Maintenance projects and shutdowns
Maintenance project management that runs on your work orders
A boiler replacement, a new packaging line or the annual plant shutdown is usually planned in a spreadsheet that nobody links to the work orders doing the job. Progress is estimated in meetings and the budget is reconciled weeks later, from invoices. FreeMaint keeps the project inside the CMMS: phases, budget and the actual work orders sit in one record, and planned shutdowns get their own planning board.
Free your maintenance · Free Core tier, unlimited users, no credit card.
In short
Maintenance project management software groups the work orders of one undertaking — a renovation, an installation, a planned shutdown — under a shared plan with phases, a budget and progress. In FreeMaint, projects roll up the status, labour and parts costs of their linked work orders, and shutdowns collect the work and preventive plans that need the equipment stopped, shown on a Gantt.
Updated September 27, 2026
What a maintenance project holds in FreeMaint
Five project types, one record
Create a General, Shutdown, Renovation, Installation or Campaign project with its own reference (PRJ-1, PRJ-2…), priority, planned dates, project manager, team, location and the assets it covers.
Included in BusinessOrdered phases with a person in charge
Split the job into stages such as preparation, dismantling, assembly and commissioning. Each phase has start and due dates, a status, planned and actual costs, and a person in charge who is notified when the phase is handed to them.
Included in BusinessPlanned versus actual budget
Set a planned budget in your own currency. Actual spend comes from the labour and parts costs of the linked work orders, broken down phase by phase. A phase with no work orders, such as a subcontracted lot, carries its own figures, so nothing is counted twice.
Included in BusinessProgress you do not have to guess
Progress counts the linked work orders and the phases. If you switch it on, each phase follows its work orders and the project status follows its phases. On hold, Cancelled and Closed always stay manual.
Included in BusinessShutdown Gantt and candidate work
For a planned shutdown, pick the machines or locations and FreeMaint lists the open work orders flagged as needing a stop, plus the PM plans that are overdue or fall due in the window. Attach them in bulk and read the stop on a Gantt.
Included in BusinessLockout register for each shutdown
Every lockout recorded on the shutdown’s work orders appears in one register, so the HSE lead sees what is isolated for this stop without opening each job.
Included in BusinessWork orders stay work orders
Technicians execute the same work orders, on the web or on the offline mobile app, with checklists, time and parts. Work orders, preventive maintenance and basic LOTO are part of the free Core tier.
Included in Core (free)Why spreadsheets fail maintenance projects
A project spreadsheet is a copy of reality made on Monday. By Thursday three work orders have closed, one has been reopened, a contractor invoice has arrived and a phase has slipped by two days. None of that reaches the file unless someone retypes it, so the project manager reports progress from memory and the budget from invoices that arrive a month late.
Meanwhile the work itself is already recorded in the CMMS: who did what, how long it took, which parts left the store. Keeping the project in a separate file creates two sources of truth that drift apart every day. The fix is not a better spreadsheet. It is linking the project to the work orders that carry it out.
Time is the other constraint. Across 448 workspaces, the median share of preventive work is only 22.5% (FreeMaint Research, 2026): most teams are already absorbed by reactive jobs and have no hours left to maintain a parallel project file.
Projects: phases, budget and linked work orders
A project groups everything that belongs to one undertaking: a roof renovation, a compressor installation, a lubrication campaign across a site, the preparation of the annual shutdown. You attach existing work orders to the project, or directly to one of its phases. Attaching changes nothing about the work order, and unlinking never deletes it. Each asset then shows the projects that cover it on its own Projects tab.
The Budget tab compares the planned budget with what has really been spent, collected from the labour and parts costs of the linked work orders, phase by phase, with the deviation beside each line. The project also carries comments, documents and photos, external links and RFIs, the formal questions raised on the job and their written answers.
A project does not always start on the planner’s desk. When a department sends an intervention request that is really a project — refurbish a workshop, install a new line — a user allowed to create projects can convert the request into a project instead of a work order. The projects list prints on its own or with each project’s work orders nested underneath, and exports to Excel or CSV.
- Project statuses: Planning, Active, On hold, Completed, Closed, Cancelled
- Closed means the closure was reviewed and signed off, and is never set automatically
- Phase statuses: Pending, In progress, Completed, On hold
- A phase progress figure can be typed by hand or derived from its work orders
Shutdowns and turnarounds: gather, schedule, isolate
Some work cannot be done while the machine runs. Throughout the year, planners tick “requires shutdown” on those work orders and requests. When the stop is created with its start and end dates, the Work Orders tab lists every open job carrying that flag on the machines or locations you select, excluding work already attached to another shutdown. The PM tab does the same for preventive plans, filtered on overdue plans or plans due inside the window.
