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MAINTENANCE
OF BUILDINGS OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS
ABSTRACT
A building fabric is referred to as an
“environmental envelope” because it is the means by which the natural or
external environment may be modified, to produce a satisfactory internal
environment for man to live in. The deterioration of buildings hampers its
ability to perform adequately, thus is important to ensure proper maintenance
to prevent deterioration.
Public
buildings represent significant investment of the tax payers’ money and
therefore preserving these building systems is important. Due to the neglect of
the maintenance component of the housing process in the country, a lot of
public and private residential buildings are in a state of disrepair.
In view of
the above, this study was designed to assess the current condition of public
buildings, identify the underlying principal causes of poor maintenance of
public buildings, analyse the maintenance policy and practice and capacity of
the maintenance and estate departments of public institutions and make
suggestions and recommendations towards the adoption of effective maintenance
policy and innovations that would address the building maintenance problem in
public institutions.
The field
investigations focused on residential buildings of GPS, GHS nurses quarters and
UEW-K. Three different housing types were defined for data collection and
analyses including: bungalows, tenement houses and single unit houses. Through
the application of multi-stage cluster sampling and purposive and random
sampling techniques, 176 buildings were covered in the survey. The survey
revealed that there is a real housing maintenance problem in public
institutions in Ghana. The study revealed that on the whole, 83 percent of all
residential buildings of public institutions surveyed have maintenance problems
with maintenance problem being 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.
Maintenance
problems by housing types in public institution revealed that 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
iii
bad
condition. However, tenement houses had the highest buildings with good
condition, with 37.5 percent of all tenement houses surveyed in good condition
requiring the least or no maintenance.
The study
also established the following factors as being responsible for the poor
maintenance of public buildings: The age of the buildings, Lack of maintenance
culture, Inadequate funds and high maintenance cost, Pressure on building
facilities by number of users and Poor construction work and maintenance work
done by maintenance personnel of the institution. Stakeholders in the housing
sector also added to the problem has arisen as a result of lack of preventive
maintenance plan, low capacity of maintenance personnel in terms of staffing
and training, absence of a national maintenance policy and apathy and lack of
patriotism on the part of some public employees occupying government bungalows.
The study
concludes by enumerating a number of recommendations aimed at providing the
necessary framework for proper and effective maintenance of buildings. These
are: the need for public institutions to embrace preventive maintenance
practice as a high priority rather than adhoc maintenance. Managers are to
oversee periodic inspections of buildings’ conditions and create an inventory
of buildings’ components and equipment. Public institutions should ensure that
their maintenance department is adequately staffed. There is also the need for
a national policy on maintenance to be formulated to protect buildings,
institution of a maintenance awards scheme for public institutions and
establishing a maintenance fund to be managed for maintenance of public
buildings in the country.
CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND
TO THE STUDY AND PROBLEM CONTEXT
1.1
Introduction
Physical
infrastructure constitutes a high proportion of the country’s investment. It is
therefore of primary importance that these facilities which include public
buildings are maintained in order that they can serve both the architectural
and aesthetical functions for which they are built. The physical appearance of
buildings housing public institutions in part constitutes the basis upon which
the society makes their initial judgment of the quality of services to be offered.
One of the
critical problems confronting the housing industry in Ghana is the poor
maintenance practice (Afranie and Osei Tutu, 1999). The role of Public
Institutions in National development cannot be over-emphasized. However, in
spite of the heavy investment in public buildings, Public institutions allow
their structures to care for themselves without any sustainable maintenance
plan to preserve the quality of the buildings. The continued efficient and
effective performance of public institutions depends on the nature of their
buildings in addition to other factors such as enhanced conditions of service,
provision of the requisite tools etc.
Public
Institution buildings consist of both dwelling (residential accommodation) and
non-dwelling (office accommodation). Both residential buildings as well as
office buildings are prone to defects due to their permanent and lengthy usage.
All elements of buildings deteriorate at a greater or lesser rate dependent on
materials and methods of construction, environmental conditions and the use of
the buildings (HMSO 1972).
