Fa ç ades should meet the users ’ needs, assuring a good global
performance during their service life. Proactive maintenance is becoming
increasingly crucial to the rational management of buildings and to reducing
global expenses. It offers clear advantages over reactive maintenance, that
is interventions which take place after several complaints or in emergencies.
Proactive maintenance of building elements helps to create mechanisms to
prevent and / or control their deterioration, through the implementation of
maintenance actions that are both reliable and economic. This paper discusses
a technical and economic analysis that compares three proactive strategies
(preventive, predictive and improvement) for two types of coatings typically used in
maintenance interventions of fa ç ades of social housing units in Lisbon: emulsion,
and elastomeric coatings. Finally, crucial parameters to reduce the uncertainty and
ensure the reliability of technical and economic analyses for each maintenance
strategy are established and discussed. This methodology, the result of 2 years ’
academic research ( Flores, 2002 ), is intended to help clients, users, practitioners
(especially maintenance managers) and decision-makers in their choice of fa ç ade
intervention (type, frequency and cost estimate) at the buildings ’ design and
post-occupancy phases.

• Discussion of proactive maintenance strategies in fa çades’ coatings of social housing