How I Use the Maintenance Template with Customers in Pilla
Maintenance is the food safety control that hides in plain sight. I've walked into kitchens where every temperature record is perfect, the cleaning schedule is laminated and up to date, and there's a cracked tile above the prep bench that's been there for six months. Nobody reported it because nobody thought it mattered. But bacteria can harbour inside that crack where no amount of cleaning will reach them, and an EHO will spot it before they've put their clipboard down.
The gap between "the building looks fine" and "the building meets food safety standards" is where most problems sit. That's what this article covers. I'll walk you through what your maintenance policy needs to include, give you a template you can edit for your own premises, and explain the bits that actually trip people up when it comes to inspections.
Key Takeaways
- What is maintenance in food safety? A maintenance policy covers the upkeep of your building, structure, equipment, and utensils to prevent physical contamination and keep food production safe. It's a prerequisite programme that sits underneath your HACCP system
- Why do you need a maintenance policy? Regulation (EC) 852/2004 requires food premises to be kept in good repair and condition. A cracked tile, a damaged ceiling panel, or a chipped plate can contaminate food and cost you marks on inspection
- How do you set it up in Pilla? Use the knowledge hub template below, edit it to match your operation, and share it with your team through the app so everyone has access and you can track who's read it
- How do you automate the follow-up? Set up Poppi to chase staff who haven't acknowledged the policy and flag when it's due for review
Article Content
Understanding What's Required of You
Maintenance is a prerequisite programme. It sits alongside personal hygiene, cleaning, and pest control as one of the foundations your HACCP system rests on. If your building, equipment, or utensils aren't maintained to the right standard, you're introducing contamination risks that no amount of monitoring can fix.
The primary risk is physical contamination. A cracked ceiling tile drops debris into food below. A chipped plate leaves fragments in a customer's meal. A shattered fluorescent tube without a diffuser cover sends glass into a prep area. These aren't theoretical risks. I've seen each of them happen in real kitchens.
But maintenance also controls microbiological contamination. A cracked tile harbours bacteria that cleaning can't reach. Damaged flooring traps dirt and moisture. Wooden utensils absorb bacteria into porous surfaces where sanitiser won't follow. And if your chilling equipment fails because nobody scheduled a maintenance check, every item in that fridge becomes a food safety problem within hours.
The legal basis is Regulation (EC) 852/2004, which requires food premises to be kept in good repair and condition. In the UK, your EHO assesses the structural condition of your premises, the state of your equipment, and your maintenance procedures during every inspection. Poor maintenance is one of the most common reasons businesses lose marks on their food hygiene rating, and it's one of the easiest to prevent.
What an EHO looks for is straightforward: walls, floors, and ceilings in the right condition. Lighting that's adequate and protected. Drainage that's clean and covered. Equipment that works and gets serviced. Utensils and crockery that aren't damaged. And evidence that you have a system for identifying and fixing problems before they become serious. They're not looking for perfection. They're looking for a business that notices when something is wrong and does something about it.
Setting It Up as a Knowledge Hub Entry
I've built a maintenance template in Pilla covering building structure, walls, floors, ceilings, lighting, drainage, hot water, ventilation, equipment, utensils, crockery, and corrective actions. It gives you a structured starting point, but you need to edit it to match your actual premises.
In the knowledge hub, create a new entry and tag it with "Food Safety Management System". Use the same tag across all of your food safety policies so they are grouped together and Poppi can track them as a set. Assign the entry to all teams so that everyone in the business can access it.
The template is designed to be edited, not just filed. Read through every section. If your premises don't have suspended ceiling panels, remove that line. If you have specific equipment that needs specialist contractors, add their details. The EHO wants to see that your policy reflects your operation, not that you've copied a generic document.
Regular planned maintenance of the building, structure, equipment and utensils is essential primarily to reduce the risk of contamination, whilst also ensuring that equipment is working properly in order to produce safe food.
Planned inspections and maintenance checks will ensure that problems are identified before they become a serious problem.
