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THE BUILDING ENVIRONMENT
INTRODUCTION
The term built environment refers to the human made conditions and is often used in architecture, land
scape architecture, urban planning, public health, sociology and anthropology, among others.
A built environment is the one created by man with or without the aid of the natural environment.
The examples of built environment includes; cities, buildings, urban spaces, Walk ways, roads, parks,
etc

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ELEMENTS OF A BUILT ENVIRONMENT
 Earth
 Water
 Fire
 Air
 Space
FUNCTIONS AND RELATIONSHIP OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT ELEMENTS.
The term built environment refers to aspects of our surroundings that are built by humans, this is
distinguished from the natural environment.
It includes not only building but the human made spaces between buildings such as;
Parks and the infrastructure that supports human activity such as Transport networks, Utility networks,
Telecommunications and so on.
ENVIRONMENT
It means the surrounding external conditions influencing the growth or development of people, animal or
plants in their living or working conditions. Man cannot exist or be understood in isolation from other forms
of life. Hence, environment can also be referred to as the sum total of conditions, which surround living
things (Singh, 2006; McDougal, 2008).
Environment means surroundings which can be natural, manmade or a combination of the above.
Components of the Environment

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 The environment consists of three components namely: atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere
Atmosphere: The atmosphere is the protective blanket of gases like nitrogen, oxygen, argon, carbon (iv)
oxide, and trace gases.
Hydrosphere: The Hydrosphere comprises all types of water resources such as oceans, seas, lakes,
rivers, streams, reservoir, polar icecaps, glaciers, and ground water. Nature has about 97% of the earth’s
water supply in the oceans, about 2% of the water resources are locked in the polar icecaps and glaciers.
Only about 1% is available as fresh surface in rivers, lakes, streams, and ground water fit to be used for
human consumption and other purposes.
Lithosphere: This is the outer mantle of the solid earth crust. It consists of minerals occurring in the
earth’s crusts and the soil e.g. minerals, organic matter, air and water.

Functions of Components of the Environment

The atmosphere
(a) Sustaining life on the earth.
(b) Saving it from the hostile environment of outer space.
(c) Absorbing most of the cosmic rays from outer space and a major portion of the electromagnetic
radiation from the sun.
(d) Transmitting only ultraviolet, visible, infrared radiation (300 to 2500 nm) and radio waves (0.14 to
40 m) while filtering out tissue damaging ultraviolent waves below about 300 nm.
The hydrosphere
(a) Domestic purposes like in drinking and bathing.
(b) Agricultural purpose such irrigation
(c) Industrial and commercial purposes like brewery industries and manufacturing.
The lithosphere

(a) Contains minerals such as gold, dynamite for man’s good (Singh, 2006; Hallman, 2000).

