One contract, every asset, on a schedule
A twelve-month maintenance contract with a written asset list, a PPM calendar, reactive cover inside agreed limits and a monthly pack that proves it ran.
- Term
- Twelve months, reviewed monthly
- Built from
- A surveyed asset register, not a template
- PPM schedule
- Issued within two weeks of the survey
- First monthly pack
- Day 30 of operation
- Commercial shape
- Labour-only or parts-inclusive
An annual maintenance contract (AMC) is a twelve-month agreement to maintain a defined list of assets on a planned schedule, with reactive cover inside agreed limits. A good one lists every asset and states every exclusion. ITF writes the AMC against a surveyed asset register and proves each month's work with the record.
- 01 Enquiry
- 02 Site survey
- 03 Scope and quote
- 04 Mobilisation
- 05 Planned schedule
- 06 Execution
- 07 Monthly report
- 08 Management review
- 09 Next cycle
One contract, every asset, on a schedule sits at step 3 of the fm operating cycle. You receive a scope of works and a quotation.
Disputes start in the scope
Most AMCs we are asked to replace are one page long. They say "maintenance of HVAC, electrical and plumbing systems" and nothing else.
There is no asset list, so nobody can say whether the rooftop unit added last year is covered. There is no exclusion list, so every compressor failure becomes an argument. At renewal, nobody can show what was done.
In this market an AMC means a year of maintenance on named equipment. It has two halves: the planned visits on a calendar, and attendance when something fails between them. It is not a call-out arrangement, where you pay per visit and nobody plans anything. It is not a warranty, which covers manufacturing defects and can be voided by the wrong contractor servicing the unit. And it is narrower than an O&M contract, which runs the whole building.
An AMC is only as good as its annexes. Ours has four: the asset register, the PPM calendar, the exclusions and the priority schedule.
The PPM ladder
Frequencies start from the manufacturer's guidance and the duty the asset runs, then the readings move them. These are typical starting points, not a promise that your site will run on them. In the Eastern Province summer, filters and condenser coils start tight because heat, humidity and dust arrive together.
| Asset class | What the visit does, and the record it leaves | Typical starting interval |
|---|---|---|
| Split and package AC units | Filter clean, coil and drain check, electrical checks, running current. Unit service sheet. | Filters monthly, full service quarterly |
| AHUs and fan coil units | Pressure drop logged, drain pan proved to drain, belts and bearings. Unit sheet and filter register. | Filter check monthly, coils and drains quarterly |
| Chillers | Approach temperatures, pressures, delta T, oil and electrical checks. Chiller log and readings trend. | Operator log daily, service monthly, overhaul to OEM schedule |
| Pumps and booster sets | Duty and standby rotated, pressures, seals, vibration. Pump log. | Monthly |
| Standby generators | Start and transfer proved, batteries, fuel, coolant. Generator run log. | Monthly run, on load where the site allows; annual service |
| LV distribution boards | Thermographic scan under load, board schedule corrected. Board schedule and thermographic report. | Visual quarterly, thermography annually |
| Emergency lighting | Every fitting tested and recorded individually. Emergency lighting register. | Function test monthly, duration test annually |
| Fire alarm devices | Each device tested and confirmed at the panel. Device register. | Full rotation across the agreed period |
| Water tanks | Hatch seal, vents, screens, overflow and condition. Tank record. | Inspection quarterly, cleaning to your procedure |
| Drainage | Gullies and traps run, problem lines jetted. Drainage cycle record. | Quarterly, problem lines monthly |
| Doors, shutters and levellers | Safety devices, springs, seals and controls. Door record. | Quarterly |
The four annexes, and what follows them
Annex A, the asset register
Every asset with its tag, location, class and interval. If it is not on the register, it is not covered until a variation adds it.
Annex B, the PPM calendar
Assets down the side, twelve months across, with the summer-tightened intervals marked.
Annex C, the exclusions schedule
What is out unless written in, in plain words, signed before the contract starts rather than argued in month seven.
Annex D, the priority and response schedule
P1 to P4 defined, with the response and resolution windows written for your site, its staffing and the drive to it.
The monthly pack, from day 30
Planned against completed, reactive calls by priority, missed tasks named, repeat failures by asset, defects outside scope, parts against allowance, expiring specialist documents and next month's work.
The annual review note
Intervals that moved, assets added or retired, and the driver behind any price change at renewal.
How the contract gets written
- 01
Walk and tag the site
Every AC unit, pump, board, tank, door and fire alarm panel tagged and recorded with its condition. The register becomes Annex A.
- 02
Set the intervals
Starting intervals per asset class from the manufacturer's guidance and the duty, tightened where heat and dust demand it. The calendar becomes Annex B.
- 03
Write what is out
Misuse, third-party damage, equipment beyond economic repair, upgrades and the licensed work of specialists you keep. The list becomes Annex C.
