An investigation into the effect of maintenance culture of buildings in Ghana.

Abstract

A building fabric is referred to as an ‘environment envelope’ because it is the means by which the natural or external environment may be modified to produce a satisfactory internal environment for a person to live in. The deterioration of building hampers its ability to perform adequately, therefore it is important to ensure proper maintenance to prevent deterioration. Due to the neglect of the maintenance component of building in this country, a lot of residential and public buildings are in a state of disrepair. In view of the above, this study was designed to assess the current condition of residential and public buildings. Identify the major causes of poor maintenance to buildings, analyse the maintenance policy and practice of the maintenance department in residential and public institution in this country to make suggestion and recommendation towards the adoption of effective maintenance policy and practice. The field investigation focused on residential and public building in the Ayawaso sub metro in Accra metropolis. Three different housing types were defined for data collection and analyses including bungalows, tenant houses and single unit houses. Method of data collection was purposive and random sampling techniques. A number of houses were covered in the survey. The survey revealed that there is a real housing maintenance problem in the public and residential building sectors in Ghana particularly in the Ayawaso sub metro and also buildings have deteriorated and need to be repaired, the buildings was not properly designed and constructed, they lacked preventive or regular maintenance and that estate managers, occupants, personnel (expects) are to be blamed that maintenance work on buildings should start from the planning stage (design stage) to the life span of the building. The study also established the following factors as being responsible for the poor maintenance of public and residential buildings: the age of the building, lack of maintenance culture, inadequate funds and cost of maintenance, pressure on buildings facilities by number of users and poor construction work and maintenance work done by maintenance personnel of public institutions. Stake holders in the housing sector also add to the problem that 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, apathy and lack of patriotism on the part of some public employees occupying government bungalows.