Traditional building maintenance

Regular maintenance reduces the risk of urgent and expensive repairs. Making inspections as part of a maintenance plan helps to identify issues before they become problems.

Water entering the building fabric, for example, is the main cause of most forms of decay. Planned maintenance that prioritises preventing water ingress helps address this.

This page offers advice on making maintenance plans and inspection tips. You can find more detailed information about inspection cycles along with a common maintenance actions checklist in our Maintaining your home short guide:

If you plan to make changes to your property, you might need consent.

It’s a criminal offence to:

• materially alter, extend or demolish a listed building or demolish a building in a conservation area without consent

• carry out unauthorised works, or allow unauthorised works to be carried out, to a scheduled monument

Find out more about consents

You must know your property and how it functions before you can draw up a suitable maintenance plan. 

Making an inspection

Walk around your property and make a checklist of key areas to inspect. Decide how often each must be inspected. Then work out which areas you feel confident inspecting yourself and which you need help with.

How often you inspect a building depends on its exposure, age, general condition and use. A biannual inspection is usually adequate, with additional checks after extreme weather or other unforeseen events.

In particular, you should check:

• rhones (gutters) and downpipes twice a year – clearing them of leaves and debris as necessary

• below ground drainage periodically – including testing to ensure that water is draining freely away from the property

• windows and timber items for repainting every five years

• masonry twice a year

After your inspection

Draw up the maintenance plan, identifying work required in the short, medium and longer term. Ideally, you should agree this plan with your selected tradespeople. They can then prepare for the work and build it into their forward plan.

The more complex a building’s layout and roof, the more care you must take to ensure that your inspection covers all areas. External areas to inspect and maintain include:

• rainwater disposal

• slates and other roof coverings

• gutters, ridges and valleys

• chimney stacks

• windows

• high-level joinery and decorative ironwork

• wall masonry

• below ground drainage

• external ground levels

Internal areas of focus include:

• mains water and domestic plumbing

• heating systems

• electrical systems

• ventilation

• attic space

• timber floors

Keep a list of recommended tradespeople and professionals who can help with inspection and repair work.

Planning maintenance in advance can help you to manage finances and resources. It can prevent decay, avoiding the need for more costly remedies in future. All the while it maintains the character and value of your property. Reactive maintenance also has its place.

Planned maintenance

Property owners should plan certain inspection and repair cycles – generally those related to common and recurring maintenance tasks. This lets you plan maintenance in advance, rather than wait for problems to occur.

Planned maintenance includes tasks like clearing out gutters and painting timber and metal parts of the building.

You may be able to establish a programme of maintenance works with local tradespeople and professionals. Think about the likely cost of work and your priorities before deciding on the frequency and timing of planned visits by certain trades.

Reactive maintenance

The reality is that many maintenance tasks are only addressed reactively. This is when a defect in a particular place causes you to look for maintenance issues in the same area. For example, when repairing roof slates it makes sense to inspect the chimney masonry and the security of the chimney cans as well as other roofing elements.

Using a checklist helps you to tackle the inspection in a structured way. The larger and more complex a property, the longer the inspection checklist will be.

You can use binoculars from the ground for a basic check of higher areas. A ladder allows for closer inspection of roofs and chimneys. But we recommend that you have a professional building surveyor or tradesperson carry out this part of the work.

You may prefer to employ a professional to conduct the full inspection. A growing number of general building and roofing contractors offer an annual inspection and maintenance service.

Follow all relevant health and safety guidance during the inspection. Avoid damage to vulnerable features like slate verges, rhones, downpipes and stone features. Don't walk directly on slated or tiled roof surfaces.

Take precautions if inspection or maintenance work might disturb or expose hazardous materials. If you think your property contains potentially harmful materials such as asbestos, don’t do any work that could disturb or release the material, and get advice from a suitably trained or qualified professional.

Building maintenance and repair is an important part of ensuring energy efficiency in traditional buildings.

Reduced thermal performance leads to heat loss and higher energy bills. Thermal performance of traditional buildings is reduced by loose or defective pointing, poorly maintained windows and damp masonry. Gaps around doors or windows let heat escape and cause draughts.

Building defects can cause masonry to become wet or stop water vapour escaping from the walls. A building with damp masonry will feel colder and its walls will also perform less well. Heat moves more rapidly through wet material.

Maintenance must be carried out before insulating a building. Defects and water ingress can both stop insulation from performing at its best, and further problems may occur.

More from the Engine Shed - and take a tour!

Find more information and advice in our Guide to Energy Retrofit publication or from our conservation centre, the Engine Shed. In the video, discover how our Technical Research Team improved the energy efficiency of a B-listed lodge in Edinburgh.

Energy efficiency advice from The Engine Shed