AbstractMaintenance‐favourable design of industrial plant. A study by the German Maintenance Committee proves that maintenance costs in the Federal Republic in 1977 amounted to 123 × 109DM, of which 30 × 109DM were accounted for by manufacturing industry and more than 5 × 109DM by the chemical industry. Over 50% of subsequent damage costs are caused in the planning and manufacture phase. These sources of damage become manifest during later use and damage and secondary damage costs are incurred by the user. An appeal therefore goes out to plant manufacturers, users, and maintenance staff to cooperate in reducing the sources of damage. An important basis for such a move is the collection and exchange of data, utilization of data pools, and systematic analysis for determination of weak points at the planning and construction stage. Since maintenance costs, as one of the four operational cost factors (material, personnel, energy, and maintenance costs), show an increasing tendency with progressive automation there is a continuiing need for a cost or profit center for plant engineering or planned mainten