The history of designing and the evolution of the process for the joint production of phenol and acetone, which is now the basic industrial method for the manufacture of these products, the state of the art and parameters of its key steps in industrial facilities among world manufacturers of phenol are presented. Special attention is given to the consideration of ways of improving the characteristics of the process and its environmental safety on the basis of the recent advances in science and to methods for the solution of scientific and practical questions of the reconstruction and renovation of out-of-date industrial phenol manufacturing facilities.