Posted 23rd December 2025 By Rob Whalley

The Festive Period: When Maintenance and Estates Never Switch Off

As the festive period begins, many organisations start to slow down. Offices close, schools break up for the holidays, corridors fall quiet, and buildings see reduced occupancy. But while activity may decrease on the surface, facilities and estates work continues throughout the festive period.

For many organisations, this time of year represents one of the most important maintenance windows. With reduced occupancy across offices, education sites, leisure facilities, and parts of the public sector — and often operating with skeleton staffing levels — facilities teams can safely carry out planned maintenance, statutory inspections, remedial works, and improvement projects that would be disruptive during normal operations.

Plant servicing, safety checks, compliance reviews, system upgrades, and minor refurbishments are frequently scheduled into this short but valuable period, helping to ensure buildings remain safe, compliant, and fully prepared for normal service levels to resume in the New Year.

A 24/7 Reality for the NHS and Critical Services

While some sectors experience a temporary slowdown, the NHS and other critical services never switch off.

Healthcare environments operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the festive period is often one of the busiest and most demanding times of the year. Winter pressures, increased demand, and unpredictable conditions place additional strain on both clinical services and the estates teams that support them.

Throughout the festive period, estates and engineering teams continue to manage critical assets, respond to reactive maintenance, maintain compliance, and ensure hospitals, clinics, and community facilities remain safe, resilient, and fully operational. Their work is essential to public safety and service continuity — especially at this time of year.

Supporting Estates Teams Through the Festive Period

Whether managing planned works during reduced occupancy or maintaining live, mission-critical environments, effective facilities management relies on clear planning, accurate data, and robust systems — particularly when teams are working with reduced resources or out-of-hours cover.

CAFM platforms play a vital role in supporting estates teams during the festive period, helping them prioritise and automate work, manage assets, track compliance, and maintain visibility across complex estates when it matters most.

As the year draws to a close, it’s important to recognise the people working quietly behind the scenes while others take a well-earned break.

From everyone at Tabs FM, we’d like to wish all facilities, estates, and engineering teams a very Merry Christmas and a safe, successful festive period.

Thank you for everything you do.