An empirical examination of maintenance practices of public tertiary institutions a study of selected institutions in Ghana

Abstract

Many Ghanaian public tertiary institutional structures are often inadequately maintained and windows and doors and other building elements and facilities frequently show evidence of lack of maintenance and repair. Some lecture halls and office buildings of public tertiary institutions have not seen any significant maintenance or show little signs of maintenance since they were constructed, some dating back to the colonial era. Based on this, the study aimed at examining the maintenance practices of public tertiary institutions. The specific objectives of the study are to: determine maintenance policies and practices put in place as far as public tertiary institutions in Ghana are concerned, identify drivers to maintenance of building in public tertiary institution, and identify constraints to maintenance of building in public tertiary institutions. The study adopted descriptive survey. Purposive sampling was utilized in selecting 91 staff of the estate department of the selected public tertiary institutions in Greater Accra. The study achieved 95.6% response rate. Questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument. The study found that maintenance department organised maintenance programme, inspect physical condition of the building and its elements, plan head maintenance task and perform when convenient, and do maintenance work on buildings regularly. The study further indicated that building condition, age of the buildings, funding for maintenance activities of public institutions, management decision, and user‟s persistent complaint are the major drivers to maintenance of building in public tertiary institutions. Based on this, a conclusions was reached and it was recommended the maintenance department of the various public tertiary institutions should ensure proper planning and executing maintenance programmes, as well as overcome the prevailing maintenance problems.