyone in the workspace sees the same calendar. For a property manager or facility director that is the point: open it, and see which days are free to book the next job. The web dashboard has the same PM pages and calendar, and those need Pro.

Will it remind me when there is no signal?

Yes. Reminders are scheduled by your own phone on its own clock, so they arrive in a basement or on a roof with no coverage. A PM that goes overdue keeps reminding you daily until it is done, snoozed or switched off. There are no PM reminder emails. A once-a-day check on our server sends a push as a backstop, and it skips anyone whose phone is already set up to remind them.

What does it cost, and who can use it?

PM schedules, completing them and the phone reminders are free. The web dashboard, including its PM pages and calendar, is part of Pro, which is $9.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Team plans start at $39.99 a month for 5 seats, and every first plan has a 7-day free trial. Owners, managers and techs can create, edit, assign, complete and delete schedules. A Viewer can look and change nothing.

What does it not do yet?

It does not have a tick-box checklist on a PM schedule. The instructions are one text box, and you can attach a blank form under Forms & Documents on Pro. A PM does not create a work order; a completed PM creates a service record. If you need a one-off job with a priority and an assignee, that is a work order. And a maintenance plan you send to a customer is separate from a PM schedule: a plan describes the visits you have agreed to, and the signed maintenance agreement post covers that side.

If your first job is a filter route, building the filter list before you leave the shop is the natural companion to a Change Filter schedule.

What is PM scheduling?

PM scheduling is planning recurring preventive maintenance on a calendar: each job has the equipment or building it belongs to, a repeat interval and a next due date, and the date moves when the work is completed.

How often should HVAC filters and coils be on a PM schedule?

It depends on the unit, how hard it runs and the manufacturer's instructions. Equipment Tracker's presets start at every 3 months for filters and every 6 months for coil cleaning and condensate drains, and you can change the interval to suit the unit.

Is PM scheduling free in Equipment Tracker?

Creating PM schedules, completing them and the phone reminders are free on the phone. The web dashboard, including its PM pages and the calendar, needs Pro.

Do PM reminders work without a signal?

Yes. The phone schedules reminders on its own clock, so they arrive with no signal. An overdue PM keeps reminding daily until it is done, snoozed or switched off.

What happens if I complete a PM late?

The app asks whether to keep the original schedule or move forward by how late the job was. If it is completed on time or early, it keeps the original schedule without asking.

Can I assign a PM to a technician?

Yes, on a Team workspace you can assign a PM to a teammate. On a solo account you can assign it to yourself or leave it unassigned.

Jonathan Curtis

HVAC Technician & Founder · Equipment Tracker Pro

Jonathan Curtis is an HVAC technician and the founder of Equipment Tracker Pro. He built the app to solve real problems he encountered in the field, including the daily frustration of faded nameplates and administrative double-entry.