ABSTRACT

The study is about  developing benchmark/ paradigm for total Quality Management in Building Maintenance Operations.  Building defects is usually   outcome of failure or shortcomings recorded at early stage of project which could be design oriented and sometimes wrong  approach, this need to be corrected and as well maintained, the study thus present paradigm/benchmark through which quality of maintenance operations being carried out  on such,could be improved.

The methodology involved primarily opinion survey, measured against benchmarked Total quality management principles, the data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire, designed in Likert scale 1 to 5. The secondary data were collected through review of pastworks, Journal articles and Textbooks. Random sampling method was used for population sampling, the result generated were analysed using mean item score, frequency count and Ranking

The study concluded with recommending eighteen benchmarked quality points which when observed could lead to productivity enhancement, accident reduction, waste elimination, quality job output and host of other positive outcomes.

Keywords: Quality, Maintenance, Benchmark ,Management, Paradigm,Operation  

 INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

By the nature of creation there is virtually nothing man-made that is indestructible, but the usefulness of many such items can be extended by carrying out repair at regular intervals through an activity known as maintenance. White (1979) defined maintenance as the “work undertaken to restore every facility to an acceptable standard at an acceptable cost. The use and exposure to environmental conditions subjects machines, buildings and other service facilities to deterioration. The process of deterioration if unchecked, culminate in rendering these facilities unserviceable and brings them to a standstill. Firms and organization, therefore have no choice but to attend to them from time to time, to repair and recondition them so as to prolong their usefulness to the extent that they are economically and physically priviledged.

Maintenance is made responsible, for provision of a condition, of  machines, buildings, and services that will permit uninterrupted implementation of plans requiring their use. Theoretically, maintenance should aim at keeping the machines and other facilities in a condition that allows them to be used without any interruption and at their maximum profit making capacity. (Adegoke, 2003).However, as adequate care is being taken to ensure the reconditioning of the machine and building facilities back to their original state, a level at which it will be able to perform the intended use, however cognizance should be taken of the fact that, if it has to be done; it should be at minimum cost, with improved output, emphasis placed on employee involvement and empowerment, continuous improvement, cutting across the entire organisation, and with every responsibility for quality of work output. (Iyagba, 2005 and Wahab, 1987).

Quality, as a measure of excellence is subjective, that is, it depends on the perspective at which individual views it. It could be explained as the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bears on its stated ability or implied needs and to be generally acceptable. (Lam 2000).

The acceptability of a product or a service will depend on its ability to function satisfactorily over a period of time, and it is this aspect of performance which is given the name reliability or quality assurance.Quality assurance has the aim of getting things right first time, and to provide platform upon which consistent improvement could be based. It is broadly termed as the prevention of problems undermining quality through planned and systematic activities. These include the establishment of a good quality management system and the assessment of its adequacy, the auditing of the operation of the system, and the review of the system itself.Therefore, from the standpoint of quality assurance, every step taken in the reconditioning of a system back to its best state is important, ensuring that the right thing is being done promptly and at a reasonable cost, without unnecessary waste of effort and resources.

According to Olawunmi (1992), consequence of neglecting the aspect of management of quality in the maintenance of facilities, machines, and buildings, has resulted in the following:   i.     Increase in maintenance cost and low building performance.  ii.  Wasted energy and effort   iii.    Inadequate client’s management of maintenance. e.g. - Lack of communication regarding maintenance issue -  Inadequate resources allowed for adequate maintenance.  - Capital cost overriding life-cycle-cost. iv. Very complex service system with low reliability.     v. Lack of sufficient instrumentation for easy monitoring

However the above stated facts could be corrected by applying the tools/principles of Total Quality Management. Since the principle of Total Quality Management profers solution out of the such problems since it forms the nucleus of what the principle address.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A careful look at Nigerian environment would reveal erratic building maintenance pattern among buildings owners/occupiers, especially, most of the public buildings are left unattended to the major preoccupation then seemed to be, construction of big edifice without considering subsequent maintenance of such a property. Thus maintenance of building in Nigeria tends to be a sort of onerous task, and it is also saddle with a lot of problems which tends to hampers it and makes it a sort of herculean task. Some of such problems being encountered in building maintenance in Nigeria and which needs to be attended to are as follows:

i.          Inappropriate maintenance policy  ii.    Non-compliance with statutory requirements   iii.            Inability of management of organization to carry employee along in decision-making and policy formulation.   iv.    Insufficient training and skilled manpower in maintenance operations v.   Lack of standards performance monitoring system.

The above listed problem could be countered by considering certain virtues in total quality management, which tend to provide way out of the problems. It is believed that if the principle could be applied in building maintenance most or nearly all the problem arising therein would be solved. To this end therefore, this research work is about studying an approach through which TQM principles could be adopted for an effective maintenance operation.

            AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

            Aim

The Aim of the study is to proffer ways of improving building maintenance practice via the application of Total Quality management Principles

            OBJECTIVES

(a)        To find out the best approach to ensure quality in building maintenance operations.

(b)        To recommend action points/benchmarks in the application of Total Quality management principles in building maintenance practice.

(c)             To investigate the method employed in Building maintenance to ensure the quality of finished work

            SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Besides adding to the existing body of knowledge ion this area, the study is significant in the sense that, it with demystify the existing doubts as to the practicality   of Total Quality management principles in solving problems as regards building maintenance, problems such as: inadequate training of personnel insufficient resources, measurement and precision in work carried out, communication between authority and employee. This study would then enable those principles in application in building maintenance as well the to ones that are not yet  in application, to be determined. This would  help in how to proffer solution to other problems that would surface in building maintenance operations and how to tackle them.

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