 The previous videotape, Maintenance Management System and Overview, briefly explained how managers define maintenance work activities and develop maintenance standards. A maintenance activity is a definition of a specific type of maintenance. A standard is a guideline for performance or quality. In this program, we'll look at standards more closely. Then we'll see how they are created and used. There are three types of maintenance standards, quality standards or guidelines indicating under what circumstances work should be done, quantity standards estimating how much work is necessary to satisfy quality standards and performance standards or guidelines for doing the work including personnel required, the proper work steps and expected daily accomplishment. Standards are very important. They promote uniform maintenance levels. They should be written to give specific direction to crews including when work should be done, how many should do it and how much work should be done. A maintenance standard is an ideal usually established by a committee. It is a goal to work toward. There may be allowable performance variations such as plus or minus 20% from standard necessary to accommodate newer performance expectations, crew configurations or equipment. The major reasons for standards are to foster improved crew effectiveness and uniform quality of work and to monitor how well the agency is achieving its goals. Without written standards, the quality and consistency of maintenance work varies significantly from district to district. Likewise, without standards, there exists no way for each agency to monitor the quality of its work or perform evaluations. A quality standard represents an agency policy decision. It determines how well workers should maintain a feature. Managers can use both subjective and objective measures to judge this level of maintenance. For example, mow grass back to 12 cm height when it reaches 25 to 35 cm growth height or seal all cracks in pavement that are larger than 6 mm wide, normally the width of a pencil. Quality standards should also tell how well to maintain a facility. That means telling when work should or should not be done. In some cases, quality standards describe desired results of the work, the workmanship in such terms such as smoothness or uniformity. Quality standards always refer to the amount of work done on a certain feature to satisfy quality standards. This usually reflects the amount of material or work effort required to correct a certain type of deficiency. It is usually quantified as an amount of work per year. Let's see how this works, using the previous example of a quality standard for mowing. It was mow grass to 12 cm height when it reaches 25 to 35 cm. If vegetation grows roughly 1 m per year, the mowing quantity standard would be to mow 4 times per year. Here's why. When the vegetation reaches 35 cm, it is cut down to 12 cm. 23 cm are cut off. Since vegetation grows 1 m or 100 cm per year, it will take approximately 4 cuts. Thus, for every hectare of grass in the inventory, 4 hectares of cutting must actually be performed. Performance standards are guidelines for doing the work and include the kinds and amounts of resources required, such as crew size and makeup, equipment by type and number, materials by type and quantity, proper work methods to follow, and the expected daily work output or production rate. A productivity rate is one measure of the cost of a unit of work. It is a good approach for determining which of several methods is better. Usually a committee or some group involved in maintenance takes the lead in developing and implementing quality standards. This group must convince all levels of management that standards will mean increased productivity, lower unit costs, and higher quality work. It must also make sure workers consider quality standards as basic agency policy, a priority item. Not all maintenance activities will have specific quality standards. The results of some activities are difficult to quantify, like picking up litter. Numbers simply can't describe this kind of activity very well. The committee should ask itself, how bad should a condition be to require repair or service? Its answer should be as clearly defined as practical, based on what maintenance workers are expected to know and do. Managers will use these quality standards to measure the performance of crews, as well as the results of work methods, material types, and equipment. The committee should remember that quality standard levels can affect the budget. A prohibitively high quality standard, for instance, may result in extreme budget requirements. Quality standards depend on quality standards. After the committee sets quality standards, it sets quality standards to meet quality requirements. It must ask, how much work is to be done and how often? These standards are usually an estimate of the amount of work to be done on one unit of a measurable roadway feature in a specific period of time. For example, for patching, one-quarter ton of premixed patch material should be placed per lane kilometer per year, for mowing, for hectares per mowable hectare per season. Finally, when creating quality standards, they must think in terms of safety, structural preservation, general aesthetics, and public opinion to establish quality standards. The committee can use purchasing records to find out amounts of materials used. Tasks like mowing, of course, rely on estimates based on the committee's past experience. Lower-level management and planners will use quality standards to establish volumes of materials to purchase, stockpile, and distribute to geographic areas. Another committee establishes performance standards. It includes managers and maintenance workers. Their goal is a set of realistic, easily understood descriptions of the work activity. As they work, they must consider several things. The mix of people and equipment could present a problem. Can workers apply a standard uniformly throughout their organization? They must think in terms of safety, structural preservation, general aesthetics, and public opinion, and they must be aware of the latest maintenance techniques. That means checking in-house research results, as well as documents from outside organizations, such as the Strategic Highway Research Program, now a part of the U.S. Federal Highway Administration. There is no single best way to develop these standards. The committee should work in a timely manner. It should do its research, establish a consensus quickly, and move forward. And it should not make requirements so specific that minor changes in the future are hard to make. A typical layout of a performance standard includes the activity name. It should be a common name recognized by everyone in the organization. An activity number. This is needed if the organization intends to use a computer system. A description and purpose. What work is to be done and why it is done. Scheduling. When the work is to be done. Performance criteria, which include the quality standards. Crew and or equipment. Its size and description and recommended resources. A material section with the type of material needed for the activity. An accomplishment section with the expected measurable output. And the recommended procedure. Each work step for the activity. Overall, good performance standards will balance people and equipment, as well as match equipment and materials to the work. Field personnel are the main users of performance standards. The standards tell them who, how, and when to perform work. Performing can use them to design work schedules. Because they are likely to see them on a day to day basis. Field personnel must be involved early on. They must buy into the system. They must know top management is behind them. Overall, just as with other standards, it should be clear that performance standards are organization policy. Finally, there should be comprehensive training to get everyone familiar with the standards and how to use them. In this program, we have seen how maintenance standards are created and used. They help promote a uniform product. They are written to give specific direction to work crews. When work should be done, how to do it, and how much to do. There are three types of maintenance standards. Quality standards, quantity standards, and performance standards. A quality standard represents an agency policy decision. It determines how well workers should maintain a feature. Managers can use both subjective and objective measures to judge this level of maintenance. Quantity standards always refer to the amount of work done on a certain feature to satisfy quality standards. Performance standards are guidelines for doing the work and include the kinds and amounts of resources required. Usually a committee or some group involved in maintenance takes the lead in developing and implementing quality standards. This group must convince all levels of management that standards will mean increased productivity, lower unit costs, and higher quality work. It must also make sure workers consider quality standards as a basic agency policy, a priority item. Quantity standards depend on quality standards. After the committee sets quality standards, it sets quantity standards to meet quality requirements. It must ask how much work is to be done and how often. These standards are usually an estimate of the amount of work to be done on one unit of a measurable roadway feature in a specific period of time. Another committee establishes performance standards. It includes managers and maintenance workers. Their goal is a set of realistic, easily understood descriptions of the work activity. Field personnel are the main users of performance standards. The standards tell them who, how, and when to perform work. Women can use them to design work schedules. Because they are likely to see them on a day-to-day basis, field personnel must be involved early on. They must buy into the system. They must know top management is behind them, overall just as with other standards. It should be clear that performance standards are organization policy. Finally, there should be comprehensive training to get everyone familiar with the standards and how to use them. For more information on this or other IRF videotapes, write to the International Road Federation or call the numbers on your screen.