Use the ice-free period as a planned inspection and service window—not as a reason to apply a generic shutdown checklist. Coordinate refrigeration work with the qualified contractor responsible for the installed plant, maintain the building’s required safety systems, inspect the rink area and moisture controls, and record what must be finished before reopening. The right state for the ice slab, pumps, coolant, ventilation and other equipment depends on the facility’s design and service instructions; there is no universal shutdown sequence.
Plan the closure around your rink’s design
Before work begins, establish what “between seasons” means for this facility. Some rinks remove the ice and use the floor for other purposes; others may retain ice or follow a different seasonal operating arrangement. The available guidance does not establish which approach is best for a particular rink. The decision depends on the installed refrigeration and secondary-fluid arrangement, slab and floor design, planned off-season use, climate and the facility’s operating plan.
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Have the facility’s refrigeration contractor and operations team confirm the intended shutdown state and sequence against the equipment documentation. Do not infer that a pump should be started, stopped or drained, or that a particular part of the refrigeration system should be isolated, just because another rink follows that practice. CIMCO’s seasonal guidance specifically cautions that pumps should be run only when full of fluid; it is provider guidance, not a substitute for the installed system’s instructions. CIMCO’s closed-rink maintenance guidance and the IIHF Official Ice Arena Guide 2024 provide useful context, but neither makes a general article a plant-specific shutdown procedure.
Set the scope before contractors arrive
List the systems and spaces that need inspection, who is responsible for each, and what evidence will count as completion. Include refrigeration machinery, pumps and associated components; building and rink-area condition; dehumidification and ventilation; and safety provisions that must remain in service. Add facility-specific equipment—such as header trenches or an off-season floor covering—only where it applies.
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- Identify the equipment manufacturer documents and the site’s shutdown, maintenance and restart procedures.
- Confirm the contractor responsible for the refrigeration plant and assign the facility contact who can approve access and coordinate other trades.
- Record defects, repair owners and target dates in one maintenance log. A handover should distinguish completed work from items still open.
- Agree how required alarms, ventilation and safety equipment will be maintained while the building is closed or operating in a reduced-occupancy mode.
This makes the closure a defined service period rather than an informal pause in operations. It also prevents a completed contractor visit from being mistaken for readiness to make ice.
Inspect and service refrigeration machinery
Arrange a condition inspection of the refrigeration plant and associated machinery with qualified service personnel. CIMCO recommends looking for wear and corrosion, checking belts and pump couplings, arranging compressor service as needed, maintaining condensers, and checking sensors and controls. Treat these as inspection prompts: the appropriate maintenance, test and replacement criteria come from the equipment documentation, site procedures and qualified contractor—not from a generic list.
What to record during the plant inspection
- Visible condition: Note signs of wear or corrosion on accessible machinery and components. Record where the condition appears and whether follow-up is needed; do not treat a visual check as a technical assessment of internal condition.
- Belts and couplings: Include belts and pump couplings in the contractor’s inspection scope. Record any observed defect and the action agreed with the service provider.
- Compressors and condensers: Ask the contractor to identify compressor service due or required and to address condenser maintenance appropriate to the installed equipment.
- Sensors and controls: Confirm the relevant instruments and control functions are included in the site’s maintenance or commissioning process. The IIHF and ASHRAE guidance discusses humidity monitoring, but does not establish a universal calibration interval for every rink sensor.
- Pumps and fluid: Follow the system-specific instructions about pump operation and fluid condition. CIMCO says to run pumps only when they are full of fluid; do not extend this into an unsourced instruction to run or stop a particular pump.
Keep refrigerant leak detection and plant-room provisions in the required operating state during the closure, in accordance with site procedures and applicable requirements. A seasonal closure does not itself establish that monitoring or ventilation can be disabled. Have the responsible contractor verify the plant’s condition and any work needed before the facility moves toward restart.
