Maintenance Types

Every work order in FreeMaint carries an explicit maintenance type. The type drives how the work appears on your dashboards, how it counts toward reliability KPIs like MTTR and MTBF, and how it groups under the equipment history.

Why the type matters

The seven types

Setting the type

1. Pick the type from the new "Maintenance type" dropdown on the work order form (just under Priority).
2. If the work order is linked to a preventive maintenance plan, the dropdown locks to Preventive automatically.
3. Existing work orders default to Corrective for non-PM work and Preventive for PM-linked work — change them at any time via the work order edit form.

Category vs Maintenance type — which one is which?

These are TWO separate fields, not a duplicate. Maintenance type is the standard CMMS classifier (Corrective, Preventive, etc.) — it drives KPIs and you should set it on every work order. Category is an OPTIONAL technical sub-classification (Electrical, HVAC, Mechanical, Plumbing, Safety) that helps you slice and filter further. A typical work order is "Corrective" maintenance with category "Electrical".

MTBF and operating hours (per-asset shift schedule)

MTBF measures how often an asset breaks. The number is only meaningful if the denominator — operating time — reflects how the asset actually runs. By default FreeMaint assumes 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. If your asset only runs day shifts or two shifts, edit its 'Operating schedule' on the asset form so the MTBF reflects real operating exposure.

Four presets cover the common cases

How to set it

1. Open the asset, click 'Edit'.
2. Scroll to the 'Operating schedule' card.
3. Pick a preset, or choose 'Custom' to enter exact hours per day and days per week.
4. Save.

What changes on your indicators

On the Analytics page (Equipment tab), the MTBF column shows the schedule next to the value when it isn't the default 24/7 (for example '12.5 (8h×5d)'). The detail page also shows the schedule. Existing assets keep their 24/7 default until you edit them explicitly — your historical MTBF values do not change retroactively until you act on each asset.

Custom — day-by-day (irregular shifts)

If your week isn't uniform — e.g. 35h/week with Mon-Thu 8h + Friday 3h, or a one-off Saturday morning — switch to « Custom » mode then pick the « Per day » sub-mode. Seven independent inputs appear (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun), each in hours (0 to 24). A live counter shows the weekly total as you type. MTBF uses that total as the denominator (35 h/week instead of 168 calendar = factor ~0.21).

Set up day-by-day

1. Open the asset, click « Edit ».
2. « Operating schedule » card → dropdown → « Custom ».
3. Sub-mode → « Per day ».
4. Type the hours for each day (e.g. Mon=8 Tue=8 Wed=8 Thu=8 Fri=3 Sat=0 Sun=0).
5. Check the live weekly total.
6. Save.

Company default — inherited on asset creation

Rather than configuring the same schedule per asset, you can set a company-wide default once. All NEW assets created afterwards will inherit it automatically. Your existing assets are NOT touched — they keep their current configuration. Useful for SMBs where ~all assets share the same schedule (35h/week, 2-shift, etc.). Aligned with the standard UpKeep, Fiix, Maximo practice.

Set the company default

1. Company Settings → Operations.
2. Pick a preset or « Custom » (Uniform or Per day).
3. Enter the values (same controls as the asset form).
4. Save.
5. All assets created afterwards will automatically inherit this default.

Not the same as the Work Schedule

The Operating Schedule describes machine run-time and only affects MTBF and Availability calculations — it never moves any dates. The Work Schedule (Company Settings → Work Schedule, Business plans) is your workforce calendar — working days, shifts and holidays — and is what rolls Preventive Maintenance and Procedure due dates off non-working days.