How Businesses in China Can Set Up Equipment Maintenance and Downtime Procedures Before Franchising

When preparing to open an existing business to franchisees, companies often focus on fit-outs and equipment purchasing while overlooking maintenance once equipment is in use. A refrigerated cabinet failing to maintain its temperature, faulty cleaning equipment or a breakdown in core processing machinery can all undermine standardised operations. For a franchise network, clear equipment maintenance and downtime procedures help protect customers and reduce disputes over responsibility between head office and franchisees.

1. Build an equipment register based on operational risk

Do not simply treat a supplier’s product catalogue as a maintenance plan. Start by recording each item of equipment in company-owned outlets: its name, model, identification number, installation location, date brought into service, warranty coverage and service contact. Then identify which operational process it affects.

Set management priorities according to the consequences of failure:

• Safety- and quality-critical equipment: A fault could affect food storage, disinfection effectiveness or other safety conditions. Define when the equipment must be taken out of service and how affected products should be handled.
• Core operational equipment: A fault would prevent the delivery of key products or services. Test arrangements for replacement equipment or a reduced operating offer.
• General supporting equipment: Repairs can be scheduled, but faults still need to be recorded so that minor problems do not accumulate over time.

Every critical item should have defined checks, designated staff to carry them out and a clear way to report abnormalities. Inspection intervals and technical thresholds should be based on the manufacturer’s instructions, applicable standards and actual usage levels. Do not invent parameters simply to standardise outlets. Separately identify any equipment subject to legal requirements for inspection, testing, or operation and repair by appropriately qualified personnel.

2. Set out responsibilities and costs in a contract schedule

Article 7 of China’s Regulations on the Administration of Commercial Franchising requires franchisors to have a mature business model and the capacity to provide ongoing operational guidance, technical support, business training and related services. Article 11 requires written franchise agreements to specify the content and delivery of those services, as well as product or service quality requirements, standards and assurance measures. Equipment maintenance arrangements can help meet these requirements, but the regulations do not impose a blanket requirement for head office to repair equipment free of charge.

Head office should draw up an equipment service responsibility matrix, defining the respective roles of the franchisee, head office, supplier and repair provider. Who performs routine cleaning, makes the initial assessment of a fault, authorises repairs and confirms that equipment can return to use should not be left to verbal explanations alone.

Cost provisions should distinguish, at a minimum, between repairs covered by warranty, normal wear and tear, damage caused by users, on-site diagnostic visits and temporary replacement equipment. Where the cause of a fault is not yet known, agree a procedure for arranging an initial inspection or advancing payment. Final liability can then be determined from the findings and the contract. Cost disputes should not delay necessary safety measures.

The contract should also distinguish between the time taken to respond to a fault report and the time taken to complete a repair. Where a third party carries out repairs, head office must not turn an unverified claim about the supplier’s service capacity into a promise to prospective franchisees. Arrangements covering head office technical support, requirements to use specified equipment and associated charges should also match the pre-contract disclosures. China’s Measures for the Administration of Information Disclosure in Commercial Franchising require franchisors to provide the prescribed information and the contract text in writing at least 30 days before the contract is signed.

3. Make fault-reporting procedures useful on site

A fault-reporting procedure needs more than a customer service telephone number. When something goes wrong, staff first need to know whether they can continue using the equipment, whether sales of affected products must stop and how to protect staff and customers.

The operating manual can include response cards organised in the following sequence:

1. Identify the problem: Record alarm messages, the time the issue was discovered and observable symptoms. Do not require staff to dismantle equipment to diagnose a fault.
2. Control the risk: Stop using or isolate the relevant equipment or products according to predefined criteria. Leave hazardous tasks to personnel with the appropriate competence.
3. Submit a fault report: Provide the equipment identification number, photographs, operating records and details of action already taken, and create a trackable service ticket.
4. Activate contingency arrangements: Use only backup arrangements that have been tested in advance. Do not lower quality or safety standards without authorisation simply to keep trading.
5. Confirm readiness for use: Retain repair records, carry out appropriate tests and obtain confirmation from the designated responsible person before returning the equipment to service.

For example, if refrigeration equipment develops a temperature problem, completing the repair does not automatically make the goods inside fit for sale again. Equipment recovery and the handling of affected goods must be assessed separately, with the outcomes recorded in accordance with applicable requirements. Similarly, a remote assessment by head office cannot replace an on-site inspection required by law or by the equipment’s specifications.

4. Test service delivery through exercises in company-owned outlets

Before recruiting franchisees, select actual equipment for tabletop exercises or controlled drills. Do not create dangerous faults to test the process. Scenarios might include an evening fault report, no service provider accepting the job, temporarily unavailable spare parts, or equipment that still fails its tests after repair.

The point is not to check whether staff can recite the steps, but whether the chain of responsibility works in practice. Can staff on duty find the equipment identification number? Can the support team locate the repair contact? Can backup arrangements sustain limited trading? Is there a clear basis for any costs the franchisee must bear?

Head office should adjust service coverage in light of the results. In areas that service providers cannot reliably reach, it should not promise the same on-site support available where company-owned outlets operate. Where repair records show recurring faults of the same type, investigate the installation environment, training methods and equipment choices rather than routinely blaming outlet staff.

Once the system is in operation, continue recording fault causes, downtime, repeat repairs and confirmation that equipment is ready to return to service. Use this information to improve equipment choices and training. These records are internal management tools, not a uniform set of performance indicators prescribed by law.

Practical takeaway: Start by creating a complete register of critical equipment and downtime response cards for one company-owned outlet. Then rehearse the entire process, from reporting a fault to resuming trading. Extend the same service promises across the franchise network only once responsibilities, costs and contingency arrangements can all be delivered in practice.