TABLE
OF CONTENT
Contents
CERTIFICATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
TABLE OF CONTENT v
LIST OF TABLES vii
LIST OF FIGURES viii
ABSTRACT ix
CHAPTER ONE 1
INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Background
Statement 1
1.2. Problem
Statement 2
1.3. Aims and
Objectives 3
1.4. Research
Questions 3
1.5. Justification 4
1.6. Scope and
Delimitation to Study 4
CHAPTER TWO 5
LITERATURE REVIEW 5
2.1. Concept of
Maintenance 5
2.1.1 Types of
Maintenance 6
2.2. Culture 7
2.3. Maintenance
Culture 8
2.4. Building
Maintenance 9
2.5. Importance of
Building Maintenance 9
CHAPTER THREE 11
METHODOLOGY OF STUDY
11
3.1 Methodology Used
11
CHAPTER FOUR 12
RESULT AND
DISCUSSIONS 12
4.1 Demographic
information. 12
4.2 Effects of lack
of maintenance on hostel buildings. 12
4.2.1 Roof 13
4.2.2 Floor 13
4.2.3 Wall 14
4.2.4 Paint 15
4.2.5 Windows 16
4.2.6 Doors 17
4.2.7 Electrical
Installations 18
4.2.8 Plumbing/ Water
pipe 19
4.2.9 Toilet
Facilities 20
4.2.10 Kitchen 21
4.2.11 Bathroom
Facility 22
4.2.12 Sewage System
24
4.3 Factors affecting
maintenance of hostel buildings. 24
4.3.1. Lack of
maintenance policy 27
4.3.2. Inadequate
provision of funds for maintenance 27
4.3.3. Lack of timely
response to maintenance request 28
4.3.4. Poor
maintenance work done by the maintenance unit of the institution 29
4.3.5. Corruption 29
4.3.6. Lack of
experienced and well-trained building maintenance Engineer 30
4.3.7. Misuse of
facilities by occupants 31
4.3.8. Change of
government 31
4.3.9. Poor
architectural/structural design 32
4.3.10. Overcrowding
32
4.4. Solutions to
maintenance issues. 33
4.5. Changes incident
upon improvement in hostel maintenance. 34
CHAPTER FIVE 36
SUMMARY AND
CONCLUSION 36
REFERENCES 37
LIST OF TABLES
Table 4. 1
Demographic Information 12
Table 4. 2 Factors
Affecting Maintenance of Hostel Buildings 24
Table 4. 3 Solutions
to Maintenance Issues. 33
Table 4. 4 Changes
Incident Upon Improvement in Hostel Maintenance 34
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 4. 1 13
Figure 4. 2 14
Figure 4. 3 15
Figure 4. 4 16
Figure 4. 5 17
Figure 4. 6 17
Figure 4. 7 18
Figure 4. 8 19
Figure 4. 9 19
Figure 4. 10 20
Figure 4. 11 21
Figure 4. 12 21
Figure 4. 13 22
Figure 4. 14 22
Figure 4. 15 23
Figure 4. 16 26
Figure 4. 17 26
Figure 4. 18 27
Figure 4. 19 27
Figure 4. 20 28
Figure 4. 21 28
Figure 4. 22 29
Figure 4. 23 29
Figure 4. 24 30
Figure 4. 25 31
ABSTRACT
Just as the society
advances and the Nigerian population increases, there is an increasing number
of aspiring students being admitted into tertiary institutions and little or no
provision of adequate accommodation for them. This study examines ways of
improving maintenance culture and its effect on quality of hostel properties in
Nigerian institutions using University of Benin, Benin City, Edo state, Nigeria
as a case study. The study employed the survey method. Data was collected from
primary source using structured questionnaires which had closed ended
questions. The questionnaire consisted of five sections. Section A dealt with
the social characteristics of the respondents, Section B dealt with the
respondents’ perception of hostel building maintenance, Section C dealt with
the respondents’ view of the factors responsible for lack of hostel building
maintenance, Section D aimed at capturing the respondents’ take on possible
solutions to the maintenance issues, while Section E dealt with respondents’
idea of a well maintained hostel building and the changes it will cause. The
study found that problems that militate against hostel maintenance include;
lack of maintenance policy, inadequate provision of funds for maintenance, poor
execution of maintenance work by designated responsible units/agencies,
corruption, lack of experienced staff (human capacity building), misuse of
facilities by occupants, Lack of timely response to maintenance request,
over-crowding, change in government, and poor architectural drawings/designs.
