T 2.5 Inadequate or non-existent maintenance

The operability of the technology used must be ensured consistently. Regular maintenance may promote the operability of the technology used. Inadequate or non-existent maintenance may lead to inestimable amounts of primary and secondary damage.

Examples:

• The batteries of an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system no longer have enough capacity (not enough acid content) due to a lack of maintenance. As a result, the UPS system can no longer ensure the supply of power for a sufficiently long period when there is a power failure.
• Due to a lack of maintenance, the pressure of the fire extinguishers drops to a point where their fire-fighting capability cannot be guaranteed any more.
• A laser printer fails due to overheating because a ventilation grill was not cleaned properly.
• Many devices in a server room generate heat. If it is the middle of summer, with the correspondingly high temperatures, and the air conditioning is inadequate (because it is defective or there is no air conditioning at all, for example) for the room, some of the devices may fail due to overheating when it is hot outside. For this reason, permanently installed air conditioning systems must be cleaned and maintained regularly to ensure reliable and trouble-free operation of the system.