Maintenance of government bungalows: a case study in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology

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2008-08-25
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Building maintenance is generally considered unproductive operation by majority of individuals, organisations, institutions and governments. It has therefore been a neglected area of technology all over the world until recently. Naturally, buildings decay or deteriorate in its structural functions with time or age. Since these buildings do not have the capacity to resist indefinitely to natural forces and hazards including time related degradation of materials, regular maintenance and repairs'are required Unfortunately, Ghana has had a poor maintenance culture especially in the area of government buildings. Most of these buildings are observed to be in a state of disrepair, some are seen inhabitable thus abandoned and new ones constructed to replace them. The state of disrepair of these buildings really pose some level of environmental and health threat and on a more dangerous note, some of these buildings fall off causing injury and even death to occupants. The issue of building maintenance was assessed in the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology with specific reference to the bungalows. Methods employed in the study included desk study for background information, use of structured questionnaires for occupants, maintenance and estate officials of the University. Condition assessment was also carried out on bungalows through general physical inspection to ascertain the state of disrepair and the current level of maintenance service delivery of the University. The study revealed varied factors contributing to the low building maintenance culture of the University. These included inadequate financial and human resources, lack of maintenance policy and planned programme, inadequate logistics, inadequate attention or priority, and unsatisfactory attitude of some occupants in the care and utilization of the bungalows. These factors have contributed to the poor condition of most of the bungalows. Some bungalows have been totally abandoned; thus reconstruction of inhabitable ones ongoing. The study clearly revealed that the maintenance service delivery of the University is poor as many of the bungalows are in a state of disrepair. There is therefore the critical need for the University to better appreciate building maintenance, making it' one of the priority areas of planned programme so as to salvage the situation and to contribute meaningful to the comfort of occupants.
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Materials Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science in Environmental Resources Management, 2008
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