ASSESSING CRITICAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NATIONAL MAINTENANCE POLICY

A national maintenance policy is a maintenance strategy that outlines the rules for triggering maintenance actions for buildings and other structures within a country. This study assessed critical factors affecting the development of a national maintenance policy in Nigeria. Through a Delphi survey, the required data for this study was obtained. The Delphi findings indicate twelve (12) factors affecting the development of a national maintenance policy in Nigeria. Among these twelve (12) factors, five (5) had a very high impact (VHI: 9.00-10.00) on the factors affecting the development of a maintenance policy/law in Nigeria, while three (3) of the factors had a high impact (HI: 7.00-8.99) and four (4) other factors scored a medium impact (MI: 5.00-6.99). The study's key finding indicates that the critical factors affecting Nigeria's development of a national maintenance policy were corruption and corrupt practices, lack of clear national maintenance vision, lack of continuity in governance, lack of accurate data of buildings stocks, and inadequate legislation on infrastructure. The study suggested a need for independent authority established by law responsible for implementing maintenance policies or laws. The study concluded that there should be a standalone national maintenance policy or law that will holistically address maintenance-related issues in the country.