According to
Seeley 1987, neglect of maintenance has accumulative results with rapidly
increasing deterioration of the fabric and finishes of a building accompanied
by harmful effects on the contents and occupants. Therefore, buildings are too
valuable assets to be neglected in this way. In his hierarchy of needs theory
Maslow (1954) identifies five basic needs which are organized into successive
level of importance in an ascending order. He identified physiological needs as
the most
1
basic needs
of human beings which include air, food, water, shelter (housing), sex and
sleep.
BS
3811(1984), define ‘maintenance’ as “The combination of all technical and
associated administrative actions intended to retain an item in, or restore it
to, a state in which it can perform its required function.”
Maintenance
brings about improved utilization of buildings ensuring the highest safety
standards. It must be emphasized that more rather than less maintenance work is
necessary if the value and amenity of the nation’s building stock was to be
maintained. A good maintenance system is also a good disaster mitigation
system. Moreover, a well operated system of maintenance for buildings and
equipment has the effect of being a very effective disaster mitigation measure
in terms of cost and facility usage. It ensures the most economic way to keep
the building and equipment in the best of form for normal use, given the
original design and materials (http\\www.oas.org\en\cdmp).
Maintenance,
which can also be explained as the continuous protective care of the fabric,
contents and settings of a place can be categorized according to why and when
it happens, as corrective maintenance, which is necessary to bring a building to
an accepted standard. Planned maintenance is work to prevent failure, which
recurs predictably within the life of a building such as cleaning gutters or
painting. Emergency Corrective Maintenance deals with work that must be
initiated immediately for health, safety, security reasons or that may result
in the rapid deterioration of the structure or fabric if not undertaken (for
example, roof repairs after storm damage, graffiti removal, or repairing broken
glasses).
When
buildings are neglected, defects can occur which may result in extensive and
avoidable damage to the building fabric or equipment. Poor maintenance has
resulted in damage and deterioration to some public buildings in Ghana. Neglect
of maintenance especially in relation to replacing electricity cables after
thirty of use can also give rise to fire and safety hazards, which could result
in the Institution owning the buildings being found liable for any injuries and
damages. Another case in point is the Job 600 built by Ghana’s first President
Dr. Kwame Nkrumah to host
2
the
Organization of African Unity meeting in 1965 has its main building quite
rundown and has been under renovation for many years now. The present state of
this public building could be attributed to lack of maintenance and neglect
after being put into use.
1.2 Problem
Statement
Many
Ghanaian public structures are often inadequately maintained and windows and
doors and other building elements and facilities frequently show evidence of
lack of maintenance and repair.
Some
residential and office buildings of public institutions have not seen any
significant maintenance or show little signs of maintenance since they were
constructed, some dating back to the colonial era. This has resulted in such
buildings being in a dilapidated state with some being abandoned. This lack of
maintenance by the authorities and occupants of these facilities often leads to
reduced lifespan of these buildings (Melvin, 1992), which invariably defeat the
purpose for which they are put up i.e. to ensure that the nation’s stock of
buildings, both as a factor of production and accommodation, was used
effectively as possible.
The problem
of ownership of these buildings, where occupants regard it not as their own property
but a state property and handle it without due care largely have resulted in
the state in which most public buildings find it. In some cases occupants do
not recognize the building as their property and hence have passive attachment
in relation to the efficient use and maintenance of the building.
Most
offices, especially those outside the capital city, Accra, are dilapidated and
lacked the basic necessities and facilities such as toilet due to its state of
deterioration of a functioning office. However new buildings are being put up
every now and then without giving a thought to the maintenance of the old
structures which have been neglected. Frequent visits to the Ministries area of
the Kumasi metropolis which houses these public institutions by this researcher
depicts the abhorring situations in some public institutions with the buildings
showing cracks on the walls, rotten wooden members, leaking roofs and missing
louver blades, faded and discoloured surface coating (painting).
3
Lack of
maintenance of some police buildings including police cells in recent times
have resulted in jailbreaks in some police stations in the country leading to
the escape of hardened criminals in custody, some educational institutions
especially basic schools holding classes in the open air at the mercy of the
weather.
