Somebody calls off, an emergency repair is needed, a large event gets rescheduled, and the weather cancels outdoor maintenance tasks…these are all things that can lead to deferred maintenance for parks and recreation agencies.
With a growing backlog of work, more things start slipping through the cracks. More minor issues become equipment failures and breakdowns, unsafe conditions, and lower-quality experiences for your visitors.
Soon, you and your team are overwhelmed with the growing amount of work that needs completion. Your budget gets stretched to the max. The public calls with complaints. Frustrations boil over.
Deferred maintenance is not a new problem. It’s an issue most parks and recreation agencies--and many other industries--face.
Learn more about deferred maintenance for parks and recreation, how it happens, and the effects of having a large backlog of work. Then, get some strategies to help manage deferred maintenance and efficiently start chipping away at it.
What is Deferred Maintenance?
Deferred maintenance is planned or unplanned maintenance that gets postponed. Deferring maintenance means putting off repairs, replacements, upgrades, and other work for various reasons.
Deferring maintenance is often caused by a lack of funding and resources. All too often, parks and recreation don’t have the time, money, and available staff to address their assets' needs--especially when these assets are aging.
A small maintenance backlog is normal. As problems pile up, however, deferred maintenance can quickly get out of hand. Around one trillion dollars of deferred maintenance exists in the US infrastructure alone. In 2024, the National Park Service had an estimated $22 billion backlog.
Putting off maintenance tasks creates a backlog of work that could have costly consequences. Infrastructure and equipment not adequately cared for with scheduled maintenance and timely repairs can become unsafe, unsightly, and more susceptible to damage.
Common Deferred Maintenance in Parks and Recreation
Assets in good condition provide visitors with a high-quality experience and staff a safe place to work. However, time, usage, and environmental conditions can deteriorate an asset. Work is required to restore or replace the compromised assets.
But as to-do lists continue to grow, a maintenance team can only do so much in a workweek—and there is only so much overtime to go around.
Parks maintenance managers often must make difficult decisions about what tasks can wait another day.
Maintenance tasks commonly deferred can include repair and replacement of:
- Doors and windows
- Irrigation
- Water fountains
- Benches
- Fences
- Parking Lot Pavement
- Park Signage
- Athletic Fields and Courts
- Bleachers/Seating
- Play equipment
- Vandalized areas
- Minor Aesthetic Damage to Facilities
- Playground surface damage
- Landscaping/Natural Areas
Although these are some of the more common deferred maintenance tasks, any parks maintenance task put on the back burner can be considered deferred maintenance.
Challenges Causing Deferred Maintenance
Several reasons can cause growing work backlogs. Here are a few of the most common ones:
Budgets
With limited budgets, it can be challenging to address all maintenance issues. Sometimes, extra funding becomes available, such as the Great American Outdoors Act of 2020, to create more resources to tackle some deferred maintenance.
Lack of Organization
When things get busy, tasks may get lost in the shuffle. An efficient work order system makes staff more aware of maintenance issues. Parks and recreation computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) can be an excellent tool to help organize, track, and prioritize work that needs to be completed.
Staffing Issues
High turnover and not having enough staff is hard on a maintenance team. An established team can develop a rhythm that keeps things running smoothly. Call-offs and a revolving door of staff impact efficiency and productivity. Teams may struggle just to complete essential tasks as open positions wait to be filled.
Ineffective Communication
Not communicating maintenance issues promptly and to the correct person can lead to overlooked work. All too often, maintenance managers deal with information coming at them from several sources--and some of those sources aren’t effective.
For example, during a busy week, a maintenance manager doesn’t have time to review a paper inspection that came in and fails to address a leaky pipe, which eventually causes significant water damage. Or a note put on a maintenance garage desk by one of the administrative staff blows to the floor when staff opens the garage doors after returning from a mowing route.
When there is no standardized procedure for communicating and tracking issues, work can easily be missed by staff who assume the manager got their email, text, note, etc.
The Impact of Deferred Maintenance
Putting off maintenance tasks creates a backlog of work that could have costly consequences. Infrastructure and equipment not properly cared for with scheduled maintenance and timely repairs can become unsafe, unsightly, and more susceptible to damage.
Increased Maintenance Costs
Deferring maintenance can significantly increase the cost of maintaining an asset and decrease its lifespan. A minor repair or preventative maintenance task can prevent breakdowns and failures that cost much more to fix.
Unexpected equipment breakdowns add to the backlog by throwing off schedules, creating downtime, and affecting programming. All this means more time and money spent due to deferring some maintenance tasks.
Health and Safety Issues
Not addressing maintenance issues can cause dangerous conditions in parks, playgrounds, facilities, natural areas, and athletic venues. The public relies on the maintenance team’s eyes and abilities to keep them safe when visiting and interacting with parks and facilities.
A broken playground feature can seriously injure a child. Not fixing a leaky pipe in the rec center can lead to dangerous mold growth. A natural area with several fallen branches can cause tripping hazards and other threatening conditions.
Poor User Experience
Unsafe and unsightly areas degrade a visitor’s experience. If they don’t feel safe or secure, they will likely not return to an area and will probably tell others about it.
Deteriorated Natural Areas
Invasive plants, extreme weather, litter, erosion, and human use can degrade the quality of the natural environment. Deferring maintenance on the areas can only worsen conditions affecting asthetics, biodiversity, safety, and wildlife.
Strategies for Addressing Deferred Maintenance
Keep Up with Preventative Maintenance
Developing plans to monitor and repair small problems before they become big issues is one way to avoid more reactive maintenance and deferring tasks. Scheduled inspections and preventative maintenance tasks allow an agency to better understand the conditions of its assets.
Standardized Work Order System
Voicemails, emails, and notes on a maintenance supervisor’s desk can easily get lost in the shuffle. Implementing a standardized work order system where your agency can report problems and track their progress of being resolved makes it easier for maintenance teams to organize and focus on necessary tasks.
Prioritization Schedule
Audit the tasks that need to be completed and set up a schedule based on the risk of these issues getting worse. Strategic deferred maintenance allows you to make calculated decisions and address higher-priority tasks before they lead to bigger problems.
Collect Data to Aid in Funding
By having clear data about what your maintenance team does and what it needs to defer, you have evidence that can help secure more funds or staff for your budget. A CMMS for parks and recreation gives you an easy way to collect, organize, and report necessary data that may allow your department to get additional funding.
The Takeaway
There’s a good chance you're dealing with a backlog of work--it’s a fact of life for many maintenance teams. How you deal with it, however, can make a big difference. With some planning, prioritizing, and clear communication lines, you may be able to understand your backlog, take care of the most pressing needs, and find ways to address other issues.