Factors Regulating Population

The following factors regulate population of an environment:
(i) Physical attributes of the environment (e.g. climate).
(ii) Quantity and quality of food.
(iii) Disease (host-parasite relationships).
(iv) Predation.
(v) Inter-specific and intra-specific competition.
Challenges of Environmental Degradation
The following are the challenges of environmental degradation:
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Air pollution: It is the contamination of the atmosphere by poisonous gases. Natural processes such as
volcanic activity and decomposition of refuse affect air quality. Also, Human activity like incomplete
combustion of hydrocarbon to carbon (ii) oxide can also lead to air pollution. Air pollution can cause
respiratory problems for people through acid rain, damages to ozone layer and may affect global
temperature (Russell, 2008).
Global warming: It is the gradual increase in the average global temperature. The atmosphere traps heat
and warm the earth in a similar way. The greenhouse effect is the warming of the earth surface and when
this happens, the greenhouse gases in the air absorb and reradiate heat to the earth. An example of a
greenhouse gas is carbon (iv) oxide. The greenhouse effect is necessary to keep the earth temperature
stable. However, a continued increase in temperature results in serious environmental problems, such as
melting of ice in the Antarctica, which leads to increase in sea level, displacement of people living along
coastal lines and destruction of farm lands and livestock (Russell, 2008).
Soil damage: Fertile soil is used for agriculture, through which food is produced for the world. The
greatest threat to soil is erosion. Erosion is a process of wearing away the top surface of soil and
transported from one place to another either by wind, gravity or water. It destroys fertile soil that is
needed to produce food. The removal of vegetation also affects soil fertility (Russell, 2008).
Poverty: Nigeria is a country with large land mass and endowed with enormous natural resources but it
does not reflect in the lives of the majority of its over 160million citizens. Poverty impacts on the
environment in several ways. The vast majority of our people are directly dependent on the natural
resources of the country for their basic needs of food and shelter. About 60% of our people still live
below the poverty line. Environmental degradation has adversely affected the poor who depend upon the
resources of their immediate surroundings. Thus, the challenges of poverty and environmental
degradation are two facets of the same challenge (Russell, 2008).
Water pollution: Water pollution is basically rendering the water unfit for human consumption and
recreational purposes (Enerijiofi et al., 2013). Water pollution arise from the use of fertilizers and
pesticides in agriculture, livestock farming, industrial waste, oil runoff from roads, septic tanks and
unlined landfills. Oil on the ground can be washed down the soil. Pesticides, fertilizers and waste seep
into the ground. When pollutants runoff into rivers, both aquatic habitat and public water sources are
contaminated affecting human life and the ecosystem (Enerijiofi et al., 2013). The pesticide, DDT and
Garmalin 20 harm many species (Russell, 2008). Runoff also increases the nutrients in water body
which can lead to excessive growth of algae called bloom. The algae bloom depletes oxygen in the water
body which, leads to loss of aquatic lives and subsequent water pollution (Agbabiaka and Oyeyiola,
2012).
Disruption of ecosystem: This results in loss of biodiversity, food supplies, potential cause of disease
and balance of the ecosystem that supports life on earth. In as much as we want to meet the needs of the
growing population, ecosystem disruption will always continue. Indiscriminate Deforestation, loss of
biodiversity and consequently extinctions are some of the effects of ecosystem disruption. Biodiversity
affect the stability of the ecosystem and the sustainability of populations. Animals like Zebras and
Elephants are rare to find these days because most have gone into extinction due to disruption in the
ecosystem by man (Russell, 2008).

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CONSTRUCTION PLANT

Introduction

The term ‘plant’ refers to machinery, equipment and apparatus used for an industrial activity. Typically,
in construction, ‘plant’ refers to heavy machinery and equipment used during construction works.

At the smaller scale, there may be some overlap between what is considered plant, small plant, tools,
small tools or equipment. Very broadly, ‘tools’ might be considered to be instruments that are used by
hand, whereas ‘equipment’ might refer to a set of tools used for a single purpose.

For more information see: Construction tools and Construction equipment.

Construction plant is generally re-useable, and so as well as being purchased new, it may be purchased
second hand or hired. The Construction Plant Hire Association suggest that, ‘The UK plant hire industry
is the best established and most professional in the world, and is worth over £4 billion to the UK
economy.’

For more information, see: Plant acquisition.

Considerations when using construction plant

Construction projects, in particular, large and complex projects, are increasingly dependent on
construction plant, and there are a wide range of issues that need to be considered in its use:

 Public safety, employee safety and CDM. See below for more information.
 Type of applications.
 Programme, lead times and continuity of use.
 Crane zones and lifting operations.
 Emissions.
 Storage and theft.
 Insurance.
 Power and fuel.
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 Maintenance and breakdowns.
 Standards and regulations.
 Nuisance (noise, vibration, dust and so on). See below, and see Nuisance in construction for more
information).
 Logistics, access, segregation and diversions. See Site layout for more information.

Health and safety in particular is vitally important in the deployment and operation of plant on site,
particularly in relation to cranes, mobile plant and vehicles. There are a number of regulations that must
be adhered to and there is a wide range of guidance available from the Health and Safety Executive.

The Construction Plant Competence Scheme (CPCS) includes a registration card scheme demonstrating
the skills, knowledge and understanding, competence and qualifications of those involved in plant
operations.

