PPM Survey vs Maintenance Contract: The Plan and the Delivery
- A PPM survey is carried out by a surveyor: an independent condition assessment of building elements and plant with a costed, prioritised schedule of works over a planning horizon.
- A maintenance contract is carried out by a contractor: the scheduled delivery of maintenance and servicing against an agreed scope and price.
- The survey gives you an asset list and a programme to tender the contract against, so contractors price the same scope.
- Without the survey, the contractor defines the scope, which rarely favours the client.
A PPM survey and a maintenance contract get confused because they both have “maintenance” in the name, and because contractors will happily offer to do both. They are different things done by different people. The survey is an independent, costed assessment of what the building needs over the coming years. The contract is a commercial arrangement to deliver it. Get them in the right order and the contract gets cheaper and better.
What the PPM survey is
A RICS-qualified surveyor inspects the building, assesses the condition and remaining life of each element and item of plant, and produces a forward maintenance schedule, commonly over 1 to 5 years, with priorities and indicative costs, to the RICS PPM standard. It is independent of anyone who will do the work. Our guide to PPM surveys covers it in detail.
What the maintenance contract is
A contractor agrees to carry out the planned tasks and servicing, respond to faults and keep the records, for an agreed scope and price over a fixed term. The contractor is paid to deliver, and naturally scopes the contract around what they do. Our guide to maintenance contracts covers the structures.
How they fit together
The survey produces the asset list, the condition baseline and the programme. That becomes the tender document for the contract: every contractor prices the same list, the same frequencies and the same priorities, and the client can compare like with like. Works the survey identifies as capital replacement rather than maintenance can be budgeted separately instead of appearing as surprise extras on the contract.
Plan it, then contract it
Match with RICS-qualified surveyors for the PPM survey and vetted contractors for delivery. No-obligation quotes.
What happens without the survey
The contractor surveys the building themselves, defines the scope, and prices it. Some do that honestly; the structure still rewards a wider scope and a higher frequency than the building needs, and it leaves the client with no independent view of what is actually required. The contract then runs on the contractor’s judgement of the contractor’s workload.
The right order
- Commission a PPM survey from an independent RICS-qualified surveyor.
- Use its asset list and programme to tender the maintenance contract.
- Compare contractors on the common scope.
- Fold statutory compliance servicing into the contract.
- Refresh the survey every few years and re-tender against it.
Getting both
ComSurv matches you with RICS-qualified surveyors for the PPM survey and vetted contractors for the maintenance contract, so the plan and the delivery line up. Compare no-obligation quotes for each.
Sources & further reading
- RICS planned preventative maintenance standard — the professional standard for PPM
- RICS Find a Surveyor — RICS-regulated surveyors for PPM surveys
External links open in a new tab. ComSurv is a matching service, not a firm of surveyors, and is not affiliated with these organisations. This article is general information, not legal, surveying or valuation advice; take advice on your specific situation.
