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6 Free Checklists

Metering Maintenance Checklist

Free maintenance checklists for building metering — electricity sub-meters, energy and BTU meters, heat meters, water meters and gas meters. Each includes preventive tasks, service frequencies, common faults and safety notes.

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Meter maintenance is really data-integrity maintenance. A useful checklist covers the physical condition of the meter and its sensors, battery and pulse-output health, correct multiplier and unit configuration, communications back to the logging system, and a comparison of logged reads against the meter's own display. Choose the checklist for your specific meter type below.

Other maintenance checklist categories

HVAC maintenance checklists — Air handling units, fan coils, chillers, VRF, ductwork and extract systems — filters, coils, refrigerant and damper checks.
heating maintenance checklists — Boilers, calorifiers, heat exchangers, heat pumps and flues — combustion, controls and hot water safety checks.
plumbing and water system maintenance checklists — Pressurisation units, booster sets, storage tanks, TMVs and water treatment — pressure, hygiene and legionella control.
electrical maintenance checklists — Distribution boards, switchgear, generators, UPS, solar PV and EV charging — inspection, testing and thermographic checks.
fire safety maintenance checklists — Fire dampers, alarms, emergency lighting, sprinklers, risers and fire doors — the statutory checks and their records.
BMS and controls maintenance checklists — BMS panels and head-ends, DDC controllers, inverters, sensors and actuators — calibration, overrides and strategy backups.
lift maintenance checklists — Passenger, goods and platform lifts and escalators — LOLER thorough examination, entrapment release and door safety.
All maintenance checklists·preventive maintenance checklist·Statutory inspection checklists·Free checklist templates·Compliance and FM topics

Why metering maintenance is mostly about the data

A meter that has stopped communicating is usually still displaying a perfectly good reading, so metering faults tend to surface as gaps in a report rather than as an alarm. The most valuable routine check is therefore a reconciliation: read the meter's display, compare it to what the logging or aM&T system recorded for the same moment, and investigate any difference. That single comparison catches dead pulse outputs, wrong multipliers, transposed CTs, failed data concentrators and meters that have been replaced without the new serial number and reading being recorded.

The second common failure is the multiplier. A sub-meter fitted with current transformers reports a scaled value, and if the scaling configured in the logger does not match the CT ratio actually installed, the meter reports a plausible but wrong number indefinitely. Recording the CT ratio, meter constant and configured multiplier on the maintenance record — not just the reading — is what makes that verifiable later. CIBSE TM39 covers metering strategy and is the usual reference for how a building's metering should be structured and validated.

Where accuracy becomes a legal question

Maintenance of a meter used purely for internal energy monitoring is a good-practice matter. Once a meter is used to bill a tenant or a customer, it moves into a regulated space: meters used for billing generally need to be of an approved pattern, and heat networks supplying final customers fall under the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulations 2014 as amended, which set out metering and billing obligations. Meters used for statutory or contractual billing should not be adjusted, re-configured or replaced without understanding which regime applies and keeping the evidence trail intact.

This is a good reason to keep the distinction visible on your asset register. A fiscal or billing meter needs its certification, serial number and installation records preserved and should only be worked on by someone competent to do so; a monitoring sub-meter can be maintained, re-configured and replaced far more freely. Where you are unsure which category a meter falls into, treat it as a billing meter and check before touching the configuration.

Safe working on meters

Electrical meters and their current transformers sit on live circuits, and work on them falls under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989. An open-circuited CT secondary on a live conductor can develop a dangerous voltage, so CT work needs a competent person and the correct shorting procedure. Gas meters are more restricted still: work on gas installations and their meters must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and a suspected gas escape is an emergency, not a maintenance task.

Water and heat meters are usually the least hazardous but sit in pressurised systems, so isolation, drain-down and the water hygiene implications of breaking into a pipework system all need consideration — particularly on domestic hot and cold water services where the legionella controls in HSE ACoP L8 apply. Always refer to the manufacturer's O&M manual and the site-specific risk assessment for the exact requirements on your building.

Compliance & CAFM

Schedule metering maintenance automatically

Every checklist here is also a planned maintenance programme in PM Assist. Add the asset to a building and its tasks go into the planner at the right frequency.

  • Statutory tests are tracked on the compliance register with the date last done, the date next due and the certificate.
  • Inspection forms run on your phone, and failed items become remedial actions.
  • Included in every paid plan.
See the compliance and PPM softwareCompare plans

Frequently asked questions

What should a metering maintenance checklist include?
A metering maintenance checklist should cover the physical condition of the meter, its sensors and its enclosure; battery status and pulse or communications output health; verification that the configured multiplier and units match the installation; a reconciliation of the logged reading against the meter's own display; and confirmation that the meter's serial number, reading and any replacement are recorded. The exact tasks differ between electricity sub-meters, heat and BTU meters, water meters and gas meters.
How often should building meters be checked?
Monthly is a common interval for read reconciliation and communications checks, because a meter that stops reporting is otherwise only noticed when someone questions a report. Physical inspection, battery checks and configuration verification are usually annual. Meters feeding tenant billing or a heat network justify more frequent verification than a meter used only for internal monitoring, since an error there has a financial and regulatory consequence as well as a reporting one.
Do building meters need calibrating?
Field calibration of an installed meter is generally impractical, so in practice accuracy is managed by verification rather than adjustment: comparing a sub-meter against the incoming fiscal meter, checking that sub-meter totals reconcile to the main supply, and replacing meters that fall outside tolerance or reach the end of their certified life. Meters used for billing have their own approval and, where applicable, re-verification requirements — check which regime applies before assuming an internal check is sufficient.
Are these metering checklists free to download?
Yes. Every checklist can be viewed in full and downloaded as a free PDF from the templates library, with no signup required. They are built on UK maintenance practice for FM teams and building engineers.

Find the detail behind every checklist

PM Assist makes your O&M manuals, settings, and records instantly searchable — so engineers get the specifications and procedures behind each task in seconds.

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