Nuisance can also be a significant concern in the operation of construction plant, in particular in relation
to encroachment onto neighbouring sites, damage to neighbouring property, noise, vibration, dust, mud,
disruption to traffic and so on. Careful planning and the strict application of site rules to contractors and
sub-contractors can help alleviate such problems, with
particular consideration given to; hours of operation, transport routes, washing down of vehicles,
damping dust, the provision of hard surfaces for vehicles, the provision of information and help lines
and so on.

Complex plant may have additional service requirements, some of which might be provided by the
plant supplier:

 Design.
 Site accommodation.
 Operation.
 Communication links.
 Transportation.
 Fabrication and installation.  Temporary services.

Increasingly, Building Information Modelling (BIM), and the development of Virtual Construction
Models (VCM) are being used to organise construction works and the deployment of plant on site, in
particular in relation to the use or cranes and other lifting equipment.

Commonly-used types of construction plant

A list of commonly-used construction plant is provided below

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  Cherry pickers.

Compressed air plant.

 Concreting plant.

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 Construction skip.

Cranes.

 Dumpers.
 Earth-moving plant.

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 Excavators.

 Forklift trucks.

 Hoists.
 Lifting devices.

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Hoists are used on construction sites to vertically transport materials and/or passengers. They are most
commonly powered by diesel engines or electric motors that rotate a drum around which a wire rope is
wound. Hoists may also be hydraulically powered, and may use chains as the lifting mechanism rather
than wire rope.

The landing area must be fitted with some form of guard, usually sliding gates, and the base of the hoist,
where the winch is situated, should be well guarded to prevent injury. There must be a risk assessment
undertaken prior to hoisting, and subsequent lifting operations should be properly planned and carried out
in accordance with the Lifting Operations and Lifting Equipment Regulations 1998 (LOLER).

Hoists differ from cranes in that cranes move items vertically and horizontally. Hoists differ from lifts in
that they are generally used for industrial purposes and are not publicly accessible. Winches are typically
used to pull or drag items along level surfaces, rather than lifting them vertically.
Mobile hoists

Mobile hoists are commonly found on construction sites, and are capable of lifting material loads to
heights of up to 30 m. They are designed to be dismantled, folded onto the chassis and moved to
another location with relative ease, either under their own power or towed by a haulage vehicle.

The mast and winch unit is mounted on a platform, typically with a load capacity of 500 kg. This is then
stabilised using jacks or outriggers. Extending upwards, a lattice hoist mast is constructed to which
sections can be added depending on the height required, together with tie supports fixed to scaffolding
or the building frame. A protective screen is placed around the hoist mast, fitted with gates at least 2 m
high at all landing levels.

Passenger hoists

These are designed to lift passengers, although they can also be used for materials as long as the weight
is kept within the loading capacity. The type of hoist can vary from a single cage with rope suspension
to twin cages with rack and pinion operation mounted on two sides of a static tower. They are usually
controlled from within the cage, and there must be additional safety devices to prevent over-run or free-
fall.

A typical passenger hoist cage is 2.7 m high and capable of carrying 12 passengers at a total weight of
1,000 kg. Typical speeds are 40-100 m/min. The hoist tower is generally assembled from 1.5 mlong
sections and tied at 12 m centres to the face of the structure.

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Small package hoists

Small hoists consisting of a small lifting arm, simple electric motor and wire rope can be bolted to a
structure or to scaffolding and used for light-lifting operations of around 500kg.

 Loaders.

 Mobile elevating work platforms (MEWPs).

 Pallet jack.  Pavers.

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 Piling equipment.  Power floats.

 Pumps and dewatering equipment.  Road sweepers.

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 Rollers.

Mortar Mixers

Mortar mixers are made up of a stationary barrel and an internal paddle

with a rubber strip. The paddle rotates and simultaneously mixes the mortar while scraping the sides of
the barrel keeping the adhesive mortar from sticking to its sides. These heavy-duty mixers are tough
enough to handle a range of jobs including stucco, plaster, epoxy, terrazzo, drywall mud, paint or grout.

