I'd call it "Maintaining existing code" rather than "Refactoring". To a non-technical manager, the former sounds like pretty much what it is, and won't raise m

I'd call it "Maintaining existing code" rather than "Refactoring". To a non-technical manager, the former sounds like pretty much what it is, and won't raise many questions. (If they do question it, ask them if they maintain their car while it's still running ok, or just wait until it breaks down before they do anything to care for it.) Refactoring, on the other hand, sounds like a buzz word, and if they look it up they'll get "rewriting code that's already working so that it continues working the same way". They probably won't get the nuances about why that's a useful thing to do, so it'll sound like busywork and they won't be happy with letting your team do it. They also won't be able to justify it to their management if they're questioned about it, which is critical for getting buy-in from your managers.