IMPROVING MAINTENANCE CULTURE AND QUALITY OF PUBLIC PROPERTIES IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Maintenance is defined by the Advanced Learners Dictionary 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, and habits that reflect a person’s or people’s characteristics.
Maintenance culture is sadly lacking in Nigeria, whether at home, the office, school, or the factory. According to Mbamali (2003), poor maintenance culture has become a widely recognized problem in Nigeria, negatively affecting the quality of public properties.
Public property is a subset of state property that is dedicated to public use. The term can be used to describe the use of the property or to describe the property itself.
describe its ownership’s personality (owned collectively by the population of a state). This is in contrast to private property, which is owned by an individual or artificial entities that represent people’s financial interests, such as corporations. State ownership, also known as public ownership, government ownership, or state property, refers to property interests held by the state rather than individuals or communities (Wikipedia, 2015).
Nigeria has one of the lowest maintenance cultures in the world, particularly in our major towns and cities, where the majority of public properties are located. The story is different and more enjoyable to hear in rural areas. Almost every village has a tradition of communal clearing of community-owned areas such as the market playground. and in private residences. It is also customary to renovate building interiors with cow dung or natural red clay mixtures. The end result is appealing and entirely indigenous. According to Wahab (1995), the nation places a low value on property management, resulting in the neglect of public properties. According to Mbamali (2003), we lack a maintenance policy and thus no such culture exists. Neglect of maintenance has resulted in a rapid increase in the deterioration of a building’s fabric and finishes, as well as a harmful effect on the contents and occupants. Seeley, (1987). (1987). Almost every public building in Nigeria has an insufficient maintenance culture. According to Rotimi and Mtallib (1995), this is due in part to a poor maintenance culture on the one hand, and in part to
due to the absence of an appropriate benchmark. According to Gurjit (1990), a lack of proper maintenance culture causes the life of these public buildings to be cut short before they reach total obsolescence. The decline in Nigerian maintenance culture and its impact on public buildings and other properties has become a major issue for the government at all levels. This study investigates methods for improving maintenance culture and its impact on the quality of public properties.
The total value of a nation’s public properties and buildings reflects a large portion of its wealth; it is also an important factor in the production of the building to be preserved. A poorly maintained building in a decaying environment reduces the quality of life and, in some cases, contributes to it.
measures to combat antisocial behavior that endangers the sociopolitical environment in which it finds itself
According to Stephen (2002), public property services are rarely as effective as desired. Many researchers have observed that the generators of maintenance problems could be looked upon as having 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 went on to say that all of this could be planned for during the design phase. Though maintenance issues do arise during building use, their origins may be traced back to the design stage. Dekker (2002) asserted as a result of this. That maintenance planning should begin during the design phase. According to Speight (2000), the maintenance burden can be positively or negatively influenced during the design stage. Where the designer fails to make adequate consideration for minimizing maintenance problems, it always turns out to be a major problem when the building is eventually occupied for use, the consideration for effective maintenance as one of the building design parameters. According to Seeley (1997), good maintenance begins on the drawing board, so a skilled design can reduce the amount of maintenance work while also making it easier to perform.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Oladimeji (1996) defined maintenance of public properties as any continuous actions taken to keep a property in or restore it to an acceptable condition. According to Onwuka (1989), maintenance culture is concerned with the planning and control of construction resources to ensure that necessary repairs and renewals are carried out with maximum efficiency and economy to improve the property’s quality. The researcher, on the other hand, is looking into ways to improve the maintenance culture and quality of public properties in Nigeria.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the study’s objectives:
1. To look into ways to improve Nigeria’s maintenance culture.
2. To identify methods for improving the quality of public properties through an improved maintenance culture.
3. To identify the factors influencing Nigerian maintenance culture.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
2. How can Nigeria’s maintenance culture be improved?
3. What are the methods for improving the quality of public properties through a better maintenance culture?
4. What are the factors influencing Nigeria’s maintenance culture?
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The following are the study’s implications:
1. The study’s findings will educate the government and policymakers, building stakeholders, and the general public about the importance of improving maintenance culture in order to improve the quality of public property.
2. This research will also serve as a resource base for other scholars and researchers interested in conducting additional research in this field in the future, and if applied will go so far as to provide new explanations for the topic.
1.7 SCOPE/LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
This research on improving maintenance culture and the quality of public properties in Nigeria will look at Nigerians’ attitudes toward adequate maintenance of public properties, as well as ways to improve maintenance culture in order to improve the quality of public properties.
LIMITATION OF STUDY
Financial constraint- Inadequate funding tends to impede the researcher’s efficiency in locating relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as in the data collection process (internet, questionnaire and interview).
Time constraint- The researcher will conduct this study alongside other academic work. As a result, the amount of time spent on research will be reduced.
REFERENCES
B. Dekker (2002). Maintenance optimization models in use; a review and analysis of reliability engineering and system safety lsevier science ltd. Northern Ireland
L. Gurjit (1990). The Surveyor and Developing a Maintenance Management System for Cinema Building Maintenance, American Business Journal, vol. 3,
P. Mbamali (2003). The Effect of Deferred Maintenance Accumulation on Selected Buildings of Two Federal Universities in Nigeria’s Northwest Zone. Vol. 3 (17) of the Journal of Environmental Science.
A.B. Oladimeji, ‘Budgeting, Costing, and Cost Control in Maintenance Engineering and Management,’ paper delivered at a 3-Day Course organized by the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Osogbo Branch at the Federal Polytechnic Ede, Osun State, July 3rd – 5th, 1996.
E.S. Onwuka, “Maintenance in Building and Construction Works,” 1989. Journal of the Lagos Q.S. Digest
Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 3–4
L.A. Rotimi and Mtallib, M.E. (1995). Proceedings of the International Conference on Maintenance of Engineering Facilities in Developing Countries, 8aborne, Botswana.
T. Seeley (1987). Building maintenance, Macmillan Press Ltd, Nothingham, 2nd edition.
Maintenance of Buildings – Its Relationship to Design, The Chattered Surveyor 1-10 166, Speight, B. A.
L. Stephen (2012). Building service maintenance: The Forgotten Discipline, Aha management publications, www.aha.com.auGenergy1.htm
J.A. Wahab (1995) Adequate and Affordable Housing for Nigeria in the Twenty-First Century. Vol. 2 of the Journal of the Association of Housing Science and its Applications.