APPRAISAL OF MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES USED IN PUBLIC HOSPITAL BUILDINGS IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA

The study focused on the evaluation of maintenance management strategies used in public hospital buildings in Lagos state. It also assessed the labour composition for maintenance operations. In achieving these objectives, opinions of maintenance officers of ten (10) different hospitals in different local government areas of the state were sampled through well structured questionnaires. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. From the analysis, the study revealed that majority of those public hospitals do not have specific budget for maintenance programmes, maintenance policies, maintenance log book and maintenance manual to guide the operatives. About 98% of them do not understand the type of maintenance strategy being used for their maintenance operations. 78% of the maintenance work are only executed when there is a breakdown or in response to user's request. For labour composition, the cleaning of interior and exterior of the building, inspection of building elements, repairs and replacements of building elements are mainly carried out by in-house staff, while the repair and replacement of equipment is by outsourcing. The study also revealed that using in- house staff, reduces costs and provides a higher security while outsourcing provides more flexibility in staffing reduces equipment expenditures and provide better access to special skills. The study recommended proactive measures to provide necessary training and support for maintenance staff and users of these facilities and a means of securing sufficient funds for maintenance programmes.