The Planning tab shows the stop as a Gantt: one row per work order, the days of the shutdown across, and each bar spanning that work order’s scheduled window. The Gantt belongs to Shutdowns only. Projects show their phases, dates, progress and budget as lists and tables, not as a Gantt chart, and FreeMaint does not calculate a critical path or level resources: the board shows the plan, the planner makes the decisions.
The Lockout register lists the lockouts recorded on the shutdown’s work orders in one place. On sites where hazardous energy control follows OSHA 1910.147 or an equivalent local rule, that gives the HSE lead a single view of what is isolated for this stop. Shutdowns and projects are separate records; many teams run a Shutdown-type project for phases and budget next to the shutdown board.
Plans and pricing
Projects and shutdowns are part of the Business plan, at $99 per month per company, flat, never per user. On the pricing page they appear in the row “Contracts, projects, shutdowns”. Work orders, requests, time-based preventive maintenance, the offline mobile app, QR codes and basic LOTO stay on the free Core tier, with unlimited users and assets.
Viewing existing projects and shutdowns stays available on every plan, so leaving Business never locks you out of the history of a past job.
How to run a planned shutdown in FreeMaint
- 1
Flag the work that needs a stop
During the year, tick “requires shutdown” on the work orders and requests that cannot be done with the equipment running. The list builds itself before the stop is even scheduled.
- 2
Create the shutdown
Give it a name, a description, and start and end dates. The overview shows how many work orders and PM plans are planned into it and how many days it lasts.
- 3
Gather the candidates
Select machines or locations to see the open work needing a stop, then switch to PM plans and filter on overdue or due in the window. Select several and attach them in one action.
- 4
Schedule and isolate
Set each work order’s scheduled dates, check the sequence on the Gantt and record the lockouts on the work orders concerned. The register gathers them for the whole stop.
- 5
Execute and close
Technicians complete their work orders on the mobile app, with time and parts. Move the shutdown to Completed; if you track it as a project too, actual cost follows from the linked work orders.
FreeMaint versus the usual ways of running a maintenance project
| Criterion | FreeMaint | Spreadsheet or shared file | Stand-alone planning tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link to the work actually done | Work orders attached to the project and to each phase | Retyped by hand, if at all | Tasks kept apart from work orders |
| Actual cost | Labour and parts from linked work orders, per phase | Entered from invoices after the fact | Entered manually |
| Progress | Counted from phases and finished work orders | Estimated in meetings | Updated by whoever remembers |
| Shutdown scope | Open work flagged “requires shutdown” and due PM plans, filtered by machine or location | Built from memory and e-mails | Copied over from the CMMS |
| Schedule view | Gantt on shutdowns; phases and dates on projects | Coloured cells | Gantt disconnected from execution |
| Lockouts | Register of lockouts on the shutdown’s work orders | Separate isolation list | Not covered |
| Systems to maintain | One: the CMMS the team already uses | Two, reconciled by hand | Two, with a second licence |
Frequently asked questions
What is maintenance project management software?
It is software that groups the maintenance work belonging to one undertaking — a renovation, an installation, a planned shutdown — under a single plan with phases, a budget and a progress figure. The difference with a generic project tool is that the tasks are the work orders themselves, so cost and progress come from the work actually done.
Does FreeMaint show projects on a Gantt chart?
No. The Gantt is part of Shutdowns: one row per work order across the days of the stop. Projects show their ordered phases with dates, progress and a budget table. If you need a Gantt for a stop, create it as a shutdown.
How is the actual cost of a project calculated?
From the labour and parts costs recorded on the linked work orders, per phase. A phase that has no work orders, for example a subcontracted lot, carries its own planned and actual cost instead. The per-phase table and the totals use the same rule, so they always agree.
What is the difference between a project and a shutdown?
A project follows an undertaking over time with phases, a team, a budget and progress. A shutdown is a dated equipment stop: it collects the work orders and PM plans that need the stop, shows them on a Gantt and lists the lockouts. They are separate records, and teams often use both for a major turnaround.
Can an intervention request become a project?
Yes. When a request is really a larger job, a user with permission to create projects can convert it into a project rather than a work order, and then plan its phases and budget.
Does FreeMaint calculate a critical path or level resources?
No. FreeMaint shows the plan — phases and dates on projects, the Gantt on shutdowns — and leaves sequencing decisions to the planner. It does not compute a critical path or redistribute workload automatically.
Which plan do I need?
Projects and shutdowns require the Business plan, $99 per month per company with unlimited users. Work orders, preventive maintenance, requests, the mobile app and basic LOTO are free on the Core tier, so you can start there and upgrade when you want to run projects.
Related pages
Bring your next project and shutdown into the CMMS
Start on the free Core tier with unlimited users, assets and work orders, then move to Business when you are ready to run projects and shutdowns on the same work orders.
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