deferred maintenance
Put off repairs
Deferred maintenance is repair or upkeep that has been postponed, usually to save money in the short term.
The phrase appears most often in discussions of infrastructure, buildings, and equipment: The bridge collapse revealed decades of deferred maintenance.
The concept implies accumulating problems—what gets deferred doesn't disappear but compounds, often costing more to fix later than if addressed promptly.
- backlogAccumulated unfinished work
- neglectFailure to provide care
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- repairRestore to working order
- crumblingBreaking down gradually
falling apart · rust · leaky · patched · worn · overdue · budget · money pit · infrastructure · decay · postponed · roof · pipes · cracks · peeling · aging · facilities · inspection
- listing lingofixer-upper, handyman special, starter home, move-in ready, priced to sell
- Fixer-Uppersfixer-upper, handyman special, needs work, distressed property, gut job
- mismanagementmishandling, dysfunction, misuse, incompetence, inefficiency
deferred maintenancepreventive care
Health maintenance before disease
asset management · facilities management · capital improvement
defer, deferred, deferring, defers, deferral, deferment, maintain, maintained, maintaining