Maintenance & systems
A maintenance schedule that holds up is tiered: quick operator checks daily, a fuller look weekly, planned servicing periodically, and the statutory thorough examination every fourteen months. Built that way and aligned to the test cycle, LEV upkeep becomes a routine that survives busy weeks instead of collapsing under them.
The short answer
A maintenance schedule that holds up is tiered: quick operator checks daily, a fuller look weekly, planned servicing periodically, and the statutory thorough examination every fourteen months. Built that way and aligned to the test cycle, LEV upkeep becomes a routine that survives busy weeks instead of collapsing under them.
The detail
A schedule fails when it is a single heroic effort that nobody has time for. It holds up when it is broken into tiers, each matched to how often the task actually needs doing. At the base sit the operator checks - a daily glance at indicators, hoods and ducting - that cost minutes and catch the fast-moving faults. These have to be so quick and so routine that a busy shift cannot crowd them out.
Above them sits a weekly round: reading filter gauges against their baseline, listening to the fan, inspecting accessible ductwork for leakage or deposit. This is where slow faults show themselves, and a fixed weekly slot - the same time, a named person - is what stops it slipping. Written into the schedule as a recurring task, it survives; left to whoever remembers, it does not.
Periodic servicing is the planned-maintenance tier: changing filters as loading demands, checking and tensioning belts, lubricating bearings, balancing dampers and putting right the wear that a competent examiner would otherwise flag. Many businesses fix this into a planned preventive maintenance or PPM contract so it happens on a set rhythm rather than only after something breaks. The right interval depends on how hard the system works and what it handles.
At the top is the statutory thorough examination and test, required at least every fourteen months for most LEV under COSHH Regulation 9 and carried out by a competent person against the system's commissioning data. This is the measured, independent check that the whole schedule feeds - and the point around which the rest is best organised.
What it means for you
The schedule holds together when the tiers are aligned. Book the thorough examinations for every system into one visit where you can, and time the periodic servicing so wear is put right before the examiner arrives rather than found by them. Flag the fourteen-month dates well ahead, so a due test is planned into a quiet week instead of scrambled for against a deadline.
Ownership is what keeps it alive. Each tier needs a named responsible person, a place to record that it was done, and a manager who notices when it is not. The logbook that captures daily checks, weekly rounds and servicing is the backbone here: it shows the schedule is real, reveals trends across the tiers, and gives every examination a clear history to build on.
Built and owned this way, LEV maintenance stops being a source of nasty surprises and becomes a predictable line of work. The system stays in control between examinations, the tests confirm rather than condemn, and the cost is spread into small regular efforts instead of arriving all at once as emergency repairs and failed retests.
The service behind the guide
Sibling guides
Filter replacement intervals for common systems · Documenting LEV use for health surveillance · What LEV testing costs
Questions
Four tiers: daily operator checks, a weekly round, periodic planned servicing, and the statutory thorough examination every fourteen months. Each tier matched to how often the task genuinely needs doing.
At least every fourteen months for most systems under COSHH Regulation 9, carried out by a competent person against the system's commissioning data. Some higher-risk processes require it more often.
The planned-maintenance tier - changing filters, tensioning belts, lubricating bearings and balancing dampers - often fixed into a PPM contract so it happens on a set rhythm rather than only after a breakdown.
Give each tier a named owner, a place to record it, and a manager who notices gaps. Fixed slots and a logbook keep the routine alive far better than leaving it to memory.
So wear is put right before the examiner arrives, not found by them. Aligning tests and servicing, and flagging due dates ahead, turns a scramble into a planned, predictable routine.
Phoenix Duct Clean · by the numbers
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