While they work well for mortar mixtures, they should NEVER be used for cement / concrete mixtures.
A much courser mixture like concrete causes wear on the rubber strips and pieces of rock or gravel can
clog the paddle.
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Cement / Concrete mixers

These horizontal mixers feature a rotating drum or barrel with no paddle.

You may have seen horizontal mixers like these in action on the back of cement trucks on their way to a
job site. The constant rotation of the barrel/drum ensures that the cement/concrete mixture combines
smoothly and doesn’t settle until it’s ready to be poured.
These types of mixers are ideal for mixes containing larger fragments like cement/concrete but are less
effective for “smoother” mixtures like mortar.

Standing plant

According to The Code of Estimating Practice, seventh edition, published by the Chartered Institute of
Building (CIOB) in 2009, the term 'standing plant' refers to, 'Plant retained on site that is not working,
but for which a contractor is still liable'.

General plant

The Code of Estimating Practice suggests the term ‘general plant’ refers to; 'Part of
a contractor’s project overhead calculation for the plant, excluded from unit rate calculations, and which
is available as a general facility on site. Durations for the general plant are usually taken from the tender
works programmed.’

Down time

The Code of Estimating Practice suggests 'downtime', or 'standing time' is, ‘The period of time that
plant is not operating. This may be due to breakdown, servicing tie or an inability to operate due to
other factors.’

Attendance

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Attendance is the main contractor’s mark-up for services it has to provide for individual suppliers or
subcontractors. This might include certain items of construction plant.

General attendance is the description of main contractor attendance available site wide to all suppliers
or sub-contractors. Special attendance is specific to particular suppliers or sub-contractor if requested.

For more information, see Attendance.

Operational risk

When it’s rainy and there are high winds, it may be difficult to operate machinery and cranes. Worksites
can be hazardous due to uneven surfaces, wet grass, and mud can cause dangerous travel for those
driving (and walking). Make sure to drive carefully over rough terrain.

Terrain hazards can cause water collection increasing the risk of drowning or machinery getting stuck.
Make sure to inspect all sites after a heavy downpour and to mark off or fill in any holes and washed out
areas that can cause slips, trips, and falls. Be aware of all overhead hazards, especially power lines when
operating and moving equipment.

EARTH-MOVING PLANT

Introduction

Earth-moving plant is commonly used on construction sites to transport and place excavated soil. Before
beginning earth-moving works, there must be a plan for the amount of material that needs to be moved
as well as where it will be moved to.

Generally, the choice of earth-moving plant will depend on:

 The quantity of material to be moved.

 The type and condition of the soil and the site.
 The distance to be moved.
 The speed and turn-around time required.  The size of the excavating bucket.

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Dumperr

Otherwise known as articulated or dump trucks, these are generally the largest of the earth-moving plant
types. Capacities can vary from 5 m3 to 30 m3. They are the most suitable option for sites where large
amounts of material needs to be transported over distances both on and off site. The vehicles have
heavily-plated bodies and are hydraulically operated which allows for quick discharge. There are a wide
range of dumpers available with differing carrying capacities and discharge options (front, side or
elevated tipping). The most common options are:

Standard dumper

Diesel powered dumper with gravity tipping skip. Heaped capacity ranges from 0.7-1.5 m3.
Swivel skip dumper

Hydraulic tipping skip mounted on 180-degree slewing turntable.

Highway dumper

Much larger dumper used to transport spoil off site. The rear tipping skip is hydraulically operated, and
the usual heaped capacity is 10 m3. (see top image)

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Bulldozer

Otherwise known as crawler tractors, bulldozers are track or wheel-mounted with a forward-facing
mould blade controlled by hydraulic rams. The blade is capable of tilting about a central swivel
point, allowing for a dipping depth of 300 mm. This means they are commonly used for stripping
sites, reduced level digging and pushing earth from one point to another.

Bulldozers are also used for clearing vegetation and small trees, acting as a towing tractor and can be
adapted as an angle dozer which pushes and casts spoil to one side of the mould blade, avoiding side
spillage when pushing material forward.
Scraper

Scrapers are capable of cutting, collecting and moving large quantities of spoil across sites by the use of
a scraper bowl for site stripping and levelling operations. One end of the scraper bowl is lowered to
collect material whilst the machine is moving. When full the bowl is raised and the machine travels to
the discharging are. Scraper capacities vary from 6-50 m3. The main types of scraper are:

Towed scraper

A four-wheeled scraper unit is towed behind a track-mounted machine. This is a slower option but
suitable for medium-sized sites with poor ground conditions.

