CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background to the Study
Public buildings play a vital role in the socio-economic development of any
country as they serve as infrastructure for education, health, administration, and
other essential public services. In Owerri Metropolis, public buildings such as
schools, hospitals, offices, and government institutions are often faced with severe
deterioration due to inadequate maintenance practices. The consequence of poor
maintenance includes structural failures, safety hazards, reduced building lifespan,
and increased costs for eventual rehabilitation or reconstruction (Olubodun &
Ojelabi, 2022).
Maintenance of buildings encompasses the activities required to keep structures in
a condition suitable for use and functionality. However, in Owerri Metropolis,
maintenance is often reactive rather than proactive, with public buildings typically
left to degrade before any intervention is considered (Adenuga, 2022). This neglect
can be attributed to a variety of factors, including budgetary constraints, lack of
technical know-how, poor planning, corruption, and low prioritization of
maintenance within government institutions.
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,
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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 span of the building so that the
various elements are kept to standard consistent with the overall policy. Feedback
from user to designer is important to indicate success or failure of specified
components.
A list of the prevalent maintenance problems in both residential and public
buildings in Owerri Metropolis used as a case study for this project includes:
leakage roof, rot in roof timber, damages to internal plaster and decoration,
possible damage to contents and effect on health of occupants, damages to ceiling
board, flaking of wall paints, cracking of walls, broken tiles, wearing – off of floor
finishes, broken, broker PVC pipes and damage to soak away pit. One of the main
contributions to the deplorable state of our buildings is the attitude of our building
owners. The problem with most Nigeria building owners is that they do not know
what they want in their buildings when completed. This therefore compounds
problem to designers during briefing and decision making. The owners may need a
complex building without considering the convenience of construction. They may
not even be ready to involve themselves with high cost buildings which they need.
Question put out to owners of buildings as regards maintenance plans for their
buildings could not be answered because there was no maintenance plans in place
for their buildings.
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The need for maintenance is prevalent in Owerri Metropolis 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 affect
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.
The state of many public buildings in Owerri Metropolis today reflects decades of
poor maintenance culture. Many of these buildings suffer from leaking roofs,
cracked walls, malfunctioning electrical and plumbing systems, and unsanitary
conditions, which compromise the health and productivity of users (Ali et al.,
2020). These issues highlight the urgent need for a comprehensive appraisal of
how poor maintenance practices affect the performance, safety, and usability of
public buildings in Nigeria.
1.2 Statement of Problem
Despite the crucial role public buildings play in national development,
maintenance has remained a neglected aspect in building management system.
Poor maintenance practices have led to building collapse, increased operational
costs, and inefficient service delivery. The lack of preventive maintenance
strategies results in the rapid deterioration of public infrastructure.
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
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disaster in works and also make it easier to perform, since good maintenance
begins on the drawing board, therefore some of the problems are as follows:-
• 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 materials
• Lack of routine or preventive maintenance department and lack of maintenance
manual.
This study seeks to appraise the effects of poor maintenance on public buildings in
Nigeria, identify the root causes, and suggest sustainable maintenance strategies.
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
1.3.1 Aim of the Study
The aim of the study is to appraise the effect of poor maintenance in public
buildings in Owerri, Imo State.
1.3.2 Objectives of the Study
To achieve this aim, the following objectives are to be carried out:
i. To examine the current state of maintenance in public buildings in Owerri,
Imo State
ii. To identify the effects of poor maintenance on the functionality and safety of
these buildings in Owerri, Imo State
iii. To investigate the underlying factors responsible for inadequate maintenance
in Owerri, Imo State

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iv. To propose strategies for effective maintenance of public buildings in
Owerri, Imo State
1.4 Research Questions and Hypothesise
1.4.1 Research Questions
i. What is the current condition of public buildings in Owerri, Imo State?
ii. What are the observable effects of poor maintenance in these buildings in
Owerri, Imo State?
iii. What factors contribute to poor maintenance practices in Owerri, Imo State?
iv. What strategies can be employed to enhance the maintenance of public
buildings in Owerri, Imo State?
1.4.2 Research Hypotheses
H₀₁: There is no significant evidence that public buildings in Nigeria are in a state
of deterioration or disrepair.
H₀₂: Poor maintenance practices have no significant effect on the functionality,
safety, and usability of public buildings in Nigeria.
H₀₃: There is no significant relationship between factors such as budgetary
constraints, lack of technical expertise, poor planning, and corruption, and the
incidence of poor maintenance in Nigerian public buildings.
H₀₄: The adoption of proposed maintenance strategies (e.g., preventive
maintenance scheduling, adequate funding mechanisms, capacity building, and
policy reforms) does not lead to a significant improvement in the condition of
public buildings in Nigeria.
1.5 Scope of the Study
1.5.1 Limitation of the Study
This research shall be limited to some selected public buildings in Owerri
Metropolis, Imo State. Most of them are quite easily accessible and in terrible state
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of disrepair. This study focuses on types of maintenance, maintenance policy
formation and methodology, concept of maintenance, maintenance manual
maintenance management and execution of maintenance work.
1.5.2 Area of the Study
The work will be carried using selected buildings in Douglas and Wedethral Roads
in Owerri Metropolis
1.6 Significance of the Study
This study is significant as it aims to bridge the knowledge gap regarding the
consequences of neglecting building maintenance in Nigeria. The significance of
this research work is that:-
It will benefit the researcher on the above topic based on the fact that the topic of
discussion is from her discipline, because no knowledge is a waste and it will also
be of benefit to the forth coming researcher (student) who may wish to carry out
similar or related research work in the above study and as such it can serve as
reference material to the researcher. It also be of benefit to government.
The study will also benefit the building industry on how to manage and up date
their information technology level so as to meet up with customer expectation in
their daily transactions.
The study will also be of profit to the society at large because maintenance is
highly needed in our society especially in building industry.
It will be of benefit to the management of building industry in terms of employing
capable hands as staff in the organization.
The findings will provide useful insights for policymakers, facility managers,
architects, and engineers on the importance of maintenance planning and
execution. It will also help in formulating maintenance policies that can prolong
the lifespan of public buildings and enhance their functionality.
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1.7 Definition of keys terms
Maintenance: as the combination of all technical and administrative actions,
including supervision actions, intended to retain an item in, or restore it to, a state
in which it can perform a required function‖. It envisages two processes: retaining‘,
(work carried out in anticipation of failure, referred to as ‗preventive
maintenance‘) and restoring‘, (work carried out after failure, referred to as
corrective maintenance‘).
Building Maintenance: Akasah, Zainal Abidin and Shamsuddin , Sharifah
Hamimah and Abd Rahman , Ismail and Alias, Maizam (2009) defined building
maintenance as a continuous operation to keep the buildings, furniture and
equipment in the best form for normal use. The maintenance of the building is a
daily activity of the institution and its personnel.
Maintenance Strategy: A maintenance strategy refers to the rules for the
sequence of planned maintenance work. It consists of general scheduling
information, maintenance tasks and maintenance plans as required (Akasah, 2009).
Further, Mintzberg et al. (1999) present the criteria for effective strategies to
include clear decisive objectives; maintaining the initiative; concentration;
flexibility; coordinated and committed leadership; surprise and security.
Maintenance Policy: BS 3811(1984) defines maintenance policy as a strategy
within which decisions on maintenance are taken. Alternatively, it may be defined
as the ground rules for the allocation of resources (men, materials and money)
between the alternative types of maintenance actions that are available to
management.