- 04
Set priorities per site
P1 to P4 with windows written against whether our team is on site, its hours, the drive and how critical the assets are. This is Annex D.
- 05
Run and prove the month
Planned visits to checklist, breakdowns ticketed by priority, and the first monthly pack built from the work orders.
- 06
Review the year
The record shows which intervals should move, which assets failed repeatedly and what the renewal should change.
A typical AMC replacement
An office building in Olaya, Riyadh, has an AMC expiring in six weeks. The incumbent's contract is one page and lists no assets, and the client cannot say when the chiller was last serviced or when the generator last ran on load.
We walk the building and tag every AC unit, pump, board, tank, door and fire alarm panel. The asset register becomes Annex A. The PPM calendar, with summer-tightened filter intervals on the rooftop units, becomes Annex B. Annex C lists the exclusions in plain words, including the lift and the sprinkler system, which stay with their current specialists and move into our vendor register.
Annex D sets P1 to P4 with windows written for a building we staff during working hours and reach by mobile technician out of hours. The client chooses labour-only because the plant is under five years old, with a stated threshold per part.
By day 30 the client holds the four annexes, a handover gap list showing the chiller log the incumbent never kept, and the first monthly pack. At renewal it can show exactly what the year bought.
Cover, limits and cost
What the AMC covers
The shape of the scope before your survey changes it.
- Every asset on the register, at the interval on the calendar
- Reactive attendance on listed assets, by priority
- Routine consumables: filters, belts, lamps, fuses, lubricants, cleaning materials
- Readings, photographs and a record for every visit
- Supervision of specialists you keep, where written in
- The monthly pack and the monthly review
What Annex C lists
Each of these is quoted separately, and the line is in the contract before you sign.
- Assets not on the register, until a variation adds them
- Faults caused by misuse, vandalism or third-party works
- Spares above the stated threshold on a parts-inclusive AMC
- Replacement of equipment beyond economic repair
- The specialist's own licensed work, such as lifts or suppression
- Upgrades, redesign and new installations, quoted as works
Between planned visits
Reactive work runs on four priorities. P1 is a risk to life, safety or security, or the total loss of a critical service. P2 is a partial loss that could become a P1. P3 is a defect affecting comfort or function. P4 is minor work that can wait for the next planned visit. The windows for each are written per site in Annex D, because a staffed tower and a site reached by a mobile technician cannot share one number.
Where AMCs quietly get expensive
A low monthly figure is often recovered through variation orders for parts that should have been consumables. So the contract states what counts as a consumable, the value per item above which a part comes back to you as a quote before it is fitted, and which critical spares are held on site so a P1 does not wait for a supplier. Every part fitted appears in the monthly pack against its asset.
What moves the number
Asset count and condition, not floor area. Asset age, because a parts-inclusive AMC on ten-year-old plant is priced for failures. Frequency and the hours we are present. The response windows you choose. The number of sites and the drive between them. Access, meaning shutdown windows, permits and site passes. Labour-only or parts-inclusive, and where the threshold sits. The share of work done by managed specialists.
Questions before you sign
Labour-only or parts-inclusive: which should we choose?
It depends on asset age and your appetite for surprises. Young plant under warranty rarely needs parts, so labour-only is usually cheaper. Older plant fails more, and a parts-inclusive AMC with a sensible threshold turns those failures into a known monthly cost. We price both against the same scope.
Are reactive call-outs unlimited?
Reactive attendance on listed assets is covered at the priority it deserves. Faults caused by misuse, third-party works or assets not on the register are quoted separately, and that line is in Annex C before you sign. If a contract has a call-out cap, it is written in the contract, not discovered in month seven.
Can we add assets during the year?
Yes. The register is updated, the calendar absorbs the new asset, and the price change is written as a variation before the work starts rather than after.
Will you maintain equipment still under manufacturer warranty?
Usually, but we read the warranty terms with you first. Some manufacturers restrict who may service a unit during the warranty period. Where they do, the OEM stays on the unit and sits in the vendor register.
What happens when an asset is beyond economic repair?
You get the case in writing: age, repair history, the cost of carrying on and what replacement involves in access and downtime. Then it is your decision. Replacement is quoted as works, outside the AMC.
What happens at renewal?
The annual review note sets out which intervals moved and why, which assets were added or retired, and what the record says about the year. If the price changes, the note says which driver moved it.
Around the contract
Planned maintenance
How the PPM calendar in Annex B is built, asset by asset.
Read moreFMSLA and KPI
The priorities, clocks and pause rules behind Annex D.
Read moreFMMobilisation
The first thirty days after the AMC is signed.
Read moreFMAMC or call-out
What each really costs on your own numbers.
Read moreDigitalDashboards and reporting
The same monthly figures fed into your own reporting.
Read morePart of one system
Every division keeps records to the same standard, so the second one you need works the way the first one did.
Request an AMC scope
Send us the contract you have now, however thin. The walkthrough turns it into an asset register and four annexes.