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Wheel tractor scraper

A tractor unit is mounted on two large rubber-tyred wheels and connected to a two-wheel mounted
scraper. The usual carrying capacity is 30-50 m3.

Elevating scraper

These are smaller machines, with a carrying capacity of around 12 m3, that are quick for working with
loose soils.
Grader

Graders are similar to bulldozers in that they have a long slender mould blade which is used for the bulk
movement of earth. Graders can either be four-wheeled or six-wheeled (two at the front, four at the rear).

The adjustable blade is fixed under the centre of the machine and can be raised and lowered in both
horizontal and vertical planes through an angle of 300-degrees. A horizontal blade allows for the
finishing of earth formations such as roads to a fine limit, whilst a more vertical blade allows for the
cutting, shaping and grading of embankments.
Tractor shovel

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 Otherwise known as loaders, these machines have a front-mounted shovel bucket (similar to a
multipurpose excavator) which is used to scoop up and raise loose spoil before depositing it into a
transport vehicle such as a dumper. They can be either tracked or wheeled, which means that they are
suitable for most types of ground condition and commonly have a bucket lifting height of 4.5 m.

Backhoe loaders are fitted with a shovel in the front, and a backhoe at the back. For more
information see: Backhoe Loader Market 2015 - 2021.

External references

 ‘Introduction to Civil Engineering Construction’ (3rd ed.), HOLMES, R., The College of Estate
Management, (1995)
 ‘Building Construction Handbook’ (6th ed.), CHUDLEY, R., GREENO, R., Butterworth-Heinemann,
(2007)

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PLANT AND OR STRUCTURAL MAINTENANCE

TYPES OF MAINTENANCE

There are many types of maintenance, depending on the intent, timing or frequency of the maintenance activities.

(i) Preventive Maintenance

This refers to systematic pre-scheduled activities or programs of inspections and maintenance activities aimed at
the early detection of defects and implementation of actions to avoid breakdowns or infrastructure deterioration.
Preventive maintenance is “proactive” in the sense that these activities are conducted before a defect occurs. Often
the costs of many preventive maintenance activities are low compared with corrective maintenance or rehabilitation.

(ii) Corrective Maintenance

This refers to activities conducted as a result of breakdowns or noticeable infrastructure deterioration. In simple
terms it is making repairs, or even simpler, fixing something. Corrective maintenance is inherently “reactive” in
that it is carried out after some defect is discerned, often because the system is not operating as intended. In some
areas corrective maintenance is known curative maintenance.

(iii) Routine Maintenance

This refers to preventive and corrective maintenance activities carried out more often than once a year. Some of
these activities can be defined on the basis of operating hours.

(iv) Periodic Maintenance

This refers to preventive maintenance activities carried out less often than once a year, such as once every two or
five years. These maintenance tasks are often programmed in predetermined plans or schedules.

(v) Rehabilitation

This refers to activities carried out to correct major defects in order to restore a facility to its intended operational
status and capacity, without significantly expanding it beyond its originally planned or designed function or extent.
Rehabilitation should be distinguished from construction which refers to the initial creation of the infrastructure, as
well as from expansion or extension which refer to the increasing of the capacity or geographical extent of a system
of infrastructure. Rehabilitation activities are generally more expensive than corrective maintenance activities.

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Importance of Infrastructure Maintenance

Introduction:

The goal of Infrastructure maintenance is to sustain the life of major assets. When maintenance is carried out too
soon or too late, the provider of the assets/ Infrastructure impairs unnecessary costs and compromise life of the
asset. Maintenance of existing infrastructure should not be seen of secondary importance to the apparently more
attractive option of new infrastructure.

Maintaining infrastructure comes at a cost, but this is a prudent investment which saves significantly in the medium
to long term and promotes both the economic and human capital development.

