Housekeeping and Engineering / Maintenance

     In most non-lodging commercial buildings, housekeeping, engineering, and maintenance personnel generally report to the same department manager.  This makes a great deal of sense because these functional areas have similar goals and methods and must have a close working relationship. In most midsize and large lodging operations, however, housekeeping reports to the rooms division manager, while engineering and maintenance constitute a separate division.  Different reporting responsibilities can become barriers to effective communication between these important support centers of a hotel. 

     In fact, it is unfortunate that support centers often seem to have an almost adversarial relationship. For example, housekeeping personnel sometimes resent having to clean up after various types of maintenance, while engineering personnel may be upset if the misuse of chemical and equipment by housekeeping results in additional work for them.  In order to ensure the smooth operation of both departments, housekeeping and engineering managers need to devote attention to improving the relationship between their departments.

     The housekeeping department often takes the first steps in relation to maintenance functions for which engineering is ultimately responsible.  There are three kinds of maintenance activities : routine maintenance, preventive maintenance, and scheduled maintenance.

     Routine maintenance activities are those which relate to the general upkeep of the property, occur on a regular ( daily or weekly ) basis, and require relatively minimal training or skills. These are maintenance activities which occur outside of a formal work order system and for which no specific maintenance records (tome or materials ) are kept. Examples include sweeping carpets,washing floors, cleaning readily accessible windows, cutting grass, cleaning guestrooms, shoveling snow, and replacing burned-out light bulbs.  Many of these routine maintenance activities are carried out by the housekeeping department. Proper care of many surfaces and materials by housekeeping personnel is the first step in the overall maintenance program for  the property's furniture and futures.

     Preventive maintenance consist of three parts inspection, mirror corrections, and work order initiation. For many areas within the hotel, inspections are performed by housekeeping personnel in the  normal course of their duties.  For example, room attendants and inspectors may regularly check guestrooms for leaking faucets, cracked caulking around bathroom fixtures, and other items that may call for action by engineering staff.  Attending to leaking faucets and improper caulking around sinks and tubs can control maintenance costs by preventing greater problems, such as ceiling or wall damage in the bath below.  Such maintenance protects the physical plant investment and contributes to guest satisfaction.

     Communication between housekeeping and engineering should be efficient so that most minor repairs can be handled while the room attendant is cleaning the guestroom.  In some properties, a full time maintenance person may be assigned to inspect guestroom and to perform the necessary repairs, adjustments, or replacements.

     Preventive maintenance, by its nature, sometimes identifies problems and needs beyond the scope of a minor correction. These problem are brought to the attention of engineering through the work order system.  The necessary work is then scheduled by the building engineer. This type of work is often referred to as scheduled maintenance.

     Scheduled maintenance activities are initiated at the property based on a formal work order or similar document. Work order are a key element in the communication between housekeeping and engineering. 

     Engineering generally keeps data cards and history records on all equipment operated by housekeeping personnel. Equipment data cards contain basic information about pieces of equipment, This information can include technical data, manufacturers information, cost, special instructions, warranty information, and references to other information as well ( such as the storage location of manuals and drawings ). Equipment history records are logs of the inspection and maintenance work performed on  a given piece of equipment.  History records may be separate cards or may be incorporated into the equipment data card. Their purpose is to provide documentation of all maintenance activity on a given piece of equipment. Many properties have computerized these record keeping functions, making it easier for the executive housekeeper to retrieve pertinent information when requesting replacement or new equipment items.