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Preventive, corrective and breakdown maintenance
Short answer
Preventive maintenance is scheduled work like repainting or servicing to avoid failure, while corrective maintenance is repair after failure, such as fixing a burst pipe. Preventive is planned, cheaper, safer, and extends life; corrective is unplanned, costlier, and causes more downtime.
Define and differentiate preventive maintenance and corrective (breakdown) maintenance with examples.
Preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance is planned work done at regular intervals to prevent breakdown, such as inspection, cleaning, lubrication, adjustment and minor repair, carried out while the item is still working. Examples: repainting the exterior walls every 4 years; servicing a lift or generator monthly; clearing roadside drains before the monsoon.
Corrective (breakdown) maintenance
Corrective maintenance is repair or replacement carried out after a fault or failure has happened, to restore the item to working condition. When the failure is sudden and the work must be done at once, it is called breakdown maintenance. Examples: repairing a burst water pipe; patching potholes after they appear; replacing a failed pump.
Differences
| Point | Preventive | Corrective / breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Before failure, on schedule | After failure |
| Planning | Planned and scheduled | Unplanned, urgent |
| Cost | Lower over life | Higher, often with damage to other parts |
| Downtime | Short, planned | Long, unexpected |
| Safety | Higher | Risk before repair |
| Life of asset | Extended | Shortened |
| Example | Waterproofing a roof on schedule | Repairing a leaking, damaged roof |
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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