Causes and Remedies of Poor Maintenance of Public Building in Enugu Urban
CHAPTER ONE
AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to investigate the common problems of building maintenance in Nigeria so that ways of over coming the problems may be adopted.
OBJECTIVES
The main objectives of this study are.
- To spell out the need for and benefits of maintenance manual to buildings owners and the occupiers in the maintenance processes.
- For the government to put in place maintenance policy that will require government owned building to be maintained from time in Nigeria.
- To go for market survey in terms of making choices on the type of materials to be used and go for good quality material e.g. paint, timber, ceiling board tiles, pipes etc.
- To make provisions for good workmanship, to work according to the specification, to do the job as required in terms of construction techniques and also make sure the job is well supervised at the early stage.
- To provide a good design plan to avoid effects as time goes on and to make sure the structural, electrical and mechanical engineers carried out their jobs properly.
- The government should also provide a maintenance department especially for public buildings.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Classification of maintenance of buildings and infrastructures
Maintenance of buildings and infrastructures can be classified under the following headings;
- planned maintenance
- unplanned maintenance
Planned maintenance
Planned maintenance is maintenance organized and carried out with fore thought, control and the use of records to pre-determined plan. It was also defined by BS 3811 as “work undertaken in accordance with sandy based system of priorities, each operation properly planned and organized in advance with necessary labour, plant and materials assembled ready for use when required” if this is properly applied it leads to a greater margin of safety and reduce the risk of having to resort to emergency work. Planned maintenance is further divided into;
- Planned preventive maintenance.
- Planned corrective maintenance
(a) Planned preventive maintenance
This is defined as work undertaken to reduce the possibility of an item not meeting an acceptable standard and also to prevent breakdown facility or service. It involves regular inspection and identification of signs anticipated breakdown and consequently carrying out of repairs on the building and its facilities. This is carried out at pre-determined intervals intended to reduce the probability of failure. Ivor H. Seeley also stated that this is work directed to the prevention of failure of a facility, carried out within the expected life of the facility to ensure continued operation. The maintenance official knows what he is aiming at and plans how to arrive at it. Other qualities of preventive maintenance include;
- It provides essential management records.
- The programme is flexible and subject to review.
- The work is organized and controlled.
- It is cost effective.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter presents the research methodology of the study. It describes and justifies the methods and processes that will be used in order to collect data that will be used in answering the research questions. The chapter is presented under the following sections namely: definition of research methodology, research design, the concept of population and sampling, and the sources of data and methods of data collection.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Introduction
This chapter presents the results, analysis, discussions and findings of the data collected. Analysis of responses was done according to the research objectives. It examined the present state and condition of the residential buildings of the following public institutions: University of Nigeria, Winneba- Enugu campus, Nigeria Health Service nurses quarters and the Nigeria Police Service, the causes of maintenance problems in public institutions and the maintenance policy and practices of these institutions. This report also examines best practices in managing preventive maintenance for buildings owned public institutions. Simple percentages and charts were used for the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
KEY FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
Introduction
This chapter highlights and discusses the key findings from the study. The various issues analysed in the foregoing chapters have provided critical insights into the nature, causes and effects of the maintenance problems of public residential buildings. This insight has informed the recommendations of the study on how the maintenance problems could be effectively addressed. For easy appreciation the key findings have been itemized under appropriate sub-headings.
Summary of Key Findings of the Study
Availability and Condition of Facilities in Public Buildings.
The study established that:
All residential facilities of public institutions surveyed have all the necessary facilities necessary to make a house, a home for man. Bungalows and tenement houses have these facilities within the building and used by individual household, while in the case of single unit houses these facilities are detached from the main building and are shared by two households.
The majority of houses surveyed are old buildings (84.1 percent), with only 9.1 percent and 6.8 percent being recent and medium aged buildings respectively. Buildings of the GPS were much older (97.1 percent), with only 2.9 percent being younger buildings. In the case of GHS, 85.7 percent and 14.3 percent of its buildings are younger and medium-aged respectively, with the UEW-K having 38.5 percent and 61.5 percent of its buildings being younger and older respectively.
Generally, condition of facilities (toilet, bathroom, kitchen, water and electricity) in public buildings was fairly good regarding its usability. Toilet facility in good and fair condition was 85.2 percent, with electricity (80.7 percent), water (75 percent), bathroom (73.9 percent) and kitchen (71.6 percent) in the same condition. Among the institutions, GPS had its kitchen facility in worst condition 30.8 percent, followed by bathroom (23.5 percent) and electricity (22.1 percent). The UEW-K has water facility as its major problem with 92.3 percent in bad condition, followed by bathroom (46.2 percent) and kitchen (30.8 percent). Facilities in GHS were relatively in better condition with 85.7 percent of all its facilities surveyed in good and fair condition.
Recommendations
The following are recommendations as a way of dealing with maintenance problems of public institutions housing in Nigeria:
- There is the need for public institutions to embrace preventive maintenance practice as a high priority rather than adhoc maintenance. To gain optimum benefits from preventive maintenance, building managers should incorporate preventive maintenance tasks into a work-order system and keep systematic maintenance records, either by computer or manually. Managers should evaluate the preventive maintenance program to improve it over time.
- Public institutions should ensure that their maintenance department is adequately staffed with the requisite manpower and that employees have appropriate training to competently and safely undertake and complete the maintenance tasks expected of them.
- Estate and maintenance managers should oversee periodic inspections of buildings’ conditions and create an inventory of buildings’ components and equipment. They should plan building inspection, since proper planning of inspection is a sure way to reduce cost of maintenance since doing so can provide insight into future maintenance needs and avoid unnecessary costs.
Conclusion
The study has established that housing maintenance is a real problem among public institutions in Nigeria, with about 83 percent of all residential buildings of public institutions surveyed having maintenance problems. Maintenance problem is more prominent in GPS and UEW-K with 41.2 percent and 30.8 percent of their buildings in a bad condition, with 14.3 percent of those of GHS in the same situation.
Building maintenance problems are more pronounced in single unit houses than tenement houses and bungalows with 48.4 percent, 37.5 percent and 5 percent respectively in bad condition. This has come about as a result of two main factors: Pressure on the single unit buildings due to large number of occupants and preference to the maintenance of bungalows and flats except in emergency situations because the bungalows and the flats are occupied by senior and middle level management respectively while that of the single units are occupied by the lower level personnel.
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