Preventive Maintenance Work Order Template
One record for a single scheduled PM. It carries the schedule reference and what triggered it, how many days early or late it was performed, the task list worked with as-found and as-left against each line, the readings measured against specification, and the defects found, which become corrective work rather than quiet repairs.
- Days early or late, against the date due
- As found and as left on every task line
- Readings against specification, with a pass mark
- Defects found raised as corrective work
Preventive Maintenance Work Order
Scheduled PM, task list and readings
| # | Work performed | Done | Hrs | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Record the date due and the date performed | |||
| 2 | Let days early or late calculate from the two | |||
| 3 | Work the task list, ticking each line | |||
| 4 | Write as found and as left against every task | |||
| 5 | Measure the readings against specification | |||
| 6 | Raise each defect found as corrective work |
A preview of the real document. The download is the complete file.
Download the preventive maintenance work order template
Free, editable and yours to rebrand. Pick a format. You'll get all three, so you have the printable version too.
- Word (.docx) for editing the task list and frequencies to match your PM schedules.
- Excel (.xlsx) where days early or late, the readings against specification and the labour total calculate themselves.
- PDF print-ready, for the asset file and the signature on site.
Who this preventive maintenance work order is for
Four people read this document, and each of them wants a different line out of it.
Maintenance planner
You are answering whether the programme is being kept. Days early or late, across assets, is what tells you that. Completion percentage alone flatters a schedule that is running a month behind.
Maintenance technician
You are the one filling it in, task by task. The as-found column is what protects you, because it records the state you inherited rather than the state you left.
Reliability engineer
You are deciding whether the interval is right. Readings against specification over successive PMs, and the defects each visit found, are what justify lengthening or shortening it.
Facilities or operations manager
You are answering whether PM is preventing anything. The count of defects found on PM against reactive jobs on the same asset is the measure that matters.
Where a preventive maintenance work order is used
The document is the same shape everywhere. What changes is which fields carry the weight.
| Setting | What the form has to capture there |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | Interval accuracy. The trigger, the meter reading at this and the last PM, and readings against specification drive whether the interval fits the duty. |
| Commercial buildings | Compliance and coverage. Frequency, days late and the sign-off are what a landlord or insurer asks to see. |
| Healthcare estates | Evidence and criticality. Readings against specification with a pass mark, on A-critical assets, have to survive an audit years later. |
| Data centres | Redundancy and risk. Isolation requirements and whether the PM could be done live are the fields that decide when it happens at all. |
| Regulated plant | The trigger. A regulatory PM has a legal date rather than a target, so days late is not a performance measure but an exposure. |
What a preventive maintenance work order should include
A preventive maintenance work order is the record that a scheduled maintenance task list was performed on an asset, and what condition it was found in. It names the schedule and trigger, records how early or late it ran, captures as-found and as-left against each task and each reading, and raises the defects the visit uncovered.
Fields every work order needs
- Work order number
A unique reference, e.g. PM-2026-0904
- Date and time raised
When the request came in, not when you got there
- Priority
Set at intake, from the contract, before anyone forms a view
- Site and location
Where the work happens, precise enough to find unaided
- Raised by and contact
Who asked, and how to reach them on arrival
- Target completion
The time you are committed to, so the SLA is measurable
- Parts and materials
Item, quantity, unit price and who it is charged to
- Labour
Date, who attended, hours and rate
- Sign-off
Both signatures, named and dated
Fields specific to a preventive maintenance work order
| Field | What goes in it | Why it earns its place |
|---|---|---|
| PM schedule reference | The schedule this visit belongs to, not just the asset | Links the visit to the programme. Without it, a PM is an undated job and compliance cannot be demonstrated across a year. |
| Trigger | Calendar, running hours, cycles, condition or regulatory | Changes what late means. A calendar PM three days late is a scheduling matter; a regulatory one is an exposure. |
| Date due, date performed, days early or late | Three fields, the third derived from the first two | The page's whole argument. Completion percentage flatters a programme; days late tells you whether the schedule is real. It should calculate, never be entered. |
| Frequency and planned duration | Weekly to annual, and the time the task list is expected to take | Planned against actual duration is how you find out that a PM specified for two hours is being done in twenty minutes. |
| Meter reading at this PM and the last | Both, side by side | For hour-based or cycle-based schedules this is the interval. It also shows whether the asset is working harder than the schedule assumes. |
| PM task list with as found and as left | Every task ticked, with the condition before and after, and an initial | A tick alone says a task was performed. As found and as left say whether it changed anything, which is the only evidence that the PM was worth doing. |
| Readings against specification | Measurement, unit, specification, as found, as left and a pass mark | Turns opinion into measurement. A reading inside specification on arrival and departure is a healthy asset; one that needed correcting each visit is an interval problem. |
| Defects found | Each one, raised as its own corrective work order rather than fixed in the margin | The discipline the whole document rests on. A repair absorbed into a PM makes that asset look cheap to run, which is how a failing machine keeps its budget. |
If you cut the form down, keep as found and as left on every line. A PM that records only the finished state cannot tell you whether the visit prevented anything. Filters that were already clean, visit after visit, are an interval that could be longer. Filters found blocked every time are an interval that is too long. Only two columns can tell you which.
