Maintenance that keeps a shelter ready
A shelter that is not maintained will fail when it is needed. Filters expire, batteries age, water goes stale, pumps seize and seals dry out. Our maintenance plans make sure every part works on the day it matters.
What fails in a neglected shelter
These are the problems we find most often when we inspect shelters that have been left alone.
Water ingress
Sump pumps that have not run in a year, blocked drains and damp after the monsoon. Left alone, water damages equipment and stores.
Dead batteries
Batteries left at the wrong charge for months lose capacity, and the shelter runs out of power far sooner than designed.
Expired consumables
Filters, CO₂ absorbent, food, medicines and fuel all have shelf lives. Expired stock can be useless or harmful.
Seized mechanisms
Blast valves, hatches and door seals that are never exercised stiffen or stick.
Untested air tightness
Small cracks and new penetrations quietly break the seal that keeps fallout and gas out.
Forgotten procedures
Families who have not drilled in years do not remember the codes, the routes or the order of the steps.
Three plans
Every plan includes a written readiness report after each visit. Plans are priced by shelter class and location, and quoted with your build or audit.
Essential
- Full inspection of structure, seals and damp
- Air system run, filter and valve checks
- Battery, pump and generator tests
- Water rotation
- Expiry list for food and medicines
Assured
Most chosen- Everything in Essential
- Pre-summer and post-monsoon visits
- Food and medicine rotation
- Generator service and fuel treatment
- One guided household drill
Total
- Everything in Assured
- Quarterly visits and remote readiness monitoring
- All consumables, including filters
- Two guided drills a year
- Priority inspection after any event
The maintenance year in India
Visits are timed to the seasons, because heat and monsoon are what stress a shelter most.
Pre-summer, March to April
Cooling and dehumidification serviced and tested at full load, battery health checked, solar cleaned.
Pre-monsoon, May
Sump pumps run, drains cleared, backflow valves tested, entries and hatches checked against flooding.
Post-monsoon, October
Damp and crack inspection, earth cover and drainage checked for settlement, air tightness tested.
Winter, hill and retreat sites
Heating, insulation and condensation checked, snow loads and hatch clearance reviewed, before access gets difficult.
What gets done, and how often
| Task | Owner | Qilyx |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-through: damp, smells, alarms, lights | Monthly | Every visit |
| Run air system and generator | Monthly | Every visit, under load |
| Sump pumps and drains | Before monsoon | Every visit |
| Battery state of health | Check display monthly | Measured each visit |
| Blast valves, hatch, door seals | Open hatch in drills | Exercised and serviced yearly |
| Air-tightness and overpressure | Read gauge in drills | Pressure test yearly |
| HEPA and gas filters | Note dates | Checked yearly, replaced on schedule or after use |
| Radiation meters | Battery check | Calibration as the maker specifies |
| Gas sensors and alarms | Test button monthly | Tested, replaced by date |
| Stored water | Note dates | Rotated every 6–12 months |
| Food and medicines | Note dates | Rotated before expiry |
| Fuel | Check level | Treated and rotated |
| Household drill | Twice a year | Guided on Assured and Total |
| Structural review | Report cracks | Engineer review every 5 years, or after an earthquake |
Rotated food is donated where you allow it, through channels that do not identify you.
Already have a shelter? Get it audited.
We inspect bunkers, basements and safe rooms built by others, including imported steel units.
Many existing shelters in India have never been tested. An audit tells you what you actually have, and what it would take to make it work.
Inspection
Structure, waterproofing, entries, air system, power, water, stores and exits.
Tests
Pressure and air-tightness test, filter condition, battery capacity, pumps and alarms.
Honest report
What protection it gives, what is missing, what is unsafe, and the options, from fixes to full upgrade.
Upgrade or maintain
If you choose, we upgrade it and take it onto a maintenance plan.
Common findings: no overpressure, so gas and fallout can leak in; generators venting near the air intake; buried steel corroding; no second exit; no cooling for full occupancy.
Also available
Retreat-site caretaking
Scheduled visits to remote shelters, timed around snow and monsoon, by a small named team. See retreat shelters.
Post-event inspection
After an earthquake, flood or other event, once it is safe to travel: inspection, filter replacement and restocking.
Fault visits
Between scheduled visits, if a pump, alarm or battery fault appears, we arrange a repair visit.
Stock planning updates
When your household changes, such as a new baby, an elderly parent moving in or a new diet, we update stores and plans.
Protocol refresh
Your written protocol updated for new people, new routes and changes in official alert systems.
Handover on sale
If the property changes hands, we re-key codes, brief the new owner on your instruction and transfer the plan.
Discreet, every visit
Maintenance follows the same rules as construction.
- The same small, named team visits each time, under NDA
- Unbranded vehicles, visits scheduled to suit you
- Readiness reports use your project code name, not your name or address
- Remote monitoring sends only the minimum data: water, power and temperature status
During an active emergency, travel may be impossible. Maintenance is what makes sure you do not need us then.
Book a maintenance plan or an audit.
For a Qilyx shelter or one built by someone else. Tell us about it in five short questions.