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Dehumidification is part of protecting the building as well as supporting ice conditions. The IIHF guide explains that excess moisture can contribute to corrosion, wood rot, fungi or mold, increased energy use and ice-quality problems. Moisture can enter with people and outdoor air, and can also be introduced by resurfacing water and combustion-driven resurfacers. The guide identifies outdoor-air infiltration as an important moisture source in its discussion. The IIHF’s succinct statement is: “The dehumidification plant is needed to dry the rink air.”
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Have the dehumidifier serviced and check the building envelope and arena exhaust-fan dampers as part of the seasonal work. For a construction and facility team, this means looking for envelope conditions that could allow unwanted air or moisture movement, then assigning any required repair to the appropriate trade. Do not assume that switching off the ice system removes the need to manage indoor moisture: the building’s exposure and operating conditions continue to matter during the closure.
Read humidity in context
The IIHF Official Ice Arena Guide 2024 gives a recommended rink-air water content of about 4–5 g/kg dry air. In the guide’s example, this corresponds approximately to +11°C air temperature, 55% relative humidity and a 2–3°C dew point. Those figures describe the guide’s stated conditions, not a universal target for every rink or every point in the off-season. The same guide presents maximum relative-humidity recommendations that vary with rink-air temperature; a single RH number should not be applied without the relevant temperature and operating context.
Use the measurement method and setpoints established for the facility. The IIHF discusses humidity control using dew point or temperature-and-relative-humidity approaches, while ASHRAE discusses properly designed dehumidification to reduce fog and ceiling dripping. A consumer digital thermo-hygrometer can provide an additional observation of temperature and RH, but it does not replace installed, calibrated controls, dehumidification equipment, commissioning or contractor service. Neither the IIHF nor ASHRAE endorses a particular consumer instrument.
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If readings are unexpected, record the conditions and share them with the people responsible for the building and HVAC systems. A reading without its location, time, air temperature and operating context is difficult to interpret. The sources do not supply a universal sensor calibration interval or a one-size-fits-all humidity setpoint, so the site’s control strategy and qualified service advice should govern.
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Inspect the rink area and off-season floor
Once the shutdown arrangement is confirmed, inspect the rink components and any surface system that will be in use during the closure. CIMCO identifies slab cleaning and preparation, board servicing, snowmelt-pit and coil inspection and cleaning, and repairs to compatible floor coverings as seasonal tasks. These tasks are not applicable to every rink; use the facility drawings and equipment inventory to determine what is installed.
Slab, boards and related components
- Slab: Clean the rink slab as appropriate for the facility’s planned shutdown and surface use. Record visible conditions that need assessment or repair rather than assuming cleaning alone resolves them.
- Boards: Inspect and service the boards, document work completed and track repairs that remain open.
- Header trenches: Include them in the inspection only if the rink has them and the site’s maintenance scope calls for it.
- Floor covering or other surface system: If one is installed for off-season use, inspect it and arrange any compatible repairs. Confirm that the covering and planned use are suitable for the rink’s construction and operating plan.
Snowmelt pit and coil
Inspect and clean the snowmelt pit and check the condition of its coil where the facility has this equipment. Record the condition and any repair requirement; do not assume that clearing visible debris establishes the coil or the system as a whole is serviceable. Put any specialist work in the appropriate contractor’s scope.
These checks are also a chance to coordinate building repairs with rink work. Where an issue affects more than one trade—for example, a surface repair alongside refrigeration or floor-system work—record the dependency and agree the work sequence with the facility team. The sources identify the relevant areas for attention but do not prescribe a universal construction repair method or acceptance test.
Keep safety provisions in service during closure
Maintain plant-room and facility safety provisions according to site procedures and applicable requirements. Depending on the facility, that includes exit access, refrigerant leak detection, exhaust ventilation, eyewash and fire-protection equipment. These are safety-sensitive systems; a general seasonal checklist is not a complete inspection standard. Use qualified service providers and the applicable regulations for inspection, testing and any change in operating state.
