CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF POOR MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC BUILDING

CAUSES AND REMEDIES OF POOR MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC BUILDING

Abstract

In this study, we examined the causes and improvement measures for the insufficient maintenance of public buildings in Enugu Urban. The study began by physically inspecting several public buildings, identifying building deficiencies, determining the causes of the deficiencies, and providing corrective actions. Data for the study were collected through well-structured questionnaires administered to construction industry professionals. Collected data were analyzed using frequency tables and relative significance indices. As a result, the degree of deterioration of facilities in the facility was kerosene boiler (68% significance), followed by flush toilet (66%) and paired toilet (50%). Significance considering severity of findings In facilities, wall delamination ranked first (significance 50.8%), and foundation failure and beam sagging were investigated as causes of facility defects, untested or poor use (50.8%). 42.8%). Material (56.8%) was the most devastating factor. Availability of qualified and competent construction industry professional was generally believed to be the significant factor that would impact on the drive to achieve quality maintenance operation in Nigeria.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Various attempts have been made to give a comprehensive definition of maintenance and to explain vividly what it entails, BS3811 (1964), defined maintenance as the combination of any action carried out to retain an item in or restore it to an acceptable condition.

The standard and level of maintenance of building in any country like Nigeria is invariably directly related to the strength of its economy. As country becomes more developed, they are disposed to require higher standards for buildings.

One of the basic needs of man in life, is Sheller, which is required for virtually all human activities shelter is provided in form of building which are usually designed and erected for a specific use or purpose, such as residential, educational, hospital, etc in order for building to continue to serve their purposes, they should be made to remain in the state for which they were constructed and this can only be achieved through adequate maintenance which in most cases is not carried out leading to various defects which may ultimately prevent these buildings from continuously serving the purpose for which they were built. Maintenance is required throughout the life of the building to ensure that the various elements are kept to standards consistent with the overall policy. Feedback from users to designers is important to indicate the success or failure of a particular component.

A list of common maintenance issues in both residential and public buildings in the city of Enugu, which serves as a case study for this project, includes:
Leaking rain, rotting roof material, damage to interior plaster and decoration, damage to contents and possible health effects, damage to ceiling tiles, peeling paint on walls, cracks in walls, damage to tiles, flooring Deterioration of PVC pipes Damage to septic tanks.

One of the main causes of the dire state of buildings is the attitude of the building owners. The problem with most builders in Nigeria is that they don’t know what they will need for their building when it is finished. This therefore exacerbates the designer’s problem during briefings and decision making. Owners may require complex buildings without considering the convenience of construction. They may even be willing to bother with the expensive building required.

The need for maintenance is prevalent in Nigeria because of the complex nature of design of the building which are finally erected without considering the needs of maintenance at the design stage. Owners are usually concerned with the aesthetic nature of the design and the building appearance without considering the needs for maintenance of the ways of going about to effect repairs should defects occur. Some of the main cause of maintenance problems are; new material and construction techniques, poor workmanship, poor placement of materials, poor materials been used poor supervision of construction work, lack of quality control and monitoring.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It is often said that building defects start on the drawing board. Design deficiencies could result in a building disaster if adequate attention is not given to the design of the bearings support, calculations, errors, deformation, shrinkage problems, errors in assumed loading (wind force), all these could contribute to building failure and disaster in Nigeria work and also make it easier to perform, since good maintenance begins on the drawing board, therefore some of the problems are as follows:
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• Inadequate architectural design

• Inadequate structural, electrical and mechanical design

• New material and construction techniques

• Lack of quality control and monitoring

• Poor workmanship, poor placement of materials and poor supervision of construction work. • Use of defective products

• Lack of regular or preventive maintenance departments and maintenance manuals.

In Enugu Urban, which was used as a case study, the main maintenance problems in both residential and public buildings included leaky roofs, rotting roofing materials, damage to interior plaster and decoration, and potential damage to interior spaces. damage and occupant health effects; and damage to buildings. Ceiling tiles, peeling wall paint, creaking walls, etc. All of these can be maintenance issues more broadly in Nigeria.

1.3 Objectives and objectives of the survey

The purpose of this study is to examine common problems in building maintenance in Nigeria and identify ways to overcome them.

Purpose

The main objectives of this study are:

• Communicate the need and benefits of maintenance manuals to building owners and residents during the maintenance process. • The government will introduce a maintenance policy requiring government-owned buildings to be maintained in Nigeria from time to time.

• Conduct market research to determine the types of materials to use and select high-quality materials. paint, wood, ceiling tiles, pipes, etc.

• Arrange for good workmanship, address specifications, perform work to structural engineering requirements, and ensure that work is.

1.4 Research question

The questions this study seeks to answer are:
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• Are building owners and residents aware of the usefulness of building maintenance manuals?

• Does the government have a maintenance policy that allows buildings to be maintained in Nigeria?

• Are building owners and occupants choosing quality materials?

• Do building owners and occupants utilize available workers and craftsmen, work to specifications, construction techniques, and supervise work during the early stages of construction?

• Create an architect. Are Structural Engineers, Electrical and Mechanical Engineers able to do their job well early on? • Are public building owners and users aware of maintenance departments?

1.5 Scope and (limitations) of the investigation

This survey is limited to a few selected public buildings in Old G.R.A Enugu State. Most of them are fairly accessible and in terrible disrepair. This research focuses on types of maintenance, maintenance policy development and methodology, maintenance concepts, maintenance manuals, maintenance management and maintenance work implementation.

1.6 Importance of research

The significance of this study is:
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• Benefits a female researcher on the above topics because there is no wasted knowledge and the topics of discussion are from her field. It also benefits future female researchers (students) who wish to undertake similar or related research papers. The above studies can serve as a reference for researchers. It can also benefit governments.

• The study also benefits the construction industry on how to manage and upgrade IT levels to meet customer expectations in their day-to-day operations.

• The study is also beneficial to society at large, especially the construction industry, as maintenance is in urgent need.

• Recruitment of qualified personnel to the staff of the organization is beneficial to construction industry managers.

• This study will benefit both building owners and residents. 1.7 Definition of terms

• maintenance:
This is the combination of all actions taken to keep the item in an acceptable state or bring it to an acceptable state.

• Save and restore:
A maintenance process can be interpreted as work done proactively in anticipation of failure of a particular building element or service. Restoration, on the other hand, may refer to work performed after an element has failed or maintenance has been performed. Paint, works, roofs, walls, foundations, etc.

• Acceptable conditions:
There is no specific standard for the expression “acceptable condition”. It is clear that what is acceptable to ‘A’ may not be acceptable to ‘B’. In this sense, acceptable status varies from person to person, community to community, and country to country. • Building maintenance