ASSESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTENANCE IN THE BUILDING INDUSTRY (CASE STUDY OF BAGABAGA DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL IN SAGNARIGU DISTRICT)

ABSTRACT

A building fabric is referred to as an “environmental envelop” because it is the means by which the natural or the external environment may be modified to produce a satisfactory internal environment for man to live in, buildings do not provide guarantee for their appearance and working conditions and is always subjected to wearing, decay and filth. This research is conducted in Tamale metropolitan area specifically Sagnarigu District to assess maintenance of public buildings in Ghana. The objective of the research was to assess the current conditions and state of public buildings, identify the principal causes of non- maintenance of public buildings, analyze the maintenance policies and practices, make suggestions and recommendations toward the adoption of effective policies. Data collection techniques such as observation, interview, questionnaire and rating scales were employed by the researcher. The outcome of the study depicted that; housing maintenance is a real problem among public institutions in Ghana, with 85 percent of all residential buildings of public institutions surveyed were having maintenance problems, maintenance problems are more prominent in Bagabaga Demonstration School with 45.3 percent of their buildings in a bad condition. To accomplish this aim, extensive study of the practical implications of the research, such as; embracing preventive maintenance practices as a high priority rather than an adhoc maintenance, gain optimum benefit from maintenance, ensure that maintenance department are adequately staffed with requisite manpower etc. Managers should oversee periodic inspection of buildings, there should be effective national maintenance policy, law and regulation to compare managers and occupancies to undertake maintenance.