Vital
documents in some of these public institutions have not been spared due to poor
or non-maintenance of the building. The dilapidated nature of the residential
facility has also left the properties of the occupants at the mercy of the
weather. These problems arising out of the present situation as far as
maintenance of building in the public sector is concerned lowers morale of the
labour force and goes a long way to reduce the efficiency of the personnel.
In view of
these, it has been considered necessary to study the maintenance of public
building in Ghana to identify the factors contributing to the current state of
building in the public institutions since building owners are increasingly
beginning to accept that it is not in their best interest to carry out
maintenance in a purely reactive manner but that it should be planned and
managed as efficiently as any other corporate activity.
1.3 Research
Questions
In embarking
upon such study, certain questions should be answered before any credible
conclusions can be drawn. The following questions were posed.
1. What are the current state/ level of
non-maintenance of residential buildings of the public institutions in Ghana?
2. What are the reasons or factors that have
accounted for non maintenance of public buildings?
3. What maintenance policies and practices
are in place as far as public institutions are concerned and the capacity of
human resource of their maintenance department?
4. How can public institutions ensure
continued maintenance of their buildings in order to retain their current stock
of buildings as well as improve on their condition?
4
1.4 Research
Objectives
1.4.1 General
Objective
The study is
generally expected to evaluate the building maintenance practices being
employed in public institutions and its effect on the structure as the users of
the building.
1.4.2
Specific Objectives of the study are to:
1. Assess the current condition and state of
buildings of public institutions
2. Identify the underlying principal causes
of poor maintenance of public buildings.
3. Analyse the maintenance policy and
practice and capacity of the maintenance department of public institutions.
4. Make suggestions and recommendations
towards the adoption of effective maintenance policy and innovations that would
address the building maintenance problem in public institutions.
1.5 Research
Justification
This study
is essential in the sense that it would not only contribute to knowledge and
theory, but will also contribute to good maintenance practice in the public
institutions in Ghana. This is because the study will attempt to find out the
factors that have contributed to the present state of non-maintenance of public
buildings some of which have been abandoned due to its state of deterioration
and recommend appropriate remedial actions to be taken.
Furthermore
the study will assist managers of public institutions to become aware of the
current state of their building infrastructure and its effect on the safety and
health of personnel and also to put in place adequate innovative measures to
prevent new buildings put up to suffer deterioration which ultimately lead to
increased cost in restoring these buildings to their original state.
It will
provide a critical and analytical perspective for appreciating the factors
affecting the decisions to carry out maintenance. In addition, the study will
bring to the fore the major inhibiting factors in the maintenance of public
buildings in Ghana.
5
With
increasing demand for efficiency and effectiveness from workers in the public
sector by the populace, this study will attempt to establish the linkage
between the present states of public buildings in relation to the social and
economic impact to public workers.
1.6 Scope of
the Study
The study
was limited to residential buildings of selected public institutions in the
Kumasi Metropolis of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It examined the maintenance
of residential buildings of the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Health Service
Nurses quarters and those of University of Education-Winneba, Kumasi campus.
1.7
Limitations of the Study
Data
gathering suffered due to delay in getting responses due to the schedule of
work of especially personnel of the GPS. In addition records keeping was a
problem for all the institutions surveyed such that in some situation
researcher had to collate the number of buildings himself. This also resulted
in difficulty in identifying the buildings.
Notwithstanding
the above limitations, the study results have not been affected and thus are
credible, reliable and useful for any purposes of evaluation and feedback. This
was made possible because researcher assisted especially the GPS in putting up
a data base for its residential buildings in the study area.
1.8
Organisation of the Report
The study
has been organized under five chapters. Chapter one, covers the introductory
part and it includes the problem statement, research questions, objectives,
significance of the study, the scope and the limitations. The second chapter
deals with the review of relevant literature on the subject. Thus, ideas of
some researchers and authors have been reviewed.
Chapter
three focused on the methodology adopted in undertaking the research. The
analysis of the data gathered is dealt with in chapter four, whilst chapter
five presents a summary of the key findings, recommendations and conclusion.
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