Assessing the demand for building maintenance in a major hospital complex

Abstract

Building maintenance has until recently been a neglected field of quantitative modelling and of academic study. It has not attracted very much attention despite being regarded as under‐funded, unproductive and poorly managed, or the recognition that many of its managerial problems are demanding more research and skills than those of new works. Discusses the priorities, categories of maintenance work, and factors affecting demand for maintenance. Based on general statistics obtained, identifies and quantifies both major problems areas (in terms of cost and frequency of maintenance activities) and the nature and cause of the demand for maintenance in a major hospital complex. They have revealed no coherent picture, in that demand from wards and building seems independent of patient throughput and age of buildings. The demand for maintenance, for the main trades involved, namely plumbing, joinery, electrical and mechanical have been forecast and arrival rate of jobs per trade has been estimated. This would enhance the management process and work planning which would result in a more economic use of resources and a corresponding reduction in the total cost of maintaining property to a standard.