There are other significant costs associated with inadequate maintenance and consequent breakdowns. These costs
could include loss of production and consequent economic loss, health risks, injury or loss of life, and the cost of
alternative measures needed during breakdowns.

The sections below review the significance of maintenance, especially to developing countries, in terms of
economic, financial, technical, and social, health and environmental terms.

1. Economic and financial significance

In most countries, more than half of the gross domestic product (GDP) is produced in urban areas, and this share is
increasing. At the same time, the population growth in developing countries is highest in urban areas, increasing
labour supply and boosting the demand for urban services. Cities serve as increasingly important driving forces in
regional and national economies, but the cities’ ability to sustain efficient public and private-sector activities is
dependent upon well-maintained, efficiently operated infrastructure systems and urban service delivery.

There are many significant economic and financial repercussions of inadequate maintenance, namely:

• Direct economic inefficiencies and financial losses due to poor maintenance: For example, neglect of
maintenance in drainage can lead to excessive costs as a result of floods as is often experienced in Kampala
city, where failure to maintain stormwater-catchment drains necessitates the allocation of resources for
flood-relief operations.
• Deficiencies in one maintenance sector often raise costs in another. For instance, lack of street sweeping
or garbage collection can increase costs for road, sewer and drain maintenance as accumulated material
interferes with proper use or maintenance of these facilities.
• An aggravated balance of payments situation. Poor maintenance leads to waste of imported materials,
supplies, energy, parts and other commodities. For example, losses in water supply networks waste
imported chemicals and, in many cases, imported energy supplies.

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 • Unnecessary investment in rehabilitation or new facilities. Infrastructure systems which are not
maintained will deteriorate faster, shortening their life, wasting scarce investment funds and precluding
effective cost recovery. Since many of these funds are from credits, this can lead to worse balance of
payments. Inadequate maintenance of public facilities or infrastructure often forces the private sector to
invest directly on the provision of services which is not always the best solution from the overall city
development perspective.
• Lost job-creation. If effectively planned, maintenance of infrastructure could be a basis for promoting
local contracting skills and also for generating employment opportunities. There are many tasks of
infrastructure maintenance within the competence of small local contractors, opening the way for then to
gain experience and expand to large-scale operations. On average, infrastructure maintenance requires an
annual labour input equivalent to 20 percent of the total used in initial construction, but, where maintenance
is poor; little advantage is taken of this job-creation potential.
2. Technical significance

It is becoming increasingly evident that improvement of maintenance is a crucial strategy, in fact, a required
technical input to infrastructure and urban service delivery problems.

It should be kept in mind that maintenance expenditures could be relatively small. For example, the routine
maintenance of the road network, sewer, and drainage systems, could sometimes require an annual expenditure of
less than 5 percent of the replacement cost of the facility.

If maintenance in one sector is ignored, major technical problems can result in others. If roads are not maintained,
the ability of solid-waste vehicles to collect garbage can be severely hampered.

In several developing countries, the construction sector operates with many deficiencies, such as a low level of
construction skills, non-adherence to basic quality-control practices, and non-conformity of construction materials
to accepted standards, so that, often a facility is predetermined to fail by virtue of pervasive incorrect design,
construction or installation practices.

3. Social, health and environmental significance

Even though there is a general situation of unsatisfactory maintenance for infrastructure, the problem is most
significant for low-income settlement. A lack of attention to maintenance of urban infrastructure can lead to
significant impacts on human health.

• Increased prevalence of water-borne diseases, and increasing mortality and morbidity due to poor
maintenance of water supply and sanitation systems. A lack of upkeep will lead to high leakage rates, low
pressures, and service interruptions, promoting infiltration of raw sewerage into water mains. Similarly, a lack

