MAINTENANCE CULTURE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS IN NIGERIA

Project Abstract

<p>           <b>ABSTRACT&nbsp;</b><br></p><p> Building maintenance is a subject that has to be considered seriously if building is to live up to its expected life span. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the occupants, both senior and junior staff of the estate and ministry of works respectively. From their responses, a severity index method was used in analyzing the data. These indices were used to rank the importance of each factor, which made it possible to cross-compare the relative importance of the variable factors by different respondent. Based on the analysis, it was found that the major cause of maintenance problems were post construction preventive maintenance management, design resolution, lack of funds, response time to maintain and usage. Since these factors are of human nature, the introduction of the culture of post construction preventive maintenance should be encouraged. Keywords Maintenance, Construction, Impact, Property, Design <br></p>

Project Overview

<p><b>1.0 INTRODUCTION&nbsp;</b></p><p>Maintenance culture is an attitude which is sadly lacking in Nigeria, whether in the home, office, school or factory. Mbamali (2003) added that poor maintenance culture has become a widely recognised problem in Nigeria. Maintenance culture in Nigeria is the lowest around the World, especially, in our principal towns and cities. In the rural areas, the story is different and pleasant to hear. The traditional practice of communal clearing of community owned places such as market; playground is in almost every village. In private homes it is customary to refurbish building interiors with mixtures of cow dung or natural red clay. The end result is attractive and totally indigenous. According to Wahab (1995) the nation accords low priority to property management. Faworaja (1996) In Mbamali (2003) asserted that we have no maintenance policy and therefore no such culture exists. Neglect of maintenance has accumulated consequences in rapid increase in the deterioration of the fabric and finishes of a building, accompanied by a harmful effect on the contents occupants (Seeley, 1987). Inadequate maintenance culture is a peculiar feature of almost every building in Nigeria. According to Rotimi and Mtallib (1995) is partly due to poor maintenance culture on one hand and partly due to the absence of an appropriate benchmark. Gurjit (1990) asserted that lack of proper maintenance culture bring the life of a building last before reaching the total obsolescence state. The declining maintenance culture in Nigeria and its effect on buildings has become a major problem to both the public and private sectors. This study examines the trend of maintenance culture and its effect on construction, and quality of materials, design and facilities as well as services used during constructing the building. A great portion of a Nation wealth is evident in the total value of its buildings; it is also an important factor in the production of the building to be preserved. A poorly maintained building in a decaying environment depresses the quality of live and contributes in some measures to anti social behaviour which threatens the socio-political environment it finds itself in. This research is necessitated to look at the existing knowledge about continuous negligence on maintenance and its impact on construction as been suffered by residential buildings.</p><p>&nbsp;<b>CONCEPT OF BUILDING MAINTENANCE&nbsp;</b></p><p>According to Sidney (1991) permanent structure requires less attention than temporary ones, any house owner will confirm that even the best constructed building needs constant attention. If the attention is delayed, what started as being something very minor is liable to turn quickly into an expensive operation? Similarly, Seeley (1987) asserted that no building can exist throughout its span without one form of maintenance or the other; it is to say that much can be done at the design stage in order to reduce the amount of subsequent maintenance work. According to Seeley (1997) maintenance work on a building should commence from the day the contractor leaves the site. The necessity for maintenance work on buildings is noted in the fact that all buildings, as well as the materials and components therein, deteriorate or suffer loss in aesthetic, strength and or functional value, with exposure to the elements of weather over time. The appearance and life span of a building and also the quality of the materials would be affected depending on the manner to which maintenance is adhered to, in the building (Seeley, 1987). If the design process is to be enhanced, the building team need to come together and contribute towards the building’s maintainability at the project inception rather than leaving it for the maintenance personnel at the end of construction to battle with the curative measure (Adejimi, 1998). This sometimes according to Seeley (1997) causes frustration and annoyance to maintenance personnel when taking over new buildings and finding themselves faced with bad details, poor choice of finishes, materials and components and lack of basic information about the building and its services. According to Cornick (1996) “the root cause of the problems that the construction industry and its clients experience lie in the division of the responsibilities between the design aspects and the construction aspect” Alexander (1996) was direct in his criticism of the organization of the construction industry noted that the industry is unique in that the design process is separated from production. The successful completion of any building depends on many things, few of which are as important as the designer-contractor relationship. The two parties must be willing to work together so that the clients get maximum benefit from their joint expertise. The contract should feel able to contribute to the design process in matters relating to construction practice and the designer should be willing to receive, analyse and subsequently act on such recommendations <br></p>