Preventive maintenance in older buildings: pay a little now or a lot later

A 50-year-old building is not a problem: it is a building halfway through its life. Whether the second half is cheap or ruinous depends on preventive maintenance.

The five inspections that pay off

1. The roof, every year (visually) and thoroughly every three to five: waterproofing gives warning before it fails — joints, lifted membrane, drains. Cost of the inspection: almost nothing. Cost of ignoring it: structural leaks.
2. The facade every five years (and after each technical inspection): cracks, incipient loosening, expansion joints. A falling piece is also direct civil liability for the community.
3. The main plumbing: in buildings with original risers (lead or iron), plan a phased renewal BEFORE the chain of leaks begins. A planned renewal costs half what the same work costs across successive emergencies.
4. Electrics in the common areas: old boards without adequate residual current devices — an inspection by an authorised installer is cheap, and some policies reward it.
5. The structure, when there are signs: cracks that grow, joinery that stops fitting — call your regular surveyor before sounding the general alarm.

The maths of prevention

The trade's rule of thumb: €1 of prevention avoids €3–5 of correction. In an older building, an annual maintenance fund (on top of the legally required reserve) of 0.5–1% of the rebuild value is the difference between a well-kept building and a perpetual levy.

The long record

Prevention lives off the history: what was inspected, what was seen, what was done. A building with a written memory maintains itself — each chair inherits the map instead of starting blind.