Maintenance of Institutional Buildings: a Management Perspective

THIS PAPER IS based on the author's experience of establishing a maintenance system for rural health buildings in Kenya between 1988 and 1995, and discusses administrative and organizational issues. The main objective of the study is to recommend how to carry out maintenance on institutional buildings, with more emphasis given to the management of maintenance as opposed to the technical aspects. The report consists of two sections. The first, chapters 1–3, gives a brief description of the issue, and recommendations for the planning and implementation of systematic maintenance activities. Chapter 1 serves as an introduction, outlining the problems surrounding maintenance, the author's methodology and the organization of the report. Chapter 2 explores the general considerations that need to be taken into account when formulating a management plan for maintenance. Chapter 3 discusses some of the practical issues to be considered when setting up a maintenance organization, and is divided into four parts. The first is the analysis of the current maintenance status, attitudes to maintenance, and the legal and regulatory frameworks. The second is planning, discussing the formulation, pre-testing and approval of a strategy, including the objectives, an outline of maintenance procedures, organization, staffing and training. Then, implementation, follow-up and evaluation are outlined. And finally, the Maintenance Project for Rural Health Facilities in Kenya is presented as a case study, giving a background to the formulation of a maintenance project, an outline of the objectives and the formulation of the strategy implemented. Local, district and national level planning and integration are discussed as are funding and staff training. The second section of the report consists of three appendices, with external and internal inspection form layouts and a work sheet form, all of which are useful in the implementation of such a project.