As a restaurant owner or operator, you are painfully aware of the rising costs of labor, food, and supplies. But how closely are you tracking the cost of restaurant equipment repairs? Restaurant repair and maintenance (R&M) costs are skyrocketing, and it’s only going to get worse, says Daniel Estrada, co-founder and CEO of 86 Repairs.
86 Repairs provides end-to-end management of restaurant equipment repair and maintenance along with 24/7 support and AI-powered insights. As a leader in the field, Estrada has seen firsthand how uncontrolled restaurant R&M costs can hurt your bottom line.
“Last year we saw a 21% increase in the cost of replacement parts. R&M costs were up 18% on the whole last year. And,” Estrada warns, “it’s going to continue getting more expensive because there are fewer technicians on the road. There are fewer skilled tradespeople, and that's driving the cost up.”
But there is also tremendous opportunity to cut your operational expenses by more proactively managing your restaurant equipment maintenance, repairs, warranties, and vendor relations.
Estrada provides expert insight into the impact of rising maintenance costs, and offers tips you can use to take control of your commercial restaurant equipment repair costs in order to grow your margins.
The Risks of Overlooking Restaurant R&M
Your equipment is absolutely vital to your success. When equipment fails, it can disrupt your entire operation, cost you a fortune, and, in the worst case scenario, shut down your restaurant for a prolonged period of time.
But with so many other things on your plate as a restaurant owner, you may be overlooking equipment service until it’s too late.
Estrada explains, “R&M is a problem that doesn't flow to the top of your operations team’s list until suddenly it's the most important thing that they have to deal with.” At that point, Estrada notes, a minor and affordable maintenance job might have escalated into an expensive repair and costly downtime.
The three most common and expensive categories of repair, according to 86 Repairs data, are refrigeration, HVAC, and plumbing. And issues with any one of these systems can seriously impact your ability to operate.
86 Repairs Senior Marketing Manager Sydney Kida points that costs for these issues can be highly variable, but however you slice it, “it is painful, especially when it's reactive, because then you're adding to the cost of an emergency with an immediate dispatch request. Then the service provider can charge whatever they want, especially if you’re in a moment of dire need.”
This is why it’s so important to remain proactive in your approach to restaurant equipment repairs and maintenance.
Why Proactive Restaurant Equipment Repair Service Is Important
In the simplest terms, proactive service means:
- Taking steps to prevent equipment breakdown
- Being prepared to act quickly when breakdowns happen
- Having procedures in place for reducing downtime caused by equipment failure
Unfortunately, says Estrada, your equipment may not be receiving the attention it requires. “This is a big pain point in the restaurant industry,” says Estrada. “You sign up for these service contracts that are supposed to happen every month or every quarter, and oftentimes service providers get busy. They push appointments back, they get delayed.”
These delays can escalate suddenly and quickly into preventable expenses. When a provider doesn’t hold up their end of the service agreement, says Estrada, “you don't get the value of paying for that preventive maintenance. But that preventive maintenance can help you reduce reactive repair costs a lot.”
How much is a lot?
According to the 86 Repairs 2025 State of the Restaurant Industry Report, the average cost of an emergency service request in 2024 was $754, compared to $596 for the average medium-level request.
“It’s about 27% more expensive to have an emergency service request,” says Estrada, “which speaks to the need for preventive maintenance and a good process, so staff are reporting issues quickly when they happen, and repairs are getting done before these issues turn into emergencies.”
The Three Keys to Improving Restaurant R&M
Now that we understand why it's important to prioritize preventive commercial kitchen equipment repairs and maintenance, what steps can you take to transition to that more proactive approach?
Estrada spotlights three key steps for operators:
- Asset management
- Vendor management
- Reduction of unnecessary dispatches
Below, we’ll take a closer look at how you can reduce your costs in each of these areas.
1. Managing Assets
The first step toward understanding and controlling your R&M costs is gaining a complete picture of your asset inventory. But that complete picture involves more than just counting all the equipment used in your operation.
Estrada notes that it also means “understanding which pieces of equipment and infrastructure are critical to your business, how much money has been spent on them, and which of them are under warranty.”
“That,” says Estrada, “is visibility that most restaurant operators don't have.”
Not only that, but as the size of your operation grows, expands, or spreads into new geographic territory, your asset portfolio can grow exponentially. As it does, your costs for restaurant equipment repairs will grow as well.
A more proactive approach to restaurant equipment repair service begins by simplifying, streamlining, and gaining full visibility into your assets and the costs associated with them. This is why providers like 86 Repairs begin their on-boarding process by capturing a full inventory of the client’s assets and gathering a wealth of data about each asset.
Estrada explains that “We're collecting data about how much money has been spent on a specific fryer or refrigerator to help a customer understand when that asset has reached the end of its useful life, when they should stop throwing good money after bad service, and when the asset should just be replaced.”
Estrada concludes that “knowing how to make better decisions based on the history of those assets and how much we forecast you'll spend on them is really critical.”
2. Managing Vendor Relationships
Once you have a handle on your asset portfolio, you’ll want to assess your vendor relationships. Are you getting your money’s worth? Are your vendors living up to their maintenance promises? Are you spending too much on repairs? Are you spending too little on routine maintenance?
It’s a lot to keep track of, especially given the daily grind of running a restaurant. But, says Estrada, “Managing the service provider relationships effectively, knowing how they're performing, knowing who else is out there in the industry who may be able to perform at a higher level or lower cost – those are really important market insights.”
Estrada also warns that the service provider with the lowest hourly rate may not always be the most cost effective option. To put it bluntly, you’ll spend less on restaurant equipment repairs in the long run by bringing in a professional who does it right the first time.
By contrast, you could spend a fortune on chronic and occasionally urgent repairs when you work with a bargain service provider. This is why, Estrada stresses, “managing vendor relationships is a really important way to reduce cost.”
3. Reducing Unnecessary Dispatches
Lowering your maintenance costs isn’t just about who you call but how often you call them. All those repair and maintenance dispatches can add up to big bills. But some of those dispatches can be avoided with just a few easy tweaks to your internal procedures.
There may be easy things you can do in-house to keep your equipment running smoothly, to bring malfunctioning equipment back online, and most importantly, to avoid spending money on unnecessary maintenance calls.
That’s why, says Estrada, “We troubleshoot with staff to avoid sending a service company – to flip a circuit breaker or clean a filter or plug; something where the staff can solve some of those problems on-site and on their own.”
“The cost of each service visit is going to continue going up,” Estrada points out. “So avoiding dispatch is one of the biggest things that operators can do to reduce their cost.”
Taking the Restaurant R&M Burden Off of Your Team
So how exactly can your restaurant take these steps without disrupting your operation or creating a burden for your staff? The key, Estrada suggests, is in your data.
“One of the key insights that we learned from working with the industry for many years,” he says, “is that there's a lack of good insights to help operators make informed decisions. It's very hard to know how much money has been spent on a specific piece of equipment, which service companies are doing the best work, what's under warranty, and what an asset’s service history is.”
Of course, Estrada notes, your front line staff has enough to do every day without keeping track of equipment warranties, repair costs, and pre-scheduled service visits. But providers like 86 Repairs offer end-to-end support for gathering, leveraging, and acting on these data points.
“The biggest thing is keeping those front line managers focused on running their restaurants. When a repair needs to happen, that front line team member can submit the request, and then return to their other priorities,” Estrada says.
“Our team does the legwork of dispatching a service company, chasing them, making sure they show up, making sure the work is done…and providing insights to senior management about the facilities as a whole, and where the money is going,” he explains.
To find out if 86 Repairs is right for you, schedule a consultation with a Back of House expert today!
