Preventive maintenance is a proactive strategy defined by its scheduled nature, performed to

reduce the likelihood of equipment failure. It is conducted at predetermined intervals or based on

usage metrics, irrespective of whether a failure has occurred. The primary goal is to identify and

address potential issues before they escalate into system failures, thereby enhancing reliability

and extending equipment lifespan. This approach is fundamentally different from corrective or

reactive maintenance, which is performed in response to an existing fault.

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1. AVIXA Inc. (2020). CTS Certified Technology Specialist Exam Guide, Third Edition.

McGraw-Hill Education.

Chapter 12, "Conducting Maintenance Activities," states: "Preventive maintenance is

maintenance that is regularly performed on a piece of equipment to lessen the likelihood of it

failing. It is performed while the equipment is still working so that it does not break down

unexpectedly." This directly supports the concept of scheduled maintenance independent of

failures.

2. IEEE. (2016). IEEE Standard for a Common Terminology for Maintenance and Reliability of

Power Transformers. IEEE Std C57.152-2013.

Section 3.1.10 defines Preventive Maintenance as: "A form of time-based maintenance where

work is initiated on a fixed, predetermined, periodic basis." This definition explicitly links

preventive maintenance to a schedule, not to the occurrence of a failure.

3. Mobley, R. K. (2002). An Introduction to Predictive Maintenance. Butterworth-Heinemann

(Elsevier).

Chapter 1, "The Case for Predictive Maintenance," distinguishes between reactive (run-to-failure),

preventive (time-based), and predictive maintenance. It defines preventive maintenance as

actions performed on a time- or machine-run-based schedule intended to detect, preclude, or

mitigate degradation of a component or system. This confirms that it is a scheduled activity.