Glossary of terms
Alert levels
In the preventative maintenance program, alert levels must be established for each
designated parameter measured to provide a flag or trigger for taking necessary
additional action(s)
Annual PM schedule An annual preventative maintenance (PM) work schedule is developed for
equipment, systems, and assets to encompass intensive work performance tasks
that will not impede production or mission performance
Batteries
Used in electrical switchgear applications, in uninterrupted power supply systems,
and for emergency lighting.
Benchmarking. Used to improve a department’s performance by comparing its practices to those of
other similar-sized facility departments.
Cable and wire. Conductors found throughout the power and control systems of all plants, facilities,
and distribution systems.
Call back.
The term used to indicate an unscheduled visit by a service technician.
Chilled water. Provides cooled building air by circulating the air over a small fan coil in individual
rooms, or through large air-handling units, that deliver cooled air to public spaces
and duct systems.
CMMS.
A computerized maintenance management system used as a tool for planning
maintenance and repairs and keeping records using various cognisant modules such
as work orders control, preventive and predictive maintenance, inventory control,
etc.
Communications protocol.
level.
A protocol developed and used for each communications systems
Conditions assessments.
These define the needs of installed systems and equipment and a
baseline of operating conditions, i.e. remaining useful life, level of maintenance
achieved, and operating characteristics.
Constant-volume air-handling unit (CAV)
Consists of a supply fan, a cooling coil, a preheat
coil, outside air and return dampers, a return air fan, and exhaust dampers.
Contract services.
The providing, by contract, of general facility operations and maintenance
services.
Cooling tower fans.
These fans, either single or multiple speeds, are used to control condenser
water temperature.
Corrective maintenance.
have failed.
The repair or replacement of structures, equipment, or systems that
Corrosion coupons.
Then most common method of monitoring corrosion rates in cooling water
systems.
Corrosion.
Damage to a system caused by reaction of both metals and non-metals with water in
a system.
Data transmission devices.
These devices (modems, transmitters, active hubs, etc.) are
deployed in support of the remote control system. They should not be used for
voice transmission or other computer system data communications services
Demand control ventilation (DCV).
A method of modulating fresh air intake to a facility in
response to the level of carbon dioxide present in the building’s return air system.
Direct digital control systems. With the advent of microprocessor technology and sophisticated
programming techniques, these have become the current industry standard.
Disconnect switched. These switches are used to connect or disconnect circuits or apparatus, and
for isolating equipment or circuits.
Duty cycling.
Used because of spare capacity built into system, making it possible to turn the
system off for a period of time and turn it back on again, and still maintain
prescribed environmental space temperatures.
Eddy-current inspection.
boiler tubes.
Used to detect internal and external damage of condenser and
Electrical maintenance program.
This program identifies the various types of equipment to be
services, its characteristics, and the effecting conditions of its use and environment;
and all other needs are identified.
EPS (engineered performance standards)
The allowed job time, in man-hours, developed by
industrial engineering techniques for a qualified worker, working with average skill
and effort, under good supervision, to accomplish a defined amount of work.
Equipment and systems logs. These logs, manual or computerized, provide the quantitative tools
for technical, administrative, and management personnel to evaluate equipment
and systems programs performance.
Equipment inventory. The tabulation and recording of all pertinent and cognizant information and
data for building systems, equipment, and controls; i.e. operational data, location,
PM requirement, maintenance schedules, etc.
Equipment shutdown. These are procedures designed to ensure that the systems and equipment
are properly secured and that the desired mode of operation for the ensuring startup functions can be achieved.
Estimate.
Allow job time standards developed by supervisors and/or planner-estimators, after
a job visit, based on judgement, performance standards and work experiences, for
cost estimating purposes.
Estimating.
The development and establishment of materials, supplies, equipment, and worker
– hour budgets for maintenance or repair work performance.
Fibre-optic equipment. Equipment that allows visual inspection of internal surfaces of various
mechanical equipment items.
Field inspection procedures. Guides used by inspection personnel showing what and when to
inspect; and how to service and maintain the equipment and systems.
Find/fix.
Programs that use scheduled teams of craftpersons to systematically inspect for and
then perform contingency maintenance and repairs on a particular system or
equipment.
Fuses.
Either of the current-limiting or non-current-limiting type. Fuses are available in an
array of voltage and current ratings.
General cleaning.
The types of cleaning needed for the facility.
Ground fault circuit interrupters (Residual Current Devices RCD)
Protectors designed
to sense abnormal current between conductors and ground. These are used to
protect personnel from electrocution, and/or equipment from damage, should
ground faults occur.
Grounded.
Being connected to earth or some conducting body that serves on place of earth.
Historical standards. Job time standards developed from historical work order actual times and
procedures which include all the foibles, problems, and inconsistencies unique to
the facility department.
House calls.
The requests from tenants to perform numerous small tasks necessary to perform or
meet missional operational requirements.
Human relations.
The art of dealing with department personnel when it is necessary to take
corrective actions due to poor or improper work performance.
Humidification systems .
as required.
Systems used to control humidity by injecting of steam to air ducts,
IAQ (indoor air quality).
This describes the pollution measured in indoor environments.
Indefinite quantity contracts. Contracts that allow the facility manager to order an indefinite
service or supply quantity within a fixed dollar value.
Infrared (IR) thermograph.
The monitoring of equipment temperatures using infrared
measurement instrumentation to provide a predictive maintenance tool.
Insulating liquids.
Various liquids used for cooling and insulating purposes.
Insulating resistance measurements. These measurements are obtained from field tests
performed on most but not all low, medium, and high-voltage apparatus.
Integration.
Although not actually a tool, integration of all predictive maintenance technologies
is a powerful diagnostic function. Also, integrating the predictive maintenance
program with all other maintenance functions is a desirable goal.
