One capsule can be maintained from memory. Ten cannot. At some point between the second and the fifth unit, maintenance stops being a task and becomes a system: a schedule, a record, a spares shelf and a person who is accountable for it. Sites that skip that step do not save money — they discover, two seasons later, that four units need the same repair at once and the season is about to start.
This article is about the system. For the individual tasks — what to inspect, how to clean a shell, how to handle winter — the owner's maintenance guide covers them in detail.
Why multi-unit sites fail differently
A single unit fails gradually and you notice. A fleet fails in clusters, because the units were built together, shipped together, installed in the same fortnight and are exposed to the same weather. Sealant applied on the same day reaches the end of its life on the same day. That clustering is what turns a minor maintenance backlog into a closed wing in peak season.
The practical consequence: on a multi-unit site, maintenance is scheduled by cohort, not by unit. If you reseal one unit in spring, reseal all of them, because the rest are on the same clock and doing them together is cheaper per unit than doing them one at a time across a year.
The inspection matrix
Four frequencies cover everything on a capsule. Anything not on this list is either cosmetic or a repair.
| Frequency | Items | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly | Drains and traps flowing, extract fans working, door and window operation, visible damp at wall bases | Housekeeping |
| Quarterly | Sealant lines at wet core and roof junctions, gutter and downpipe clearance, heat pump filter, RCD trip test | Maintenance staff |
| Twice yearly | Full exterior wash, fastener check and re-torque where specified, roof and flashing inspection, exterior lighting | Maintenance staff |
| Annually | Electrical inspection, water quality or tank service, structural connection check after settlement, coating condition survey | Contractor |
The monthly row is the important one and the one most often dropped, because housekeeping is busy. Drains and extract fans are the two items that produce the complaints guests actually write about, and both fail slowly and visibly before they fail completely.
The spares shelf
Every site should hold a small stock, because the alternative is waiting six weeks for a part while a room sits empty. The list is short and the cost is trivial against one lost booking:
- Door seals and window gaskets, one set per model on site
- Sealant in the specified type and colour, plus backing rod
- Shower mixer cartridge and a spare trap
- Extract fan, one unit
- Light fittings and lamps in each type used
- RCD breakers matching the panel
- Fasteners and isolation washers in the specified grade
- A spare panel section if the model allows replacement without structural work
Note the word "specified". A sealant that is not compatible with the coating, or a stainless fastener driven without an isolation washer into an aluminium frame, creates the next failure while fixing this one. Keep the specification on file and buy against it.
Records, and why they pay
One page per unit, physical or digital, with the date and outcome of each inspection, each repair, and each photograph. Three things follow from that discipline. Warranty claims become arguable — a supplier can see the unit was maintained as specified, which is usually a condition of the structural and coating warranty. Faults become diagnosable, because a recurring damp patch has a history rather than a guess. And the fleet becomes sellable, because a documented maintenance history is what a buyer of used units actually pays for.
Photograph the same four positions each time: each elevation, the wet core, and the roof edge. A set of dated photographs taken twice a year will show a coating failure or a sealant crack before it becomes a leak, and it costs ten minutes per unit.
What deferred maintenance actually costs
The failure sequence on a capsule is predictable. A sealant joint cracks and is not noticed. Water enters at the junction, tracked behind the lining rather than into the room, so nothing visible happens. Insulation in that section becomes wet and stops insulating, so the wall runs cold. Condensation starts on the inside face, and only then does a guest notice a damp patch. By the time it is visible, the repair is a section of panel and lining rather than a tube of sealant.
The ratio between those two repairs is roughly an order of magnitude, and the labour to reach the affected area is most of it — which is why the quarterly sealant inspection is the highest-return item on the whole schedule.
Seasonal shutdown and restart
Sites that close for a season need a shutdown procedure, not just a locked gate. Drain the water system completely, including the heater and any external line, or a frost will split it. Isolate and lock off the electrical supply, but leave ventilation running at low level if the climate is humid — a sealed unit in a humid climate grows mould in eight weeks. Cover the glazing or close the shading, and leave internal doors open so air can move between rooms.
On restart, the order matters: inspect before energising, energise before water, water before occupancy. Running water into a unit whose heat has not been on for months is how trays crack.
Who does the work
Three arrangements work, and the choice depends on unit count. Under five units, existing staff with a written checklist and one annual contractor visit is sufficient. Between five and twenty, a dedicated part-time maintenance role pays for itself — the person also does the snagging and the guest-facing repairs, which is where the value is. Above twenty, a service contract with a local contractor for electrical, plumbing and the heat pumps, retained on a fixed annual fee, is cheaper than employment and gives you a response time in writing.
Whichever you choose, the specification matters more than the arrangement. A contractor who has never worked on a prefabricated capsule will use sealants and fixings from a van, and those are the wrong materials for an aluminium shell with a coated finish.
A one-page plan you can hand over
- The inspection matrix above, with names against each frequency
- The spares list, with minimum stock levels and who reorders
- The specification sheet: sealant type, fastener grade, coating system, panel build-up
- The record template, one per unit
- The warranty terms by component, with the claim window for each
- The shutdown and restart procedures
- Emergency contacts: heat pump service, electrician, crane company if a unit ever has to move
Related
The task-level detail is in the space capsule maintenance guide, and the materials that drive the schedule are covered in the shell comparison and the interior materials guide. If you are specifying a site rather than maintaining one, the 30-day setup guide covers commissioning. Send us the model mix on your site and we will send a component-level parts list to stock against.
