Key Takeaways:
Deferred maintenance rarely starts as a single big failure. It builds quietly inside the backlog — shaped by budget pressure, staffing shortages and decisions to delay work that feels manageable at the moment.
To break down a common misconception that backlogs are inherently negative, Andy Gager, chief operating officer at AMG International Consulting, will host the session “Stop Letting Deferred Maintenance Run the Show” at NFMT West in Las Vegas from November 3 to 4.
FN: What are the most common factors driving deferred maintenance today, and how can facility managers address them before they become larger problems?
Andy Gager: I get asked this question quite a bit, actually.
When we talk about the maintenance backlog, we have to manage the business by our backlog of work. One thing that people often confuse is the term "backlog" itself. That's universal. People around the world tend to believe backlogs are bad, right? But we want a backlog.
A backlog is an indicator of whether we're staffed properly, understaffed or even overstaffed. It works both ways.
There's an international misconception about what backlog means. The definition of backlog is all maintenance activities that have not been completed yet, whether they're past due or scheduled for the future. That backlog should include the estimated labor hours and costs required to get the work done.
So let's start there. That's the definition of a backlog. Now, when we're looking at the backlog and the work that needs to be completed, many organizations are deferring that work because of budget constraints.
What facility managers need to do is, first, manage that backlog and, second, understand the consequences of not completing the work. What are the potential failures? What are the risks associated with delaying it?
The most common factor driving deferred maintenance is probably budget. But I'm going to put another factor right up there with budgeting, and that's the personnel. Do we have enough people to do the work?
If we don't have the staff, but we do have the budget, do we outsource the work? There are several contributing factors that determine why facilities work doesn't get completed. A lot of it also comes down to a lack of capital.
FN: Can you share examples of how delaying routine maintenance or capital renewal projects has led to higher expenses or operational disruptions?
Gager: A number of years ago, I actually wrote an article for FacilitiesNet on this very topic. The example I used was infrastructure in the United States and how delaying capital projects or needed maintenance causes costs to grow exponentially over time.
I pointed to our roadways, bridges and rail systems. We're talking about trillions of dollars needed to bring that infrastructure up to acceptable standards. In that article, I said no politician is going to campaign on, "Vote for me because I need to raise your taxes to rebuild our infrastructure." Instead, the message is usually, "I'm going to reduce your taxes."
But eventually, we all pay for that deferred investment. The longer we wait, the more expensive the problem becomes.
I wrote another article for FacilitiesNet about an example in North Carolina. There's a major roadway connecting Raleigh and Durham. About 10 or 12 years ago, a project was approved to expand that road from two lanes to a four-lane highway.
The project kept getting delayed and delayed. Then, a couple of years ago, officials revisited it and found the projected cost had quadrupled. As a result, they canceled the expansion. Instead, they simply repaved the road.
That didn't solve the underlying problem. It was essentially a band-aid. The same thing happens with capital renewal projects in facilities. If we keep putting them off, they're going to cost significantly more in the future because nothing is getting cheaper.
So, when we're delaying these projects, we have to ask ourselves: Are we actually addressing the issue, or are we just applying a temporary fix and hoping it gets us through to the next budget cycle? I've seen a lot of temporary repairs become permanent solutions. Those are exactly the kinds of issues facility managers need to be thinking about and addressing.
FN: How can facility managers effectively prioritize maintenance and capital projects when resources are limited? Are there specific tools, data points or risk-assessment methods that can help guide those decisions?
Gager: This is one of those difficult predicaments facility managers face because adding headcount isn't always the right solution.
What I mean by that is, are we hiring the right people with the right skill sets?
Here in the United States, across North America and really around the world, I hear the same thing all the time: resources are a constraint. Organizations struggle to find people with the skills, competencies and experience needed to maintain today's facilities.
As a result, some organizations end up hiring anyone they can find. But equipment and facilities are becoming more sophisticated every year and matching that level of sophistication with the available workforce is a real challenge.
So, are there specific tools that can help? Absolutely.
First, we need to prioritize. Going back to the backlog discussion, every piece of work should have a priority assigned to it. That prioritization should take several factors into account:
Those are some of the key factors that should drive decision-making.
I'm also a strong advocate for having a third party conduct a risk assessment of your facilities. As the saying goes, we can't see the forest through the trees. When people see the same conditions day in and day out, they can become numb to issues that may be developing around them.
Bringing in a third party provides a fresh set of eyes. They can perform an objective, unbiased assessment of what truly needs to be addressed and how urgently it needs attention. That's one of the most effective risk-assessment methods I would recommend.
FN: What are some practical strategies organizations can implement to reduce deferred maintenance backlogs and shift from a reactive maintenance approach to a more proactive asset management program?
Gager: When we set up maintenance activities for a facility, we need to prioritize the work. Every organization has its own priority system, but the concept is the same. Some work needs immediate attention, some can wait a few months and some can be deferred until next year.
One of the key outputs of a third-party risk assessment is that it helps organizations prioritize that work objectively. The other benefit is that once we have that assessment, we can start building budgets around it. Whether we're planning one year out, three years out, five years out or even 10 years out, we can develop a roadmap for those activities. If we're budgeting correctly, the funding should be available when it's needed.
What happens in a lot of organizations, though, is that they end up robbing Peter to pay Paul. Funds that were originally allocated for capital projects get redirected somewhere else — often for legitimate reasons. But the reality is that those dollars have been taken away from work that still needs to be completed. That's how deferred maintenance and deferred capital projects begin to accumulate.
When facility managers step back and look at the bigger picture rather than focusing only on the short term, that's how they begin moving away from a reactive approach. To be clear, there will always be some level of reactive maintenance. That's never going away completely.
But by managing the backlog, balancing staffing levels against the maintenance workload and taking a long-term view of facility needs, organizations can shift from reactive maintenance to a more proactive, planned and scheduled approach.
Again, it all comes back to prioritization. Some work absolutely has to be done today. Other work can be postponed until a later date. Determining that priority is a core responsibility of the facility manager. It's also the facility manager's responsibility to manage the skills and competencies of the staff so they can effectively work through the maintenance backlog.
One story I tell fairly often involves a facility manager I worked with years ago. During the morning work assignment meeting, one of the technicians told the manager, "I worked on that yesterday. I repaired it."
The facility manager looked at him and said, "No, yesterday you worked on it. Today I want you to fix it."
That always stuck with me because it makes perfect sense. When we're performing maintenance, are we actually fixing the issue, or are we just working on it? If we're only working on it, we're going to continue seeing recurring failures and repeated breakdowns. The goal isn't just to keep touching the equipment — it's to solve the problem so it doesn't keep coming back.
To learn more about taming the backlog and getting ahead of it, be sure to check out Gager’s session at NFMT West 2026 this November. Register for West here.
Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor for the facilities market. With more than three years of experience, he covers topics including technology, wellness, sustainability and emerging industry trends.
