What Does
Corrective Maintenance Mean?
Corrective maintenance is a maintenance task or operation done in order to identify, isolate or separate and rectify a particular fault. This is performed in order to restore the failed machine, equipment or system to an operational condition. Corrective maintenance can be either planned or unplanned.
Corrective maintenance can be subdivided into:
- Immediate corrective maintenance – in which work starts immediately after a failure
- Deferred corrective maintenance – in which work is delayed in conformance to a given set of maintenance rules
Corrosionpedia Explains Corrective Maintenance
Corrective maintenance is a form of maintenance that is performed after a fault or problem emerges in the system, with the goal of restoring operability. In some cases, it can be impossible to predict or prevent a failure, making this type of maintenance the only option.
Corrective maintenance refers to action only taken when a system or component failure has occurred. It is thus a retroactive strategy. The task of the maintenance team in this scenario is usually to effect repairs as soon as possible. Costs associated with corrective maintenance include:
- Repair costs
- Lost production
- Lost sales
Corrosion maintenance costs represent a significant portion of operating budgets in most industrial sectors, particularly where aging structures/plants are involved.
The process of corrective maintenance begins with a diagnosis of the failure to determine why it occurred. The diagnostic process can include:
- Physical inspection of a system
- Use of a diagnostic computer to evaluate the system
- Interviews with users
- Numerous other steps
It is important to determine what caused the problem in order to take appropriate action and to be aware of multiple component or system failures that may have occurred simultaneously.