Building maintenance has become a vast and expensive problem occupying much of the output of the construction industry; building owners have therefore teamed to regard properly planned maintenance as essential. The contributors to this book emphasize the importance of adequate consideration of maintenance at the design stage as well as the need for properly planned maintenance throughout the life of the building. It is vitally important that all building owners and users should regard the regular, planned maintenance of their buildings as a matter of serious concern, for we cannot afford to allow our buildings, old or new, to decay and become unsightly and uneconomical through neglect. It is both impractical and undesirable to replace all our older buildings, and therefore essential that they should be kept in good repair.