What goes in a PPM contract: a checklist for maintenance contractors
Most PPM contract disputes come from what the contract didn't say. Here are the ten things a planned maintenance contract should pin down, and the wording that saves arguments later.
A planned preventive maintenance (PPM) contract is a promise to service a list of equipment at agreed intervals for an agreed price. The arguments come later, from what it left out: whether a filter is included, whether the call-out for a fault found on a service is chargeable, what happens when the client adds three units in March. Here is what a good one pins down.
1. The asset list
List every item covered, by site: what it is, where it is, make and model where known, and for refrigeration and air conditioning, the refrigerant and charge. "All air conditioning at the Banbury store" invites a dispute the first time a unit is found that nobody knew about. Say what happens to assets found later: added at an agreed per-unit rate from the next visit is the usual answer.
2. Tasks and frequencies
For each type of asset, the tasks done on each visit and how often. Separate statutory tasks, required by law or a standard the client relies on (gas safety, fire alarm servicing, F-gas leak checks, electrical inspection), from recommended ones. Many contracts reference SFG20, the industry's standard library of maintenance tasks, as the specification; if yours does, say which schedules and whether statutory-only or the full schedule.
Our guide on how to build a PPM schedule has a free template for this part.
3. What's included
The price per visit usually includes labour, travel and the routine consumables of the task. Name them: filters, belts, cleaning chemicals, refrigerant to top up a system with no leak. Ambiguity about consumables is the most common source of small, annoying invoices.
4. What's excluded
Equally specific. Typical exclusions:
- Parts and repairs found on a visit (quoted separately; see remedials)
- Access equipment beyond ladders: scaffolds, MEWPs, roof access
- Work outside agreed hours, unless the client asks for it
- Damage, misuse and faults caused by others
- Equipment past its serviceable life that can't be maintained safely
5. Remedials
Most PPM visits find something. The contract should say how faults found are handled: reported with photos and a quote within a set number of days, and a pre-approved limit below which you can just fix it and invoice (for example, anything under £150 done on the day). A limit gets small fixes done without a week of emails, and keeps the client in control of large ones.
6. Reactive response times
If the contract covers call-outs as well as planned work, set the attend and fix times for each priority, and whether they count around the clock or in working hours. Our guide to reactive maintenance SLAs covers how to write them.
7. Access and the client's obligations
Who books the visit, how much notice is needed, the hours you can attend, and what happens when you turn up and can't get in. A missed visit through no access should be chargeable, or at least not count against you.
8. Records and reporting
What the client gets after each visit: a visit report, the job sheets, certificates where the work requires them (gas, fire alarm, F-gas). Say how they're delivered and how long you keep them; for F-gas records, the law says at least five years.
9. Price and payment
Per visit, per quarter or per year; invoiced on completion of each visit or in advance; payment terms; and the client's PO process. A client who needs a PO on every invoice and doesn't say so in the contract is an invoice that sits unpaid.
10. Term, renewal and price review
Start date, length, notice to end, and how the price changes on renewal: a fixed uplift, an index, or a re-quote. Put the renewal in your diary at least two months before the end, so next year's price is agreed before this year's runs out.
How PPMdesk handles it
In PPMdesk, each service at each site is a plan with its units, its interval, its job sheet, the contract value and the contractor's cost. Each visit becomes a job 90 days before it is due. The client's contract holds the response times for each priority and the agreed rates. Faults found on visits become quotes; and 60 days before a plan ends, your contractor is asked to price next year, which becomes a renewal quote for the client. How planned maintenance works in PPMdesk.
Frequently asked questions
What should a PPM contract include?
The asset list by site, the tasks and frequencies for each asset type, what the price includes and excludes, how faults found are quoted (with a pre-approved limit), response times if call-outs are covered, access arrangements, records and reports, price and payment terms, and the term, renewal and price review.
What is SFG20?
SFG20 is the industry-standard library of maintenance schedules for building services, published by BESA. Many PPM contracts reference it as the specification for tasks and frequencies.
Are parts included in a PPM contract?
Usually routine consumables are included and parts for repairs are not. The contract should name the consumables included, and say how repairs found on a visit are quoted.
Checked on 5 November 2026. If anything here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
