The Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras,  received a project on developing a Handbook on seismic retrofit of  buildings. The Handbook will contain seventeen chapters covering different aspects of seismic retrofit. The first chapter is a stand alone chapter that explains the concepts of seismic design and retrofit in a language suitable for the lay man. Besides the introductory chapters, there are chapters on evaluation and retrofit of various types of buildings. The types of buildings cover non-engineered, masonry,  reinforced concrete, steel buildings and historical  and  heritage structures. The geotechnical seismic hazards and retrofit  of  foundations are placed as separate chapters. Retrofit using  fibre  reinforced  polymer  composites, energy  dissipation and  base  isolation devices are  introduced. A chapter on quality assurance  and  control is included. This paper presents the content of the Handbook and the issues relevant to retrofit of buildings.