What it looks like filled in
A real PM, filled end to end. This is the same visit the Excel version totals for you.
| Measurement | Unit | Specification | As found | As left | Pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belt tension | mm deflection | 10 to 14 | 19 | 12 | Yes |
| Bearing temperature | degC | below 70 | 58 | 57 | Yes |
| Vibration, drive end | mm/s RMS | below 4.5 | 3.1 | 2.8 | Yes |
| Motor current | A | 14 to 17 RLA | 16.2 | 15.9 | Yes |
| Filter differential | Pa | below 250 | 310 | 95 | Yes |
Work order PM-2026-0904, asset AHU-06, quarterly calendar PM, criticality B. Date due the first, performed the fourth, so three days late and the field says so rather than being rounded to on time. Two lines arrived out of specification: belt tension at 19mm and filter differential at 310Pa, both corrected and left inside limits. One defect found, a perished door seal, raised as its own corrective work order rather than noted in the margin. Planned duration two hours, actual 2.25.
How do you fill in a preventive maintenance work order?
Fill it in against the task list, and write the as-found column before you correct anything. Six steps, and the fourth is the one that decides whether the record is worth keeping.
Record the schedule reference, the date due and the date performed
Then let days early or late calculate. A PM logged without a due date cannot demonstrate that a programme was kept.
Confirm the trigger and the frequency
Calendar, running hours, cycles, condition or regulatory. This is what decides whether being late is a scheduling matter or a compliance one.
Take the meter reading and confirm isolation
The reading at this PM next to the reading at the last one, and the permit reference if the work needs one.
Work each task and write as found before you correct it
The state you inherited, then the state you left. Written afterwards, both columns say the same thing and the record proves nothing.
Measure the readings against specification
Not against a general sense of normal. A pass mark against a stated range is what makes successive PMs comparable.
Raise every defect as its own corrective work order
Rather than fixing it quietly inside the PM. Then parts, labour, the actual duration, the next due date, and the sign-off.
Preventive maintenance work order vs corrective work order
They are two different jobs on the same asset, and mixing them is the commonest way maintenance data goes wrong.
| Aspect | Preventive maintenance work order | Corrective work order |
|---|---|---|
| What starts it | A schedule: a date, a meter reading or a condition | A fault, a defect or a request |
| What it is for | Confirming a defined task list was performed, and recording condition | Fixing one specific thing that is wrong |
| The load-bearing fields | Task list, as found and as left, readings against specification, days late | Fault found, root cause, downtime, parts |
| How it closes | A completion date and the next due date | A repair and a recommendation |
| What it feeds | Compliance evidence, interval tuning, PM completion | Failure history, cost per asset, replacement case |
| The mistake to avoid | Absorbing a repair into the checklist | Raising one without linking it to the PM that found it |
The rule worth enforcing is that a PM which finds a defect raises a corrective work order, and the corrective one references the PM. Absorbed repairs are how an asset accumulates cost nobody can see, because the PM records that it was serviced and never records what it needed. It is also how the value of the PM programme becomes invisible, since defects found on PM are the whole point.
Where a document stops working
A form handles one visit well. It handles a programme badly, and the failure modes are consistent.
There is no version control
Task lists are revised as assets change. Somebody prints an old sheet and a PM is performed to a superseded specification, with nothing on the record to show it.
The schedule is not running
A next due date written on a sheet does not generate anything. Nothing warns you a quarterly PM is a fortnight overdue, which is the only moment it could still be on time.
