Maintenance is the practice of protecting or restoring equipments/components in order to maintain function and integrity. As a critical component of an asset integrity management (AIM) program, maintenance engineers and technicians dedicate time to developing and implementing maintenance strategies that optimize production and use cost-effective maintenance techniques.

Typical maintenance techniques include cleaning, inspection, lubrication, testing, replacing, and/or repairing piping and structure components. Furthermore, the responsibilities of a maintenance company may be predictive or preventive. The fundamental difference between predictive and preventive maintenance is that predictive maintenance is a continuous process based on the current condition of equipment whereas preventive maintenance is performed in scheduled intervals based on the age and remaining life of a piece of equipment.