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 of effective solid-waste collection and disposal leads to the accumulation of refuse in streets, vacant lots, and
abandoned private and public land. As a result, adjacent communities suffer from poor sanitary conditions and
health problems. Disposal sites are often situated on the urban fringes, where the poor are most likely to settle.
Lack of solid-waste collection can lead to clogged storm drains, creating short-term, localized flooding, which
can distribute solid and liquid wastes throughout the settled zones. Urban malaria is still a significant problem,
as the breeding of anopheles mosquitoes is made possible by the water stagnating in urban neighbourhoods due
to a lack of sanitation, solid waste collection and drainage. The scarcity and contamination of water supplies
and the lack of sanitation and appropriate sewerage disposal make diarrhea diseases one of the most important
health problems in poor urban areas.
• Negative impacts on the environment. The faulty maintenance of sewerage treatment plants can lead to the
discharge of poorly treated effluents, greatly degrading surface-water quality. Aquatic life in lakes, rivers and
streams can be completely disrupted by oxygen depletion and high nutrient loadings form poorly or untreated
sewerage. Shallow aquifers can easily be contaminated from pit latrines or solid-waste dumps which are not
properly operated or maintained. These polluted water bodies are often sources for other cities and towns, or
even a future source of supply for the polluters themselves, resulting in poorer water quality, or higher treatment
costs for these citizens. Similarly, the inadequate maintenance of drainage systems leads sometimes to
irreversible processes of soil erosion and the degradation of land resources for urban uses.

ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN CURRENT MAINTENANCE PRACTICES

There are many problems and issues associated with current maintenance practices. These can be classified into
technical, institutional, management, financial and policy problems. The sections below review these problems and
issues in sequence. However, it must be realized that in most cases the problems are interlinked. For example,
often technical problems have root causes in management and financial issues, and many authorities have significant
financial problems due to policy restrictions on local revenue generation. Thus, a full understanding of maintenance
problems requires a broad perspective on the interrelationship between the different components of service
management, as well as between the different infrastructure sectors.

1. Technical problems

(a) Inappropriate design and systems

Many maintenance problems are predetermined by the design of the infrastructure itself. In many countries,
traditional engineering training and donor technical assistance programmes lead to the adoption of norms and
standards from developed countries, which are inappropriate to the technical, economic and financial context into
which they are placed. High capital cost, and sophisticated systems can create undue maintenance requirements

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from the moment the capital asset becomes operational. Such inappropriate systems require skills which are not
present, parts and supplies which must be imported, and financial sources beyond the capacity of the users, and do
not take advantage of the abundant labour and local resources.

(b) Inappropriate/inadequate technologies

Even where the steps have been taken to provide correct designs to minimize avoidable maintenance, there are still
problems caused by errors in construction and installation on site. Poor material also contributes to maintenance
problems through rapid deterioration. Many materials for roads or water lines are below standard due to poor quality
and inadequate handling and storage practices. Typically, the lack of foreign exchange restricts users to poor-
quality alternatives.

Maintenance operations are often hampered by limited access to tools, equipment and vehicles. In many cases,
tools or equipment are simply not available due to the lack of foreign exchange or financial resources.

(c) Lack of skilled manpower

Improper performance of maintenance tasks is also a common problem with can be attributed to poorly trained,
under-paid, unmotivated staff; or a lack of oversight and standards enforcement by and overtaxed management.

(d) Misuse/abuse of infrastructure

Finally, the misuse of infrastructure can cause unnecessary demands for maintenance and repairs. Poor enforcement
of use-requirements and, to some extent, lack of user-involvement by during project development contributes to
much abuse of infrastructural facilities.

2. Institutional problems

Existing institutional arrangements often lead to a dispersion of responsibilities for design construction, operation
or use, and maintenance of a capital asset. The maintenance unit often does not even have access to basic working
drawings, to as-built drawings for buried infrastructure and accessories and to operating manuals for installations
and services.

Many local authorities or maintenance units have staffing problems. There is hardly any relationship between the
staff assigned to a maintenance unit and the volume of work required. Typically, agencies are highly overstaffed
at the lowest levels (semi-skilled and unskilled workers) in an effort to combat unemployment, but are critically
lacking at the middle and upper levels (technical and management functions). A number of factors can be cited as
explanation:

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 • First, public agencies are constrained by low and rigid salary scales, making it hard to attract competent,
motivated staff, particularly in technical and management fields, where the draw to the private sector is
much stronger.
• Staff have few incentives to work or perform to the best of their abilities, leading to poor morale.
Maintenance is often a low-status position, even a professional backwater, compared with the more
glamorous high-investment areas of design and construction.