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Include safety equipment in the closure work plan rather than treating it as a final reopening check. Assign a responsible person to confirm what stays operational, what is inspected during the closure, and how deficiencies are escalated. Coordinate any work that could affect alarms, ventilation or access with the people responsible for plant operations and facility safety.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Build a documented maintenance plan
A short, consistent record is more useful than a long checklist that is not tied to ownership or follow-up. For every asset or area inspected, record its identifier or location, the inspection date, the person or contractor responsible, observed condition, action required, owner and target date, and evidence that the work is complete. Keep unresolved items visible through the pre-opening review.
When evaluating the scope of a maintenance plan or contractor proposal, compare the factors that change the work required. The table below is a planning aid, not a ranked vendor comparison or a set of fixed maintenance frequencies.
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| Seasonal arrangement | Will the rink retain ice or become ice-free? What shutdown and restart state does the site design require? |
| Refrigeration and fluid system | What plant and secondary-fluid arrangement is installed? Which equipment-specific inspections and service tasks apply? |
| Moisture control | What dehumidifier type is installed, and does the facility monitor dew point, or temperature and relative humidity, under its operating strategy? |
| Building and climate | What envelope repairs or damper issues need attention, and how do local outdoor moisture conditions affect the building? |
| Off-season surface use | Will the slab, floor covering or another rink-area surface system be used? What facility-specific checks follow from that choice? |
| Contractor scope and return to service | Who documents inspections and repairs, and who supports the facility’s pre-opening process? |
These are decision points, not reasons to add unnecessary work. ASHRAE’s rink guidance addresses differences in rink construction, operating season and plant operation; the IIHF guide covers humidity and arena operation. Use those engineering contexts alongside the actual facility design and contractor documentation.
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Prepare a controlled return to service
Reopening should follow the facility’s approved startup procedure, not an improvised sequence. Before making ice or opening to users, close out the work that affects the planned operating conditions and review unresolved issues with operations and plant service personnel. The sources do not establish a universal restart order, schedule, or test values for all rinks.
- Review the maintenance log. Identify incomplete work, defects that affect safe or reliable operation, and any decisions still awaiting contractor input. Assign an owner and disposition for each unresolved item.
- Verify building and moisture-control readiness. Confirm that dehumidification equipment, ventilation controls, dampers and envelope repairs are ready for the planned conditions. Ensure the monitoring and control approach is the one established for the facility.
- Complete rink-area work. Clean the slab and snowmelt pit as applicable, confirm the pit coil’s condition, and inspect boards and other installed rink components. Record completed repairs.
- Have qualified personnel follow the plant restart instructions. Confirm equipment state, fluid requirements, control operation and any inspection or service prerequisites against the installed plant documentation.
- Review readiness with the responsible team. Operations and plant service personnel should review the completed record and outstanding items before public use.
During commissioning or the facility’s pre-season process, confirm instrument readings and control operation in the manner prescribed for the site. The IIHF describes monitoring humidity using dew point or temperature and RH approaches; ASHRAE notes that properly designed dehumidification helps reduce fog and ceiling dripping. Neither source sets one calibration interval or commissioning test that applies to every rink.
Keep operating ice guidance separate from off-season rules
The IIHF Official Ice Arena Guide 2024 recommends an operating ice thickness of 2.5–3.5 cm and weekly checks of ice thickness and level. Those figures concern ice in operation; they are not instructions for how much ice to retain—or whether to retain any—during an ice-free season. Do not use operating-ice guidance as a substitute for the facility’s seasonal shutdown decision.
Likewise, humidity guidance for rink air should be interpreted in relation to the operating conditions it describes. If the building will be used differently during the closure, the relevant targets and controls need to be determined for that use and the installed systems. A facility-specific maintenance log and contractor-approved procedure are the practical bridge between general arena guidance and the actual building.
Sources and scope
The seasonal equipment and rink-area tasks described here draw on CIMCO’s closed-rink maintenance guidance, which should be understood as advice from an industry service provider rather than a regulation or independent comparative study. Engineering context on rink operation, moisture and construction comes from the IIHF Official Ice Arena Guide 2024 and ASHRAE Handbook, 2026, Chapter 44. Together these sources support a structured maintenance approach, but they do not replace equipment-specific instructions, applicable regulations or qualified plant service.
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