ITF FM

AMC or call-out, compared on real costs

When paying per visit is cheaper, when it is not, and how to test it on last year's invoices.

A call-out arrangement pays per visit and plans nothing; an AMC pays a fixed monthly amount for planned maintenance on listed assets plus reactive cover. Call-out suits a few low-criticality assets or equipment under manufacturer cover. An AMC suits sites where downtime is expensive, assets are many, or someone will ask for the record.

The same year, paid two waysTiming and downtime, not only the totalSwipe to pan

The call-out invoice, added up

Each call-out invoice looks small until you add them up: emergency rates out of hours, no priority when every contractor's phone is ringing in July, a second visit because no parts were held, and a different technician each time with no history of the asset.

And the bill arrives in the worst month, when failures come together. A call-out arrangement concentrates both the spend and the downtime in the weeks you can least afford either.

When an AMC is poor value

An AMC is a fixed monthly figure, including the months when nothing fails. That is the point: the planned visits find the failing bearing and the blocked coil before they stop the site.

It is poor value when it is written over the wrong assets, when it maintains things that could safely run to failure, or when it produces no record, because then you are paying for visits you cannot see. The fix for all three is the same: an asset list with a criticality class on every line, agreed before the contract.

Deciding by factor

Few assets, low downtime cost, new equipment under warranty and nobody asking for records lean call-out. Many assets, expensive downtime, mid-life plant, audits, summer load and a preference for a fixed budget lean AMC.

Most sites land on both sides of this table at once, which is why the next section matters more than the table.

Factor	Leans call-out · Leans AMC
Number of assets	A handful · Dozens or more
Cost of downtime	Low · High: production, tenants, cold stock, welfare
Asset age	New, under warranty · Mid-life or older
Audit and insurance	Nobody asks for records · Someone does
Season	Mild load · Summer peak load
Budget preference	Variable and uncapped · Fixed and predictable

The hybrid most sites should use

Put class A and B assets on an AMC: the ones whose failure stops work or affects people. Leave class D assets, the cheap ones whose failure is a nuisance, on call-out or run to failure.

The criticality classes on the planned maintenance page are how that split gets made. Each asset gets a class from what its failure costs you, and the class decides which side of the line it sits on.

Test it on last year's invoices

You do not need our prices to test this. Take last year's invoices and count the call-outs, the out-of-hours premiums, the repeat visits for parts and the hours each critical asset was down. Then ask what those hours cost you.

That total is what an AMC is competing against. If it is small, stay on call-out and spend the effort elsewhere.

Call-outs, counted by asset
Out-of-hours premiums
Repeat visits waiting on parts
Hours down per critical asset, and what each hour cost

Three clinics in Khobar

A chain of three clinics in Khobar pays per call for AC and plumbing. Last summer it had repeated AC failures in treatment rooms, each costing a morning's appointments. We count the year's call-outs with the practice manager first.

We then propose an AMC over the treatment rooms' AC units, the water heaters and the pumps, and leave office lights and fittings on call-out. The clinics hold a split asset list, a PPM calendar for the critical items and a fixed monthly figure for them.

An asset list split into AMC and call-out candidates
A criticality class per asset
A draft PPM calendar for the AMC items

Questions before you sign an AMC

Q01

Is an AMC always cheaper?

No. For a handful of new assets, call-out can be cheaper. The survey tells you which side you are on.

Q02

Can we have an AMC with limited call-outs?

Yes, if the limit is written into the contract. Read it before signing, including what happens to the call-out after the limit is reached.

Q03

What if our equipment is under warranty?

The manufacturer keeps warranty work. An AMC can cover the checks the warranty allows, so the asset's record starts on day one rather than when the warranty ends.

Q04