DEVELOPMENT OF MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE CONSERVATION OF HERITAGE BUILDINGS IN MALAYSIA

The identity of a people and nation is largely defined by their heritage, which is
passed down from one generation to another. Heritage sites can be natural or man�made (buildings, monuments, tombs etc). This research focuses on heritage buildings
because they are considered as repositories of cultural heritage that strengthen a
country's national identity and sovereignty. Besides, heritage buildings provide
architectural continuity and boost revenue generation through heritage tourism. The
tourism industry generated revenue of RM56.5billion in 2010 to the government
thereby making tourism industry one of the most important sectors of the Malaysian
economy. It is mainly through conservation that we can prolong the life, functions and
values of heritage buildings. Various authors consider maintenance as the most
practical and economic form of conserving heritage buildings. Many frameworks for
managing the maintenance of normal buildings exist. However, the maintenance
strategy for heritage buildings is different from normal buildings because the fabric of
heritage building has cultural significance, which should be retained maximally.
Besides, maintenance of heritage building involves repairing the building fabric very
close to the original using traditional techniques and traditional matching materials
and being sensitive to the original structure. Therefore, a specific framework is
required for managing the maintenance of heritage buildings. Though there are some
existing manuals and best practices for maintenance of heritage buildings, they do not
contain the set of factors that influence effective maintenance management,
maintenance cost prediction tool and the prioritization of building defects. This could
make it difficult to use the manuals and best practices to plan, control, organize and
monitor maintenance activities of heritage buildings.