Case study · District cooling
Tabreed: an independent expert review of a complete maintenance management system
When Tabreed set out to document a complete maintenance management system for its district cooling operations, it didn’t just want the documents written. It wanted them challenged. Reliability Academy peer-reviewed the entire suite (25 documents, from the reliability policy at the top to pump and transformer PM procedures at the bottom) before Tabreed committed to rolling them out.
The engagement
At a glance
- Industry
- District cooling (utilities)
- Location
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Client
- National Central Cooling Company PJSC (Tabreed)
- Engagement
- Advisory: independent peer review of maintenance management system documentation
- Timeframe
- 2025 to early 2026 (first engaged mid-2024)
- Scope
- 25 documents across four levels of the document hierarchy
The problem
The challenge
Tabreed, the Abu Dhabi-based district cooling utility, was building out a full Maintenance and Reliability Management System under its Maintenance and Reliability Excellence Program. A third-party contractor was developing the documentation: policies, strategies, standards, guidelines and work instructions covering everything from preventive and corrective maintenance to shutdown management, management of change and KPIs.
Documentation developed by a contractor carries a specific risk: it can be internally consistent, professionally formatted, and still not work in practice. Tabreed recognised this and went to tender for an independent peer review. The brief was direct: tell us where and how to improve the individual documents, and tell us whether the overall management system will be effective and efficient.
The solution
What we did
Erik Hupje personally reviewed the full suite of 25 documents, from the Level 1 reliability policy and Level 2 maintenance and operation strategies down to Level 3 standards and guidelines and Level 4 procedures and checklists for equipment like chilled water pumps, variable frequency drives and transformers.
The review ran in stages through 2025 so Tabreed received early feedback on the most critical documents first, with comments provided directly in the documents themselves plus a consolidated summary report. This was not a box-ticking exercise. Where the draft documents imported heavy oil-and-gas frameworks that didn’t fit a district cooling operation, the review said so. Where a document confused maintenance planning with scheduling, or assigned planners to emergency work in violation of basic planning principles, the review said that too, and explained what good practice looks like instead.
Erik delivered the review remotely from Australia. The final document reviews were completed in December 2025, and the engagement closed out in early 2026 with the full scope delivered.
The outcome
The results
Tabreed’s operational data isn’t ours to publish. What we can describe is the work itself, and where it went next: all 25 documents reviewed, a consolidated summary report delivered, and the work formally closed out. Early in 2026, Erik visited one of Tabreed’s plants and met with the team at Tabreed’s headquarters to discuss further collaboration.
You don’t get invited to meet the client’s team in person after a review that only told them what they wanted to hear.
What’s next
Review your own maintenance management system
Facing a similar challenge? Reliability Academy provides independent reviews of maintenance management systems and documentation for asset-intensive operators. See how we work with teams.
See what this could look like for your team
A 30-minute call with Erik: your operation, your gaps, and whether this is the right fit. No pitch deck.