Breakdown maintenance is maintenance performed on equipment that has broken down. It is based on a breakdown maintenance trigger.
Breakdown maintenance may be either planned or it can be unplanned. An example of planned breakdown maintenance is run-to-failure maintenance, while examples of unplanned maintenance include corrective maintenance and reactive maintenance.
Breakdown maintenance can be more costly than preventative maintenance. A summary of the extra costs of unplanned breakdown maintenance is included in the reactive maintenance page.