Development of Maintenance Management Framework for Conservation of Heritage Buildings in Malaysia

maintenance of normal buildings. However, the maintenance
strategy for heritage buildings is different from normal buildings
because the fabric of heritage building has cultural significance
which must be retained maximally and the authenticity of
heritage building depends essentially on the integrity of its fabric.
Besides, the maintenance of heritage buildings involves repairing
the building fabric very close to the original using traditional
techniques and traditional matching materials and being sensitive
to the original structure. Hence, the maintenance of heritage
building takes a cautious approach in order not to unnecessarily
disturb or destroy the historic fabric; damage the character of
the building and alter the features which give the building
historic, architectural and cultural significance. Therefore, a
specific framework is required for managing the maintenance of
heritage buildings. The goal of this research is to develop a
framework that would act as a basis for heritage organizations to
prepare guidelines for managing the maintenance and
conservation of heritage buildings. For this research, in-depth
literature review, questionnaire survey, interview and visual
survey were used to achieve the set objectives. The proposed
maintenance management framework will consist of the
important factors that support maintenance management best
practices. The outcome of this research would be useful to
heritage organizations like The National Heritage Department in
preparing guidelines for maintenance management of heritage
buildings. To the academia, the research outcome would act as a
basis for further research in order to improve and achieve best
practices in the maintenance management of heritage buildings.