Validation of Maintenance Management Core Elements for Higher Educational Institution Buildings in developing Countries Education Sector.

Abstract

Maintenance management (MM) is a preventive management philosophy that provides a platform to retain assets value, improve life quality, improve risk cost and productivity in maintenance organisations. Given this contextual setting, the study examines whether core elements of MM utilised in developed countries are relevant in developing countries, using higher education institutional (HEI) buildings in the Nigeria education sector as a case study. In obtaining data for this study, an empirical research design was employed. Precisely, a Delphi study piloted showed eight (8) core elements that influence effective maintenance management of HEI buildings in Nigeria. Of these eight (5) cores elements, five (5) of the elements have a very high influence on maintenance management of HEI buildings (VHI: 9.00 -10.00), and three (3) other elements had a high influence (HI: 7.00-8.99). The key finding from the study reveals that the core elements that influence maintenance management of HEI buildings include organisational maintenance policies, maintenance budget, human resources management, training, monitoring and supervision, maintenance information, communication among stakeholders, and maintenance culture. The study's finding indicated that these core elements are related to those of other countries, and effective MM of HEI buildings in developing countries education sectors is guaranteed when these core elements are integrated into the maintenance processes and operations.