The study therefore concluded that maintenance culture towards hostel
properties in Nigerian universities is generally poor both on the part of the
authorities and the students. From the study, it was confirmed that there is no
laid-out plan or schedule for carrying out regular maintenance works on the
hostel buildings.
The research equally
pointed out ways of improving maintenance culture, it recommended that the
school authorities together with the government should come up with maintenance
policies and schedules in line with standards and enforce that all hostel
buildings of Nigerian institutions are well maintained not only to improve the
urban aesthetics but also to improve the wellbeing of the users. Preventive
maintenance of hostel buildings should also be encouraged to avoid building
failure.
KEYWORDS:
Maintenance, Culture, Maintenance Culture, Hostel Properties, Public
Properties, Institutions.
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
BACKGROUND STATEMENT
The Advanced Learners
Dictionary defines maintenance as the process of protecting or preserving
someone or something, or the process of keeping something in good condition.
Culture, on the other hand, is a way of life, a lifestyle, customs, traditions,
habits that portray the attributes of a person/people. 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 recognized problem in Nigeria which has poorly affected the
quality of public properties. Public property is property that is dedicated to
public use and is a subset of state property. The term may be used either to
describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of
its ownership (owned collectively by the population of a state). This is in
contrast to private property, owned by an individual person or artificial
entities that represent the financial interests of persons, such as
corporations. State ownership, also called public ownership, government
ownership or state property, are property interests that are vested in the
state, rather than an individual or communities (Wikipedia, 2015). Maintenance
culture in Nigeria is one of the lowest around the world, especially, in our principal
towns and cities where the majority of public properties are located. 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 and in private homes. Also, 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 leading to
neglect of public properties. 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 content’s
occupants Seeley, (1987). Inadequate maintenance culture is a peculiar feature
of almost every public 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 brings the life of these public building last before
reaching the total obsolescence state. The declining maintenance culture in
Nigeria and its effect on public buildings and all other properties has become
a major problem to the government at various levels. This study examines ways
of improving maintenance culture and its effect on quality of hostel properties
in Nigerian institutions. A great portion of a nation wealth is evident in the
total value of its public properties and 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 According to Stephen (2002)
public properties services rarely perform as well as desired. The causes
emanate from deficiencies in design, construction, commissioning and
maintenance, many researchers have also observed that the generators of
maintenance problems could be looked upon has caused during the design stage or
construction stage or initiated during the usage stage or the user’s carefree
attitudes (Bad maintenance culture) which will eventually deteriorate the
condition of the property. He further said that all these could be planned for
during the design stage. Maintenance problems though do manifest during the use
of the building, their causes might be during the design stage. These made
Dekker (2002) to assert that thinking on the maintenance should start in the
design phase. According to Speight (2000), it is at the design stage that the
maintenance burden can be positively influenced for better or for worse. Where
the designer fails to make adequate consideration for minimizing maintenance
problems, it always turns out to be a big problem when the building is eventually
occupied for usage, the consideration for effective maintenance as one of the
parameters for the building design. Seeley (1997) also said that a skilful
design can reduce the amount of maintenance work and also make it easier to
perform, since good maintenance begins on the drawing board.
1.2.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Building maintenance
is an important activity to keep a building in good condition. Even though the
building seems like it is in perfect condition, there is a lot of maintenance
work needed to be done in order to maintain such condition. To preserve and
prolong the life of a building, maintenance is necessary to be carried out.
Oladimeji (1996)
further described maintenance of public properties as the combination of any
continuous actions carried out to retain a property in or restore it to an
acceptable condition. Onwuka (1989) stated that maintenance culture is
concerned with the planning and control of construction resources to ensure
that necessary repairs and renewal are carried out with maximum efficiency and
economy to enhance the quality of the property. However, this research is
examining the ways of improving maintenance culture and quality of public
properties in Nigeria.
Proper maintenance
strategy plays an important role in the maintenance of a building. Proper
maintenance strategy is able to affect the performance of maintenance. Good
maintenance depends on the maintenance strategy used. Poor maintenance is also
caused by using the improper maintenance strategy. Poor maintenance of public
properties will lead to depreciation of property value, affect the condition of
the building, make the users feel unsafe, cause inconvenience to the users,
cause the building efficiency to drop and eventually cause the building to
deteriorate rapidly.