ABSTRACT

Infrastructural facilities in public institutions in Nigeria are inadequately maintained, and the few that are maintained are allowed to deteriorate completely without any sustainable maintenance plan or strategy. Maintenance aims at maximizing the service life of a building, by delaying deterioration and failure. The study aimed at ascertaining the frequency of maintenance of Akanu Ibiam hostel building in the University of Benin, identifying the element of the hostel building that needs the most repair, examining the factors contributing to the deterioration of the hostel building and identifying the strategies for improving the maintenance of the hostel building.The data necessary for the study were collected using a structured questionnaire and personal observation. The quota and purposive sampling technique were adopted in the selection of 222 respondents for the study. The result of the study showed that the Akanu Ibiam hostel is rarely maintained. The study showed that electrical installation is the building elements which requires highest level of maintenance, carrying out regular building inspection and use of qualified maintenance personnel to carry out maintenance activities are the best strategies for improving the hostel maintenance, and having a negative attitude of waiting until emergency measures become necessary was observed to have caused further deterioration to building components in the Akanu Ibiam hostel. It is recommended that the management of the university of Benin should employ qualified staff to carry out regular maintenance of the hostel building.