ABSTRACT
After defining the concepts of building repair and maintenance, our work on the exceptional collection of building appraisals in early, modern Paris enables us to understand how experts used them to conserve, enhance, and maintain the capital and its real estate heritage. From a technical point of view, what circumstances called for repair: the detection of a defect, the appearance of deterioration, the risk of harm? From an economic point of view, how did experts evaluate the cost of repairs, either those to be undertaken or those already carried out, and what impact did these two types of repairs have on the value of a property? From a legal point of view, did surveyors make use of customary precepts to divide the financial burden of the maintenance work? We will show that, while the profitability of a property was often the main justification for repairs, comfort and the safeguarding of heritage were also significant factors.
