The distinction matters because statutory inspections carry legal consequences a routine PM doesn't: missing one isn't just a maintenance gap, it's a compliance failure that can void insurance, trigger enforcement action, or become the central question in an incident investigation.
The practical failure mode most facilities run into isn't forgetting compliance exists — it's an inspection quietly lapsing on one asset out of hundreds because nothing escalated it automatically before the due date passed. The fix is having statutory checks generate and escalate on their own schedule, separate from and ahead of the general PM calendar.