This paper briefly traces the evolution of Indian apartment housing and its share in the real estate sector. It brings forth the need for maintenance management of the current housing stock. It concisely presents a range of economic outgoings during the post occupancy period toward maintenance management and operation costs across the world. It covers what is understood as maintenance management and the assortment of the pertinent strategies. Among other activities, maintenance management is found to be centered around elimination of defects. A variety of definitions circumscribing defects and their classifications are presented. The issues of data availability for research in this domain are highlighted. Results of a survey of residential buildings in Pune, are presented that resonate with the literature findings. The paper concludes with suggestions in research areas that plead attention in the Indian scenario