Running a nursing home means you're responsible for some of the most vulnerable people in your community. When an HVAC system fails at 2 AM or a resident slips on a wet floor, the consequences go far beyond repair costs–they impact lives, regulatory compliance, and your facility's reputation.
The difference between a well-maintained nursing home facility and one scrambling to fix problems? A systematic maintenance checklist. This guide gives you the daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tasks you need to keep your nursing home safe, compliant, and operating smoothly.
Running maintenance in a nursing home isn’t comparable to managing a standard commercial building. These facilities operate 24/7, support residents who cannot relocate during repairs, and are governed by strict healthcare and life-safety regulations.
Maintenance failures here don’t just cause inconvenience – they create resident safety risks, compliance violations, and reputational damage. Temperature fluctuations, water issues, or delayed safety repairs can quickly escalate into reportable incidents.
A structured maintenance program helps nursing homes:
Daily checks catch immediate safety issues and comfort problems before they impact residents. These quick inspections should take your maintenance team 30-45 minutes each morning.
Temperature control isn't just about comfort–extreme heat or cold can be dangerous for elderly residents:
Pro tip: Use a digital temperature logger in different zones. If readings trend outside normal ranges, you can catch HVAC issues before residents complain.
Scalding water is one of the most common preventable injuries in nursing homes:
Your daily safety walk-through protects residents from falls–the leading cause of injury in nursing homes:
Emergency systems must work every single time they're needed:
Critical: If bedpan washers or sterilization equipment malfunction, stop use immediately.
The challenge with daily checklists isn't knowing what to check–it's ensuring checks happen consistently and get documented properly. A CMMS like Snapfix transforms daily nursing home maintenance from a paper clipboard system into an accountable system:
When a maintenance technician spots a loose handrail during their morning safety walk, they can photograph it, create a work order, and assign it for repair–all in under a minute, without leaving the hallway.
Critical: If any emergency system fails during daily checks, fix it immediately. These aren't "schedule for next week" items.
Renaissance Care manages 19 care facilities with over 700 residents. Before implementing digital maintenance management, their property services team spent over 70 hours monthly on administrative coordination.
After digitizing their operations with Snapfix, administrative time dropped by 75% - from 70+ hours to just 16 hours monthly. They standardized critical tasks like legionella monitoring across all properties and now complete quarterly compliance audits consistently ahead of schedule.
Read the full Renaissance Care case study to see how they transformed maintenance operations.
Weekly Fire Safety Checks
Weekly tasks are easy to forget when daily emergencies take priority.
With Snapfix's recurring work order system, you can schedule these tasks once and they automatically appear on the right team member's mobile device every week.
No more wondering "did someone do the fire safety checks this week?" The dashboard shows your completion status in real-time.
HVAC typically consumes 25-35% of your maintenance budget:
Fire safety is heavily regulated and scrutinized during surveys:
Keep detailed records of every fire safety inspection. Surveyors will ask for them.
Monthly maintenance tasks often get pushed back during busy periods, but regulatory compliance doesn't allow for delays.
Snapfix sends automated reminders for every monthly task, complete with digital checklists that ensure your team captures all required data points.
When it's time for your fire safety inspection, your technician gets a notification with the exact checklist–including photo requirements for documentation–so nothing gets overlooked.
These professional inspections are typically required by code:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sets federal standards under 42 CFR Part 483. Key areas include:
When surveyors arrive, they'll want to see your maintenance logs, inspection records, staff training documentation, and equipment certifications. Digital record-keeping makes this process significantly easier.
Every state adds requirements beyond federal standards–additional fire safety inspections, specific reporting for maintenance incidents, and more frequent testing of critical systems. Check your state health department website for specific requirements.
OSHA standards protect your maintenance staff and include:
Note: Maintenance staff who may encounter biohazards need specialized training and certification for safe cleanup and disposal procedures.
Preventive maintenance helps nursing homes reduce unexpected breakdowns, protect critical systems, and maintain a safe environment for residents. By identifying issues early, facilities can avoid disruptions, improve equipment reliability, and stay ahead of compliance requirements.
Rather than reacting to failures, preventive maintenance focuses on routine inspections, timely servicing, and consistent documentation–key elements in supporting resident safety and survey readiness.
Legionella bacteria pose a serious health risk in nursing homes, where vulnerable residents with compromised immune systems are particularly susceptible to Legionnaires' disease. Nursing Homes create ideal conditions for Legionella growth through warm water systems, complex plumbing networks, and periods of low water usage.
Essential legionella control measures:
Regulators expect nursing homes to maintain documented water management programs. Digital systems make this tracking significantly more reliable, with automated temperature monitoring schedules and instant compliance documentation.
Your maintenance team needs specialized training including:
Document everything. Every work order, inspection, test, and repair should be logged with date and time completed, staff member who performed the work, detailed description, parts used, costs, and before/after photos when relevant.
Keep records for at least 3-7 years. Life-safety records should be kept permanently. Digital systems make this process significantly easier than paper files.
Response time standards:
For critical system failures, have pre-established contracts with 24/7 service providers. The middle of a crisis is not the time to search for help.
A systematic maintenance program for your nursing home isn't optional–it's essential for resident safety, regulatory compliance, and financial sustainability.
The facilities that run smoothest aren't the newest or best-funded–they're the ones that catch small problems before they become big ones, maintain consistent documentation, and use systematic approaches rather than scrambling to react to emergencies.
The checklists in this guide give you the foundation. The next step is implementing a system that makes following them sustainable for your team–not just for a week or a month, but year after year. That's where the right tools make all the difference.
Nursing home maintenance is too important to manage with manual systems. Snapfix gives your team a reliable way to track work, document inspections, and stay compliant–every day, not just during surveys.
Snapfix enables you to:
Start your free 14-day Snapfix trial or Book a demo and see how digital maintenance management can reduce risk, improve accountability, and support safer resident environments.
Daily checks cover safety-critical systems (HVAC, plumbing, accessibility, emergency equipment). Weekly tasks include deep cleaning and kitchen equipment. Monthly maintenance addresses building systems and fire safety. Quarterly and annual tasks involve professional inspections and certifications.
A comprehensive checklist covers HVAC systems, plumbing, electrical, fire safety equipment, accessibility features, medical equipment, kitchen equipment, exterior and grounds, compliance documentation, and preventive maintenance tasks.
Maintenance costs vary widely depending on facility size, age, location, and the scope of services provided. Many facilities budget a percentage of their operating costs or a per-bed amount for annual maintenance. Implementing preventive maintenance programs can help reduce overall costs by catching issues early before they become expensive emergency repairs.
Priority one: anything affecting resident safety. Maintaining proper HVAC temperature, ensuring hot water stays below 120°F to prevent scalding, testing emergency call systems daily, maintaining fire safety equipment, inspecting handrails and flooring, ensuring backup generators function, and maintaining adequate lighting.
Nursing homes must meet federal, state, and local regulations. Common compliance areas include CMS regulations, Life Safety Code requirements, state licensing standards, and OSHA workplace safety standards. Key focus areas typically include fire safety systems, emergency preparedness, building safety, environmental controls, and proper maintenance documentation. Requirements can vary by location, so it's important to check with your local regulatory authorities.
Preventive maintenance helps identify potential problems before they become costly emergencies. Regular inspections and servicing can extend equipment lifespan, reduce unexpected breakdowns, improve energy efficiency, help avoid regulatory fines, and minimize disruptions to resident care. Many facilities find that a systematic preventive maintenance approach is more cost-effective than reactive repairs over time.