Preventive maintenance: what South African law requires, and what to buy from a contractor
In short
Preventive maintenance is work done before failure, on a calendar or running-hours schedule, to reduce the chance of breakdown. South African law does not require it by name, but requires machinery kept safe, a designated person, and inspections of lifting machines and pressure equipment at set intervals. Plan around those, then contract the scheduled work, breakdown cover and reports.
Headcore8 min read8 sources
What is preventive maintenance?
Preventive maintenance is maintenance done before anything fails. The International Electrotechnical Vocabulary defines it as "maintenance carried out to mitigate degradation and reduce the probability of failure" (IEC 60050-192, entry 192-06-05), and ISO 14224:2016 uses the same definition.[1][2]
A schedule or a condition triggers the work. Scheduled maintenance, also called planned maintenance, is "carried out in accordance with a specified time schedule" (192-06-12); condition-based maintenance is "preventive maintenance based on the assessment of physical condition", by operator observation, a scheduled check or condition monitoring (192-06-07).[1]
Schedules run on calendar time or running hours: the US Department of Energy's guide describes preventive maintenance as actions "performed on a time- or machine-run-based schedule"; for standby generators, see generator repair.[3]
Corrective maintenance is "carried out after fault detection to effect restoration" (192-06-06). Reactive maintenance makes that the plan: "run it till it breaks", in the same guide.[1][3]
What are the types of maintenance?
The types differ by what triggers the work: a failure (reactive), the calendar or running hours (preventive), an inspection or measurement (condition-based) or a forecast (predictive). For reactive, preventive and predictive, the Suits column follows the reliability-centred maintenance hierarchy in the US Department of Energy's guide.[1][2][3]
| Type | What triggers the work | Suits | What you buy from a contractor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reactive (run-to-failure) | A failure, or a fault someone notices | Small parts, non-critical equipment, equipment unlikely to fail, redundant systems | Emergency call-outs, priced into the contract or paid separately, with a set response time |
| Preventive, time- or usage-based | The calendar or running hours | Equipment subject to wear, consumables, known failure patterns, manufacturer's recommendations | Scheduled tasks for a fixed fee, generally with the materials |
| Condition-based | An inspection or measurement that shows a defect developing | Equipment whose condition can be checked by operator rounds, thermography or oil sampling | Inspections or measurements at planned intervals, with what they find reported to you |
| Predictive | A forecast from repeated condition data, such as a vibration trend | Critical equipment, random failure patterns, equipment not subject to wear, systems that incorrect preventive work can damage | Condition monitoring, automatic during operation or at planned intervals, and the analysis of its data |
Preventive vs predictive maintenance: what is the difference?
Preventive maintenance acts on a schedule; predictive maintenance acts on the machine's measured condition. ISO 14224:2016 defines predictive maintenance as maintenance "based on the prediction of the future condition of an item estimated or calculated from a defined set of historic data and known future operational parameters" (clause 3.77).[2]
The trade-off, in the US Department of Energy's guide: preventive maintenance is labour intensive, "includes performance of unneeded maintenance" and still leaves catastrophic failures likely; predictive maintenance needs investment in diagnostic equipment and staff training.[3]
The IEC lists vibration analysis, tribology and thermography among condition monitoring methods (192-06-28). For rotating machines, see vibration analysis on how to buy it and read the report.[1]
Which mix of maintenance fits your plant?
Decide machine by machine, by how likely a failure is and what it would cost. The IEC calls this reliability-centred maintenance: a "systematic method for determining the respective maintenance actions and associated frequencies, based on the probability and consequences of failure" (192-06-08).[1]
The US Department of Energy's guide says to define each machine's criticality and cost of downtime first, then set periodicity from the manufacturer's manuals, the machine's history, root-cause findings and engineering judgement. A workable order:[3]
- list every asset in a master equipment list;[3]
- rank each asset by what its failure puts at risk: life, health and safety first, then the plant's continuous operation;[3]
- enter the statutory examinations and inspections first, with their due dates (table below);[7][8]
- give wearing parts and consumables a time or running-hours schedule from the manufacturer's manual;[3]
- put critical machines and those with random failure patterns on condition monitoring, and keep run-to-failure for small, non-critical or redundant items.[3]
Does South African law require preventive maintenance?
Not by name. The Occupational Health and Safety Act requires every employer to provide and maintain "systems of work, plant and machinery that, as far as is reasonably practicable, are safe and without risks to health" (section 8(2)(a)).[4]
The General Machinery Regulations, 1988 judge maintenance by its result: the employer or user must ensure that machinery is "installed, operated and maintained in such a manner as to prevent the exposure of persons to hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions or circumstances", and that all safety equipment "is kept in a good working condition" (regulation 3(1)(a) and (c)).[5]
Regulation 2(1) makes the employer or user designate a person in writing, in a full-time capacity, for every premises where machinery is used. Above 1 200 kW of machinery and other power on the premises, that person must hold at least an N5 or T3 engineering diploma with two years' operating and maintenance experience; from 3 000 kW, a mechanical or electrotechnical engineering degree with two years' post-graduate experience and a pass in the examination on the Act, or a certificate of competency (regulation 2(4) and the definition of competent person).[5]
No designation is needed for, among others, machinery used for building work, vehicles, earth-moving plant, and refrigeration, cooling, air-conditioning or freezing plant "inspected and maintained by a duly qualified person in pursuance of an agreement" entered into by the employer or user, although the chief inspector may still order one (regulation 2(10)).[5]
A draft to replace the General Machinery Regulations was published for public comment on 22 August 2025 (Notice 6532, Government Gazette 53210).[6]
Which inspections does South African law require, whatever your plan?
