Maintenance debt is the cost of maintenance work that should already have been done but is still in the plan. The longer you postpone necessary measures, the larger the debt becomes. The final bill is also often higher once the work has to be done.
What counts as maintenance debt?
A measure counts towards maintenance debt when it is overdue or has a status that shows the work has been deferred:
Overdue: the measure year has passed and the measure has been neither completed nor reported.
Urgent: the measure needs to be prioritized immediately.
Deferred: the work should have been dealt with earlier.
The KPI view often divides the debt into two parts:
Overdue: the cost of measures whose year has passed.
Urgent and deferred status: the cost of measures with the status Urgent or Deferred.
What does not count as debt?
Measures that are completed and reported. They no longer count towards the debt.
Measures that are on schedule and have a normal planned status. They are planned cost, not debt.
Not reported: measures whose year has passed without any actual cost being registered. This is a separate follow-up rule. It is closely related to maintenance debt, but it is not the same thing as the Maintenance debt KPI.
Rule of thumb: debt is work that has already been done, or should have been, but is still in the plan.
Where do you find maintenance debt?
Analysis → Measure costs: the Maintenance debt KPI card gives you an overview of the total debt and how it is distributed.
Analysis → Timeline: the red Debt column shows the debt per row, year and grouping.
Plan → Analysis → Measure costs: the same KPI card for a single plan. Use it when you follow up a specific maintenance plan.
Measure lists: the Maintenance debt quick filter shows the measures that make up the debt.
Projects → To do: a to-do item appears for measures that build up debt, so you can act on the deferred work.
Reports → Timelines: select Show maintenance debt to include the debt in exported timelines.
Budget: the allocated maintenance debt KPI shows how much of the debt fits within the budget.
You can also add measure cost cards with the Maintenance debt grouping to Home using the layout organizer.
How to view the debt
The KPI on Measure costs
Go to Analysis → Measure costs.
Select Maintenance debt in the KPI card’s selector.
One of the cards often shows Maintenance debt by default.
Switch between Total and Per year:
Total: the total debt split into Overdue and Urgent and deferred status.
Per year: the debt distributed across the years. Older years may be grouped under “Before …”.
Overdue is shown in red and covers years that have already passed. Urgent and deferred status is shown in orange and is debt caused by the measures’ status.
The Debt column in Time Plan
Go to Analysis → Time plan.
Open the show/hide settings and make sure Show maintenance debt is turned on.
This setting is on by default.Read the Debt column. It is highlighted in red and shows the size of the debt and its share of the total.
Click a debt cell to see more details about that part of the data.
Debt amounts can be shown together with the planned cost in the timeline cells. A red marker means there is debt in that period.
The filter in the measure list
Open a measure list, for example Planned measures, project measures or budget measures.
Turn on the Maintenance debt quick filter.
Work through the list and report, reschedule or prioritize the measures in the budget or a project.
If you only want to see measures whose year has passed, filter on Late measures instead.
To do in projects
Under To do in the project overview, the item “Measures are building up maintenance debt” appears when measures are late or have the status Urgent or Deferred. For every year the measures are postponed, their condition often gets worse and the final cost grows.
How to reduce maintenance debt
Find the debt using the KPI, Timeline or the Maintenance debt filter.
Prioritize. Start with Urgent, then move on to Overdue and Deferred.
Report work that has already been completed. Otherwise, reschedule the measure to a realistic year and make sure it is funded.
Check in Analysis that the debt is going down.
Act based on the situation:
The work has already been done: report the measure as completed.
The year has passed but the work remains: move the measure to the current or next year and make sure it actually fits.
The status is Urgent or Deferred: prioritize the measure in a project or the budget.
There are many small debt rows: use the Maintenance debt filter and work through them systematically.
If you only move the year without funding or carrying out the measure, the debt does not go down. It is only pushed forward in time.
Monthly follow-up
Go to Analysis → Measure costs and read the Maintenance debt KPI in Total mode.
Switch to Per year to see whether older years are adding more debt.
Go to Analysis → Timeline and review the Debt column.
Filter the measure list on Maintenance debt and deal with the largest and most urgent rows.
If you work with measure packages, follow up under To do in your projects.
Related concepts
Planned cost: future maintenance that is still on schedule.
Late measures: measures whose year has passed. They make up an important part of the debt.
Not reported: the year has passed without any actual cost being registered. This is a follow-up issue and has its own to-do item.
Budgeted debt: the part of the debt that has been fitted into a budget.
Frequently asked questions
Is maintenance debt the same as total maintenance cost?
No. Total cost also includes future planned maintenance that is on schedule. The debt is only the part that is already late or deferred.
Why is there no Debt column in the timeline?
Check that Show maintenance debt is turned on under show/hide in the timeline.
Can I hide the debt in reports?
Yes. The Show maintenance debt setting is in the report’s timeline settings.'
Does the debt go down automatically at the end of the year?
No, it grows. If the work is not carried out or rescheduled, overdue measures keep building up debt.
What is the difference between the Maintenance debt and Late measures filters?
Late measures shows measures whose year has passed. Maintenance debt shows all measures that build up debt in the planning. Use both when you work through deferred work.
How does the debt relate to the budget?
The budget shows how much of the maintenance debt has been allocated funds. The debt is made up of overdue, deferred and urgent measures that need to be prioritized within the cost framework.
Do we need components and condition inspections to see the debt?
No. The debt is calculated from the year and status of the planned measures. A good inventory and inspection do, however, make it easier to spot deferred work early.