Abstract
Higher education institutions face immediate pressure to preserve existing building facilities within the campuses and enhance the capacity of their higher education system to address growing demands of an increasing influx of students and academic activities. There is no doubt that dilapidated and unhealthy buildings in a decaying environment depresses the quality of life and contributes in some measure to antisocial behaviours. The buildings of higher education institutions in Nigeria only receive top management attention when there is a problem. Hence, the paper assessed the building maintenance management practices of 6 higher institutions available (2 universities, 2 polytechnics and 2 colleges of education) in Niger State. This was done by interviewing the Directors of Works of the 6 institutions using a structured interview method. The study revealed that there was no maintenance manual in any of the Works Department of the higher education institution, no user satisfaction survey has ever been conducted and none of the institutions had a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) in place. In addition to these, corrective maintenance was mostly adopted and there was inadequate staffing of the field operatives. All these shortcomings might be responsible for the backlog of maintenance work experienced in the institutions studied. A proactive maintenance system should be put in place, CMMS should be adopted to enhance effective maintenance work, and top management should be enlightened on the imperative of maintenance among other issues competing for funds within the institutions and be more flexible in allocation of resources to enhance maintenance works.Keywords: maintenance, practices, higher education institutions, Niger State
Highlights
Buildings are an integral part of a nation’s heritage, skyline and distinct character
Since challenges abound in maintenance management practices of educational institutions highlighted above, and with the growing intake of students on these weakened building facilities, the aim of the study is to assess the building maintenance practices employed in higher education institutions in Niger State and suggest measures for effective maintenance management systems in these institutions
It was observed that the budget is in form of a short-term budget, which attributed for 50% of the interviewed directors of maintenance works
Summary
Buildings are an integral part of a nation’s heritage, skyline and distinct character. It is through the university buildings that, future leaders, captains of industry, entrepreneurs, professionals and scientists are produced (Mat et al, 2009) These types of buildings require maintenance in order to provide a quality and favourable environment for learning, research and administrative activities within the institution (Lateef, et al, 2010). The need for attractive facilities places new demands on maintenance managers, requiring them to adopt more systematic and pro-active approaches to their work (Buys & Nkado, 2006) It has been established by Lateef et al (2010) that, from time to time, new structures are being constructed within the various institutions to upgrade educational facilities and provide a better quality of education while the existing buildings suffer inadequate maintenance. A well maintained building is critical to delivering higher education institutions core business objectives which includes learning, teaching and research
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