Appraisal of Maintenance Management Practices of Benue State Universities Buildings

Abstract

The study assessed the building maintenance practises employed in universities in Benue State with the view of suggesting measures for effective maintenance management practises in these institutions. Data was collected from 185 members of the sampled institution's staff and students, with an 89% response rate. A purposive sampling technique was adopted for the study. The analysis of the data was carried out with the use of percentage, mean item score, and Spearman rank correlation. The study identified the current maintenance practises in Benue state's public universities and renovations were agreed to be the most adopted form of maintenance practise with a (MS = 3.82). The study identified the most significant factor influencing the decision to carry out maintenance work on buildings in Benue State Universities as faulty design (MS = 3.29). The result of the Spearman rank correlation analysis is presented as positive and slightly strong (0.485). The correlation was therefore found to be significant at a 1% (0.01) level of significance (p = 0.00). It can therefore be concluded that a lack of maintenance culture on the part of both governments, maintenance managers, and building users' maintenance in the study area results in the deferred maintenance of academic buildings in public universities in Benue State. The major recommendations from the study were that the school's management should employ qualified maintenance personnel to be in charge of maintenance-related issues and that both the management and users should be sensitised to the proper use of public facilities.