In South Africa, lifting machines and pressure equipment have inspection intervals set by regulation; the user arranges the inspections and keeps the records.[7][8]
| Equipment | What the user must arrange | Maximum interval | Regulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lifting machines and hand-powered lifting devices | Thorough examination and performance test by a lifting machinery inspector of a lifting machinery entity | Before use, after each re-erection, then 12 months | DMR 18(5)(a) |
| Ropes, chains, hooks, sheaves, brakes and safety devices of lifting machines | Thorough examination by a competent person | 6 months | DMR 18(6) |
| Lifting machine records | Register of every test, examination, modification and repair; for a leased machine, test and service records not older than 12 months | Kept on the premises | DMR 18(7) |
| Pressure vessels and steam generators in use | Internal and external inspection and a hydraulic test at 1.25 times design pressure, by an in-service AIA appointed in writing (the user, for Category I) | 36 months | PER 11(1)(d) |
| Fire-tube steam generators | External inspection by an in-service AIA | 12 months | PER 11(1)(c) |
| Pressure equipment records | Record of all inspections, tests, modifications and repairs, open to an inspector | Kept for the equipment's life | PER 14(1) and its note (a) |
How do you buy preventive maintenance from a contractor?
Buy it under a planned maintenance contract that sets the scheduled work, the breakdown cover and the reports. The US Department of Energy's guide notes that a preventive-maintenance contract "may or may not include arrangements regarding repairs or emergency calls", and says to include "the requirements for documentation and reporting". Ask contractors to quote in the same parts, so the quotes compare line by line:[3]
- planned work: the scheduled tasks per asset and interval, and the fixed fee for them;[3]
- consumables and parts: which materials are in the planned price, and how repairs and replacements are charged, often on time and materials;[3]
- breakdown cover: whether emergency calls are in the price or paid separately, and the contractor's set response time;[3]
- condition monitoring: vibration analysis, oil analysis or thermography as separate lines, with their intervals.[1][3]
What to put in your request
- Master equipment list: every machine in scope, in logical groups.[3]
- Criticality of each machine: what a failure stops, whether there is a standby unit, and what downtime costs.[3]
- Manufacturer's manuals and service history for each machine.[3]
- Schedule basis (calendar time or running hours) and the expected visit frequency per asset.[3]
- Statutory work in scope, with due dates: 12-monthly lifting machine examinations, 6-monthly rope, chain and brake examinations, 36-monthly pressure vessel inspections.[7][8]
- Condition monitoring required, and on which machines: vibration analysis, thermography, oil analysis.[1][3]
- Parts and consumables: which materials the planned price includes and how repairs and replacements are charged.[3]
- Breakdown cover: emergency calls in the price or paid separately, and the contractor's set response time.[3]
- Reports and records: the documentation and reporting required under the contract, and entries for the statutory registers.[3][7][8]
- Site rules: a written section 37(2) agreement, the person designated under GMR 2(1) as the contact, and a positive means, not a mere tripped switch, of making the controls of machinery driven by an electric motor inoperative during repairs or adjustments (GMR 6(2)).[4][5]
Questions buyers ask
Is planned maintenance the same as preventive maintenance?
Nearly. The IEC treats planned maintenance as another name for scheduled maintenance, done to a specified time schedule (192-06-12). Preventive maintenance is wider: it also covers condition-based maintenance, which acts on an assessment of physical condition rather than on the calendar (192-06-05 and 192-06-07).[1]
How often should preventive maintenance be done?
As the manufacturer's manual sets it, adjusted for the machine's history, root-cause findings and engineering judgement, on calendar time or running hours. For standby sets, see generator servicing.[3]
Who is responsible when a contractor does the maintenance?
The employer or user can still be. A contractor is a mandatary, and section 37(2) of the OHS Act can hold the client liable for a mandatary's offences "except if the parties have agreed in writing to the arrangements and procedures between them to ensure compliance". The person designated under regulation 2(1) of the General Machinery Regulations is still there to ensure the machinery rules are complied with on site.[4][5]
Sources
- International Electrotechnical Commission (Electropedia), IEC 60050-192, International Electrotechnical Vocabulary, part 192: Dependability, section 192-06 (maintenance), entries 192-06-01 to 192-06-31, February 2015, entries amended March 2024.
- International Organization for Standardization (Online Browsing Platform), ISO 14224:2016, Petroleum, petrochemical and natural gas industries: Collection and exchange of reliability and maintenance data for equipment, clause 3 (terms and definitions), 2016.
- US Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program (prepared by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), Operations & Maintenance Best Practices: A Guide to Achieving Operational Efficiency, Release 3.0, section 3.8 (O&M contracting) and chapter 5 (types of maintenance programs), August 2010.
- Department of Employment and Labour, Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, as amended by Act 181 of 1993, 1993.
- Department of Employment and Labour, General Machinery Regulations, 1988 (GN R.1521 of 5 August 1988), 5 August 1988.
- Department of Employment and Labour (Government Gazette 53210), Draft General Machinery Regulations, 2025: invitation of public comments (Notice 6532), 22 August 2025.
- Department of Labour (Government Gazette 38905), Driven Machinery Regulations, 2015 (GN R. 540), 24 June 2015.
- Department of Labour (Government Gazette 41256), Guidance Notes to the Pressure Equipment Regulations, Revision 2 (GN 1265), with the text of each regulation, 17 November 2017.