A ceramic heater for heating a semiconductor wafer under processing and has a layered structure wherein on one surface of a supporting substrate made of carbon or a carbon-based composite material, successively formed layers including an insulating layer, and electroconductive layer as an electric heating element and a dielectric layer. A first step for partly or completely removing the layer or layers having degraded properties by means of a suitable method such as sandblasting and a second step of re-forming the layer or layers having been removed in the first step. The invention allows for a substantial cost decrease as compared with the conventional way by replacing the worn-out ceramic heater with a newly manufactured one.