A daily maintenance checklist is the single highest-leverage habit in facility management. Five minutes of disciplined checks per shift catches 80 % of problems before they become work orders. Here is what to put on yours.
What a daily checklist is (and is not)
It is: a short, repeatable set of checks done at the same time every day by the on-shift technician.
It is not: a dumping ground for every preventive task. Weekly, monthly, and quarterly work belongs on its own cadences. A daily list with 60 items will not get done.
Target: 8–15 items, completable in 10–15 minutes.
The six categories
A balanced daily list covers six categories. Cut from any one of them and you have a blind spot.
1. Life-safety
- Fire extinguishers in place and unobstructed.
- Emergency exits clear.
- Emergency lighting test (push-to-test button).
2. Critical equipment readings
- Walk-in cooler / freezer temperatures.
- Hot-water supply temperature at the furthest fixture.
- Boiler or chiller status.
3. Visual inspections
- No active leaks (mech room, under sinks, roof drains).
- No tripped breakers in the main panel.
- No alarms on the BMS / fire panel / sprinkler riser.
4. Customer-facing standards
- Lobby / entrance clean and lit.
- Restrooms stocked.
- Signage intact.
5. Logs
- Previous shift's notepad read and acknowledged.
- Any vendor visits expected today noted.
6. Handoff prep
- Walk the floor with the outgoing shift.
- Note anything the incoming shift should watch.
Sample checklist (drop into MaintIQ)
Copy this as a cadence in Admin → Cadences → Daily:
TITLE: AM walk
WINDOW: 7:00–8:00
ASSIGNEE: on-duty maintenance tech
STEPS:
1. Fire extinguishers — all in place, gauges in green (Lobby, kitchen, mech room).
2. Emergency exits — all unobstructed (front, side, rear).
3. Walk-in cooler temperature ___ °F (target 38, alarm if >42).
4. Walk-in freezer temperature ___ °F (target 0, alarm if >10).
5. Hot water at furthest fixture ___ °F (target 140, alarm if <125).
6. Main electrical panel — no breakers tripped.
7. BMS — no active alarms.
8. Mech room — no leaks, no unusual smells.
9. Lobby & entrance — clean, lit, signage intact.
10. Restrooms — stocked (paper, soap), no leaks.
11. Read previous shift's notes — flag anything to follow up.
Threshold values
Bold every threshold so it is obvious if a reading is out of range. MaintIQ will turn the row red automatically if you tag the threshold field as numeric.
Photo verification
Require a photo on items 1, 4, 5, and 11. Photos make the checklist auditable and catch the technician who is checking boxes from the break room.
Frequency for non-daily items
A few items above (sprinkler riser inspection, emergency lighting test) are technically required less often. Daily visual verification is best practice; the formal test should still be on a monthly cadence.
Downloading as a PDF
In MaintIQ, open the cadence → Export → PDF. The PDF is printable for clipboard-based shifts or for posting in the mech room.