ISO9000.
An international quality standard used in a manner similar to TQM (Total quality
management) procedures.
LAN.(local area network).
This links PC’s (networks) for the sharing of information and data.
Low-voltage air circuit breakers.
case.
600-V class air circuit breakers not housed in an insulating
Low-voltage moulded (insulated) case circuit breakers. Moulded circuit breakers are commonly
used circuit breakers found in electrical panels in different buildings.
Machinery history.
A record of all problems, breakdowns, and repairs, in detail, concerning all
individual facility equipment and systems items.
Maintenance. All work related to the economical preservation of structures, equipment, and
systems at a level satisfactory to perform their designated functions.
Maintenance file cards. A manual maintenance card system using cards for each equipment and
system item recording all the same information and data as the CMMS’s (PM)
preventative maintenance module database.
Maintenance history. The record maintained in the CMMS, in detail, of what maintenance action
has been performed.
Maintenance log.
The manual or computerized source data accumulation that provides a chart
for the technician’s maintenance work performance.
Maintenance management manual.
A manual developed to describe the policies and
procedures, in writing, to be used in planning and performing the facility
maintenance effort.
Maintenance out planning.
To ensure that planned maintenance effort is conducted efficiently,
it is necessary to review projected maintenance on a regular, annual basis.
Maintenance system administrator.
An expert in maintaining equipment and systems. This
person is responsible for ensuring that the preventative and predictive maintenance
programs are working in all aspects.
Major repairs. The work required to restore a seriously deteriorated or broken-down structure,
equipment, or system to a state of usability for its designated function.
Mean time between failure (MTBF). These are analyses in a mathematical/statistical procedure
used to determine the mean time between equipment and system breakdowns.
Medium (LOW)-voltage breakers.
Three pole devices that interrupt the circuit with contacts in
air, oil, or vacuum mediums.
Microbiological monitoring.
The system used to maintain microbiological activity at low levels so
as not to encourage rapid growth and slime formation in the open cooling tower
systems.
Mineral scale and deposit monitoring. In cooling water systems, online monitoring of heat transfer
rates, combined with visual inspection of a heat transfer surface, is a practical way
to monitor deposit formation.
Monitoring frequency. In the predictive maintenance program, after selecting the appropriate
monitoring technologies needed for each equipment and system item, the next step
is to identify and select the proper monitoring frequency.
Motion analysis of circuit breakers.
These tests measure the time it takes the contacts to part
after the trip coil has been energised or to make contact after the close coil has been
energised.
Motor control centres. An assembly of motor control units (starters) built by modular design in
order to centralize the motor control units’ performance.
Offline chemical cleaning.
The most expensive and effective way of removing deposits from a
facility water piping system using strong chemicals.
Offline mechanical cleaning. The cleaning of cooling systems main circulating pipes performed by
a mechanical hydro-blasting process.
Oil analysis,
Development and implementation of a formal lubricant analysis program to identify
lubricant condition and equipment wear.
Oil circuit breakers (and switches).
These devices have their main and arcing contacts
immersed in a tank of insulating mineral oil.
Online chemical cleaning.
Cleaning a system online, while operational, using high
concentrations of dispersant chemicals and microbicides.
Outsourcing.
Contracting with vendors to expand the facility department’s capabilities and
resources without expanding its workforce.
PM “templates”.
A preventative maintenance template is the template description of a
specific PM procedure, including the equipment or systems, interval or performance
frequency, and required resources such as parts and labour, and other detail.
Pneumatic control systems.
Control systems that utilized the distribution of power via
pneumatic air tubing as an economic alternative.
Predictive maintenance.
Predictive maintenance requirements are identified and performed
where empirical data that are collected and reviewed indicate that maintenance is
required.
Predictive process.
The predictive maintenance program goal is to provide the information and
needed to make decisions on the need for maintenance action, or no action, without
sacrificing reliability.
Predictive maintenance program (PMP).
A program that, when properly conducted, will
reduce operating costs, aid organisation effectiveness, aid safety practices, and
assure equipment and systems performance.
Preventative maintenance tasks.
Task assignments which can be applied to any structure,
equipment, or system which could benefit from routine inspection, repair, or
renewing.
Preventative maintenance.
The pre-breakdown work performed on equipment and systems to
eliminate failures and /or breakdowns, or to keep such failures and/or breakdowns
within predetermined economic limits.
Protective relays.
These relays detect defective lines or apparatus or other power system
conditions of an abnormal or dangerous nature, initiating appropriate control circuit
action.
Radiography.
A system used to check welds and evaluate the condition of piping beneath
insulation.
Rotating machines.
Electrical machines, motors, and generators that are workhorse of modern
society in plants and facilities.
Routine maintenance. The day-to-day upkeep of structures, equipment, and systems to ensure
their capabilities to perform their designated functions.
Scheduling.
The actions taken to constantly strike the right balance between proactive
(preventative) and reactive activities. The allocation of labour, materials, and
equipment, at specific times and locations, for maintenance and repair work
performance.
Service orders. Small, service-type maintenance jobs that require immediate attention and cannot
be deferred.
Standing work orders. Standing work orders where specific work and manpower requirements are
relatively constant and predictable.
Ultrasonic thickness probes.
Ultrasound.
Probes used to measure pipe wall thickness online.
The use of ultrasound monitoring and measuring equipment to detect and zero in on
particular equipment faults.
Use-based/event driven maintenance. Scheduled examinations and periodic maintenance tasks
performance dependant on events happening; i.e. number of operating hours,
number of stops, etc.
Vibration monitoring. The use of specialised testing equipment to determine the overall levels of
vibration considered “acceptable” for each facility equipment or system item.