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Architectural heritage is one of the most essential parts of community well-being; it reflects a complexity of ideas and local cultural values. Currently, new plans or programmes are needed to manage and protect heritage building areas, such as the cities on the Pacific Chilean coastline that are susceptible to natural afflictions. This research intends to apply a functional service life methodology to a new context in Chile: the city of Valparaíso, which represents one of the most excellent examples of late 19th century urban and architectural development in Latin America. The service life model assists a panel of professional experts in making key decisions about heritage building preservation. This research work applied the serviceability method to 25 heritage building constructions (timber-framed masonry) located in Valparaíso. The viability of the system has been verified in previous works and applications in Europe (Spain and Portugal) and the South of Chile (Valdivia). The majority of the sample presents a good functional level, with the exception of just three cases which are positioned in the middle level/grey area (cost and benefits are taken into account and balanced). These case studies should be analysed periodically over time to preserve their functionality. Intervention has been defined as a priority; this information is completely relevant to establishing an approximate periodicity of intervention for this kind of heritage construction and in this kind of context in South America. This work is complemented by a climate change approximation which considers the main possible effects on built heritage located in Valparaíso, Chile. The research work can help stakeholders become involved in the definition of future effective preventive maintenance programmes for heritage building stock. • This study proposes a new application of a fuzzy model for cultural heritage in Chile. • A total of 25 heritage buildings have been analysed in the historical city of Valparaíso, Chile. • The variables that affect the functional service life of heritage constructions were analysed in detail. • The proposed fuzzy method helps in the definition of preventive maintenance programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]