Why PPM Scheduling Is Critical — And What's Missing

Status: 🔴 Not yet implemented. This page documents the identified gap and the scope of the PPM Scheduling Engine that must be built.

What Is PPM?

Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) is a structured programme of scheduled inspections, servicing, and testing carried out on a development's plant, equipment, and common areas at defined intervals — before failures occur, rather than in response to them.

For a property management agent in Ireland, a PPM programme is not optional. It is a legal, insurance, and fiduciary obligation.

The Legislative Landscape in Ireland

Fire Safety

Under the Fire Services Act 1981 (as amended 2003), persons in control of premises — which includes OMC directors and their appointed managing agents — must take all reasonable measures to guard against fire. In practice, this means:

Six-monthly fire alarm system servicing and testing (IS 3218)
Annual emergency lighting inspection and testing (IS 3217)
Annual fire extinguisher inspection
Annual fire door inspection
Six-monthly dry/wet riser inspection

None of these can be managed ad hoc. They require a forward schedule, automated task generation, and documented completion records.

Lifts

Passenger lifts in multi-unit developments must undergo a thorough examination at least every six months (for lifts carrying persons) under the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Application) Regulations 2007, Part 2 Chapter 2. Agents must hold current examination reports and act on any deficiencies within defined timeframes.

General H&S

The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 places a duty on those who manage workplaces (including common areas of managed developments) to maintain them in a safe condition. This is typically discharged through a documented PPM programme.

Insurance

Virtually all block insurance policies contain warranty conditions requiring the insured to maintain plant and equipment in accordance with manufacturers' recommendations and statutory requirements. Failure to maintain a PPM programme can void cover.

What the Platform Currently Has

As of v1.0.44, the platform contains no functional PPM infrastructure:

The maintenanceSourceEnum includes a 'ppm' value as a marker, but there is no table or logic behind it.
The maintenanceCategoryEnum covers trade categories (electrical, mechanical, fire, etc.) which will form the basis of PPM template categorisation — but this alone is insufficient.
There are no ppm_schedules, ppm_tasks, or ppm_templates tables.
There is no API router for PPM operations.
There is no UI for creating or managing PPM programmes.

This means agents currently have no way to:

Define a recurring maintenance programme within the platform
Automatically generate works orders from a schedule
Track what PPM is due, overdue, or completed across a portfolio
Produce a compliance report for a development or an OMC board

What Needs to Be Built

1. Data Model

Three new schema objects are required at minimum:

ppm_schedules Defines a named, recurring maintenance programme attached to a development (or a specific asset within it).

Field	Purpose
`id`	Primary key
`development_id`	The MUD this schedule belongs to
`name`	e.g., Annual Lift Thorough Examination
`category`	Mapped to `maintenanceCategoryEnum`
`recurrence_rule`	RFC 5545 RRULE or equivalent (annual, semi-annual, quarterly, monthly)
`next_due_date`	Computed next task generation date
`lead_days`	How many days before due date to auto-generate the works order
`assigned_contractor_id`	Default contractor for this schedule
`is_statutory`	Boolean — flags legislatively required inspections
`legislative_reference`	e.g., IS 3218, S.I. 299/2007

ppm_tasks An instance of a scheduled task generated from a ppm_schedule.

Field	Purpose
`id`	Primary key
`schedule_id`	Parent schedule
`due_date`	Specific due date for this task
`status`	`pending` / `in_progress` / `completed` / `overdue`
`works_order_id`	Linked works order (nullable until raised)
`completed_at`	Timestamp of verified completion
`evidence_url`	Link to completion certificate or report

ppm_templates Reusable schedule definitions for common inspection types that agents can apply to a new development in one click.

Field	Purpose
`id`	Primary key
`name`	e.g., Semi-Annual Fire Alarm Service
`category`	Trade category
`default_recurrence`	Default RRULE
`is_statutory`	Boolean
`legislative_reference`	Relevant legislation or standard

2. API Router

A dedicated /ppm router must expose endpoints for:

GET /ppm/schedules — list all schedules for a development
POST /ppm/schedules — create a new schedule
PUT /ppm/schedules/:id — update a schedule
DELETE /ppm/schedules/:id — deactivate a schedule
GET /ppm/tasks — list generated tasks (filterable by status, due date, development)
POST /ppm/tasks/:id/complete — mark a task complete and attach evidence
GET /ppm/templates — list available PPM templates
POST /ppm/schedules/from-template — create a schedule from a template

3. UI Module

A PPM section within the platform must provide:

Schedule Manager — create, edit, and deactivate PPM programmes per development
Task Calendar / List — view upcoming, overdue, and completed tasks across a portfolio
Compliance Dashboard — percentage compliance by development, by category, and overall
Evidence Vault — attach and store completion certificates against each task
Template Library — apply pre-built statutory inspection schedules to a development

Impact of the Gap

Until the PPM Scheduling Engine is built, this platform cannot be considered fit for purpose as a primary management tool for Irish block management agents. Agents will be forced to maintain PPM programmes in external spreadsheets or third-party tools, creating data fragmentation, compliance risk, and a poor user experience that undermines the platform's core value proposition.

Resolution Timeline

This feature is tracked as critical priority. Schema design, API implementation, and UI delivery are all required. No partial workarounds are available in the current system.

Follow the Changelog for updates when this feature ships.