Readings cannot be compared
A reading means something next to the same reading last quarter. On paper that comparison is a folder search, so nobody makes it and interval tuning never happens.
Defects found cannot be counted
One form lists this visit's defects. Whether PM is finding more or fewer over time, which is the only real measure of whether it works, exists only across visits.
What running this in Facilio looks like
The template is the paper version of this record. The fields below are the same ones; the difference is that they become state the platform can act on.
Work Completion Validator
As left becomes a condition of closing
On paper, a PM is complete when the boxes are ticked. Work Completion Validator checks the completion record against what the job required, so a PM closed with the as-found column blank, or a reading outside specification and no defect raised, is caught while the technician is still on site.
Ops Performance Intelligence
The schedule becomes a live clock
Date due, trigger and frequency drive a schedule that warns before a PM slips, and rolls up so days late is visible per asset and per site rather than reported as a completion percentage.
Audit Report Intelligence
Readings against specification become retrievable evidence
Each measurement with its specification and pass mark, logged once against the asset, and assembled into the compliance report an auditor asks for instead of being searched for across a year of sheets.
Contractor Work Tracker
Defects found link to the corrective work they create
A defect raised on a PM becomes a corrective work order that references it, so the cost of keeping an asset running includes the repairs the PM uncovered rather than hiding them inside the checklist.
Your data, your tenant. Atom AI runs against your own Facilio tenant rather than a shared pool, and nothing leaves it to answer a question.
Frequently asked questions
What is a preventive maintenance work order?
A preventive maintenance work order is the record that a scheduled task list was performed on an asset, and what condition the asset was found in. It captures the schedule reference and trigger, the date due against the date performed, the task list with as-found and as-left entries, the readings against specification, and the defects the visit found.
It differs from a corrective work order in what starts it. A PM is started by a schedule; a corrective job is started by something being wrong.
What should a preventive maintenance work order include?
At minimum: a unique work order number, the PM schedule reference, the date due and date performed with days early or late, the trigger and frequency, the planned duration, who it was assigned to, the asset ID and criticality, the meter reading at this and the last PM, any isolation or permit reference, the full task list with as-found and as-left and an initial per line, the readings against specification with pass marks, the defects found, parts and labour, the next due date, and the sign-off.
Why record as found as well as as left?
Because only the pair shows whether the visit changed anything. A filter recorded as clean at the end tells you nothing; a filter found at 310 Pa and left at 95 tells you the PM was worth doing.
It is also how intervals get tuned. Consistently clean on arrival means the interval could be longer. Consistently blocked means it is too short.
Why measure days early or late instead of completion rate?
Because a completion rate can be high while a programme runs a month behind. Every PM eventually gets done, so completion tends towards a hundred percent and stops being informative.
Days early or late tells you whether the schedule is real. It should be calculated from the due and performed dates rather than judged, so nobody rounds three days late to on time.
What should happen when a PM finds a defect?
It should raise its own corrective work order, referencing the PM that found it. The repair should not be absorbed into the checklist.
Absorbed repairs make a failing asset look cheap to run, because the PM records that it was serviced and never records what it needed. They also hide the value of the PM programme, since defects found are the point of doing it.
What is the difference between preventive and corrective maintenance?
Preventive work is started by a schedule, whether that is a date, a meter reading, a condition or a regulation, and confirms a defined task list. Corrective work is started by a fault and fixes one specific thing.
They should be recorded separately and linked. A PM that finds a defect raises corrective work; the corrective record points back at the PM.
Can I edit and rebrand this template?
Yes. It is free to use, edit, rename and put your own logo on, internally or for clients. No attribution required.
The Word version is the one to edit if you want to change the task list or the frequencies to match your schedules; the Excel version is the one to use if you want days late, the readings against specification and the labour to calculate themselves.
In one paragraph
A preventive maintenance work order records one scheduled PM on one asset. Log the schedule reference, the date due and the date performed, and let days early or late calculate rather than judging it. Confirm the trigger and frequency, take the meter reading next to the last one, and work each task writing as found before you correct anything. Measure the readings against a stated specification with a pass mark. Raise every defect as its own corrective work order rather than fixing it inside the checklist, then close with parts, labour, the next due date and the sign-off.
The template is the floor, not the ceiling
A document records one PM. A connected CMMS runs the programme: schedules that warn before they slip, readings that compare across visits, and defects that become corrective work instead of disappearing into a checklist.
