Hospital is a complex building which involves a diverse range of people, equipment and systems. The building maintainability aspect has always been neglected at the design stage of project development; on the other hand issues related to maintainability may affect the performance of hospital building and incurred unnecessary cost. Some of the defect could be eliminated with proper attention and consideration during the design stage. The aim of the study is to identify the category and causes of building defects of public hospital. Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah, Alor Setar has been selected as a case study. Data collection has been conducted based on secondary reports produced by the hospital services outsourcing company maintenance. The building defect were categorised based on three items that are enclosure, settings and fittings. Each defect will be discussed in detail in the paper. The study provides a significant contribution to the knowledge on public hospital defect in Malaysia
