DEVELOPING COMPUTER-BASED SYSTEM FOR MAINTENANCE PLANNING AND SCHEDULING OF HOSPITAL BUILDINGS IN NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY TEACHING HOSPITAL NNEWI,ANAMBRA STATE NIGERIA

1.1Background To The Study

Building is a major infrastructure in any hospital and is regarded as an enclosure or “envelope” designed and constructed to provide minimum level of comfort, protection and conveniences for man. Building provides safety, protects human inhabitants, animals, materials and equipment from effects of weather, and gives internal comfort (Ogunoh, 2008). According to Obiegbu (2003) a building is an essential modifier of micro-climate, (that is winds, temperature humidity and so on). He emphasized that buildings are enclosures of space(s), designed for specific uses, meant to control local climate, distribute services and evacuate wastes. Infact, building, being an essential part of human existence, is regarded as a basic need of mankind and ranks second to food. It is a human imperative without which man‟s survival is inconceivable. That is why people and building are inseparable. As Akinsola and Iyagba (2006) put it, “the existence of a building structure is a basic necessity in every society, that their presence in most cases, determines the level of growth and development in any developing society”. In another study, Mohamed (2005) said that adequate residential accommodation and related facilities constitutes one of the essentials of good life and therefore, a major requirement of an efficient and satisfied labour force. Again, this constitutes the foundation of a satisfactory community life. In other words, buildings are elements in the package of basic needs, which a community would like to procure for better living.

Generally, buildings are designed and constructed to provide healthy and comfortable environment, create a conducive atmosphere for working, living

and learning (Okolie, 2011). In addition, a healthy building is one that does not adversely affects the health of its occupants nor the large environment (Hal, 1995). According to Okoye and Ogunoh (2008) buildings are expected to function effectively throughout their expected life span. In a nutshell, a building must function to accommodate the activities for which it is built, and provides comfortable indoor and outdoor climates to its occupants.

Building is the centre for many socio economic activities and stands as a mark of prosperity, social acceptance, and an element of urban development and growth (Federal Ministry of Health Nigeria, 2005). It further stated that the availability of decent building for each family defines the level of development which a country has reached. Therefore, the building is fundamental as an important issue for people in all corners of the world. Similarly, building provides a link between the physical development of a city, and its social and economic out comes. Buildings in the built environment provide accommodation which must be accessible, safe, hygienic, aesthetically pleasing, and also sustainable (Okolie, 2011).

Hospital buildings are used to accommodate the treatment, diagnosis and care of patients, service users and staff and must be provided in a form that the fabrics, fixtures, fittings and services minimize the risk of Health care associated infections (FMHN, 2010). It further concluded that most healthcare organizations recognize that a well maintained, well operated building makes a huge difference when it comes to creating a positive physical environment of care.

Buildings are generally required to provide safe and conducive environment for the performance of various human activities. Odediran, Opatunji and Eghmure, (2012), are of the view that the ability of a building to provide the required environment for a particular activity is a measure of it‟s ability to perform. They also conclude that as “the components of building begin to deteriorate, it becomes necessary to take measures to ensure that the desired characteristics of that facility which provides safety and convenience are retained.Maintenance can be defined as a systematic care of (or all works undertaken to keep) a building to a state of preservation and acceptable standard in order to last long (Ogunoh, 2008). While Olusegun (2001) sees maintenance as the general cleanliness, preservation of fittings and fixtures through repairs and replacement. Obiegbu (2003) viewed maintenance as a programmed transformation of a building fabric, services and infrastructure concerned in keeping the building near to its original state, introducing into the existing structure, new technology or changes that will upgrade or refurbish the building to meet the demands of today‟s environment. Oyefeko (1990) clearly puts forward that, maintenance is also a combination of all technical and associated administrative actions intended to retain an item in or, restore it to a state in which it can perform its required functions. Maintenance according to Oladejo (2014) is a combination of both technical and administrative actions which are aimed at keeping the components of a facility in the most appropriate condition for effective use. Unfortunately, building maintenance has until recently been a neglected field of technology in most of our governmental policy formulation and execution, Akinsola and Iyaba (2006).