Staff must follow and be aware of the following safety points:
Walls
- In food areas walls must be smooth and constructed of non-porous, non-absorbent, hard wearing, washable, non-toxic materials
- Walls must be light in colour to show dirt, to enable more efficient cleaning
- Tiles, if cracked must be replaced
- Pipework must be close but not tight to room edges, so that cleaning can take place
Flooring
- In food areas floors must be constructed of materials that are non-absorbent, non-porous, non-toxic, washable and non-slip
- Ideally non-slip flooring should curve up the wall at the edges where it should be sealed, this will alleviate dirty corners and edges where food debris, dirt and bacteria can accumulate
- Damaged flooring or joints of flooring must be repaired quickly to avoid dirt and grime build up as well as serious trip hazards
- Most altro and safety floors by their non-slip nature will require regular deck scrubbing to keep the floor clean and avoid slipping incidents
Ceilings
- In food areas, ceilings must be constructed of suitable materials that are non-absorbent, non-porous, washable and non-toxic
- Suspended ceiling panels have advantages such as good thermal insulation however they must be of a cleanable construction
- Damaged ceiling tiles must be replaced quickly to avoid physical contamination
Lighting
- Kitchen lighting must be such that it provides good visibility, this is important where food is prepared
- Good lighting will allow thorough cleaning and inspection for pest activity
- Fluorescent strip lighting must be fitted either with shatterproof tubes or with diffuser covers to avoid physical contamination
Drainage
- Drainage systems must be kept clean and in good repair
- External manhole covers must be intact
- Internal drainage gullies or channels must be covered adequately with drainage covers that are removable for regular cleaning and disinfection
- The drainage system should be routinely inspected
Hot water
- It is a legal requirement to provide potable hot running water to a food premises
- It is illegal to operate a food business without potable hot and cold running water available to hand wash basins
- Hot and cold running water is essential for hand washing and cleaning/disinfection processes
- If hot and cold potable water is not available, immediate repair and/or replacement of the heating system must take place, the business must temporarily close until sufficient hot and cold water is available
Extractor fans/Ducting
- Extractors must be regularly checked and maintained to enable sufficient venting of carbon monoxide, cooking fumes and smoke, water vapour, heat and airborne fat vapours. They should also vent clean air into the building from outside via a filtering system
- They must also be checked regularly and cleaned to comply with fire safety regulations in regard to the buildup of fat residues, especially in regard to ducting where fat residues can build up easily
- The filters must be cleaned weekly by running them through the dishwasher and any external areas of the canopies must be degreased and sanitized weekly
- Good ventilation in the kitchen will help to keep temperatures down, this will inhibit bacterial growth, prevent condensation forming on walls and ceilings and provide a more pleasant working environment for staff
Bulk equipment
- Regular maintenance checks and inspections should be made to large equipment used for cooking, hot holding and chilling/freezing
- Contact details for approved contractors must be recorded and be easily accessible to managers when needed
- Breakdowns of cooking, hot holding and chilling equipment can compromise food safety as well as lead to high wastage costs
Temperature probes
- Temperature probes must be kept in good condition
- They must be kept clean and disinfected at all times
- They must be checked regularly to confirm that they are working correctly
- If they are not working properly, they must be replaced or sent for repair or recalibration
Damaged utensils
- Utensils that have been damaged, cracked or have loose parts must be discarded and replaced as soon as possible
- Utensils should be made of suitable materials such as stainless steel. Wooden items such as spoons, spatulas, chopping boards etc. must be avoided as they present a contamination risk as they are not impervious to microbiological contaminants
Damaged crockery
- Crockery and glassware with cracks or chips must be discarded immediately as cracks can harbor harmful bacteria
- Crockery and glassware should be placed inverted if possible when not in use to avoid contamination during storage
Corrective actions
- Have a contingency plan for when major equipment breaks down such as using alternative equipment or changing the menu
- Maintain a list of engineers for equipment and call them immediately when required
- Train food handlers so that they are aware of what maintenance issues to look out for so that they are reported immediately
- Retrain staff if necessary and give extra supervision
Record keeping
- Keep records of all maintenance, inspections and checks to equipment
- Keep records of all breakdowns and corrective actions taken
- Keep records of any contraventions of the safety points and the corrective actions taken
- Keep records of any retraining given
This is a preview of the template. In Pilla, you can edit this to match your business.
What I'd want to see when reviewing this:
The structural sections (walls, floors, ceilings) are the foundation. I'd want to see that you've read through the material requirements and confirmed your premises actually meet them. Walls need to be smooth, non-porous, light in colour. Floors need to be non-slip, sealed at the edges where possible. Ceilings need to be cleanable. If your kitchen has painted plaster walls instead of tiles, that's fine as long as the paint is suitable and the surface is maintained. The point is that you know what standard applies and you're checking against it.
The equipment section matters more than most people think. I'd want to see that you have contractor contact details recorded and accessible, not buried in a filing cabinet. When a fridge breaks down on a Friday evening, the person on shift needs to know who to call without hunting through paperwork. Temperature probes need checking against known temperatures regularly, not just assuming they're accurate because they display a number.
Common mistakes I see:
The biggest one is not having a corrective action process. The template covers what to do when things go wrong: contingency plans for equipment breakdowns, retraining staff, keeping records. Most businesses I review have a list of standards but nothing about what happens when those standards aren't met. An EHO notices that gap immediately.
Wooden utensils still turn up in kitchens that should know better. The template is clear: wooden spoons, spatulas, and chopping boards must be avoided because wood is porous and harbours bacteria that cleaning can't remove. I still find them in drawers during audits, usually with the explanation "we've had them for years." That's not a defence.
Extractor filter cleaning gets forgotten. The template says filters need cleaning weekly through the dishwasher and canopy surfaces need degreasing weekly. In practice, I find filters that haven't been cleaned in months. Grease build-up is a fire risk and a contamination risk, and it's visible to anyone who looks up.
Cracked or chipped crockery stays in circulation far too long. The template says discard immediately. What actually happens is someone notices a chip, puts it back because they're busy, and it gets used for another three weeks. A chipped rim on a glass is a contamination risk every time someone drinks from it.
Automate the Follow-Up with Poppi
Writing the policy is one thing. Making sure your team has actually read it is another. Poppi can handle the chasing so you don't have to.
If you mark the knowledge hub entry as mandatory, Poppi will track who's read it and who hasn't. You can set up automations to chase staff who are behind, notify managers when someone completes the policy, and get a regular report showing where the gaps are.
Here are three automations I'd set up for any knowledge hub policy:
Tom, you have 2 overdue policies to read and acknowledge
Overdue training reminders
Automatically chase team members who have mandatory policies they haven't read yet. Poppi sends the reminder so you don't have to.
Tom, you have 2 overdue policies to read and acknowledge
Emma has completed a mandatory policy
Video completion alerts
Get notified when a team member finishes reading or watching a policy, so you can track progress without chasing.
Emma has completed a mandatory policy
Training Report: 87% team completion. Tom and Sarah behind on 2 mandatory policies, due 3 days ago.
Training gap analysis
Get a regular AI report showing which team members are behind on mandatory policies and where the gaps are across your team.
Training Report: 87% team completion. Tom and Sarah behind on 2 mandatory policies, due 3 days ago.