3. Management problems

Many maintenance units in local authorities operate in a crisis-management atmosphere, hurriedly running from
one repair to the next. They are rarely sufficiently organized to perform preventive maintenance tasks, so frequent
repairs and breakdowns continue in a cyclic fashion. The causes for this state of affairs are many.

It must be pointed out that the poor condition of many infrastructure assets creates a high incidence of failures and
problems, fostering the crisis atmosphere. The4 cycle could be broken if management could be improved, the
maintenance approach shifted to planned preventive actions, systems rehabilitated and maintained, and the work
stabilized into an effective and efficient service delivery operation.

4. Legislative and policy problems

Legislative barriers in some countries directly affect the efficiency of maintenance. For instance, it is not uncommon
to find cases where the use or non-use of sub-contractual arrangements to carry out maintenance is predetermined
by laws based on no technical criteria. In other countries, there is legislation defining geographical jurisdictions for
maintenance units, leading to the neglect of some infrastructural facilities which are not clearly covered by the law.

Lastly governments do not have the policy-making apparatus to analyse current policies and develop improved ones.
Directives from central government are often unclear and incomplete. Line ministries do not have the staff with the
experience or interest to assess the maintenance policy framework, evaluate impacts of policy decisions, and begin
to work with local authorities to evaluate policy options and assist in their implementation.

5. Financial problems and issues

Local authorities are often poor at generating local revenue, because they never had to depend on these resources.
But as the amount of national government transfers declines, local financial performance is becoming more critical.
Revenue collection is commonly under 50 percent of the potential. Deficiencies in legal mandates to impose taxes,
outdated assessments and rates, inadequate cadastres, inefficient billing and collection procedures, and delinquent
payments are some of the common reasons for poor general revenue collection.

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Even in potentially high revenue-generating sectors, such as water supply, many government agencies record losses.
Some of these aspects are discussed in more detail below.

(a) Inadequate financial resources

These may be due to;

• An inadequate revenue-collection authority which is a product of not assigning certain powers for taxing to
the local authority and of limitations on setting the rates for certain taxes.
• Even when local authorities have adequate revenue-generation powers, there are often problems with the
local revenue base.
(b) Obsolete accounting systems and practices

Accounting systems typically provide minimum information for financial management. Designed primarily to
restrict the spending of funds to authorized line items only, accounting system are rarely designed to inform a
manager of the relationship of funds expended to services provided. Even where programme accounting exists,
manual methods often produce inaccurate and untimely statements. The almost complete lack of automation of
accounting slows down monthly, quarterly, and annual accounting reports, sometimes to the point of rendering them
virtually useless. Should fraud prevail, efforts to improve accounting practices meet resistance calculated to prevent
improvements to the system.

Similarly, accurate accounts of the costs of delivering services are almost non-existent in the local authorities of
most developing countries. Cost accounting systems are crucial to maintenance in that sound decisions depend on
accurate costing of jobs to repair sewer or water maintenance units. This is compounded by mangers and governing
boards who ignore the cost issues of local service provision.

(c) Faculty budgeting systems and practices

In many countries, the local-authority budgeting process is not accorded adequate supervision by the central
government. While most countries require formal submission of annual budgets from local authorities, few provide
a detailed examination or monitor compliance with the budget. Where compliance is required, multiple revisions
of local budgets are common, making the budgeting process a mere academic exercise. Again, as is the case with
accounting systems, the lack of basic automation promotes a static approach to budgeting. Forecasting techniques,
likewise, suffer from a lack of basic automation and simple-to-use software operating on low cost microcomputers.
Staff, all too familiar with a static regulatory and administrative environment, that stifles initiative, fails to take
advantage of these newer technologies.

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PLANNING, PROGRAMMING, BUDGETING AND MANAGEMENT OF INFRASTRUCTURE
MAINTENANCE

The improvement of planning, programming, budgeting and management is crucial to ensuring the efficiency and
effectiveness of urban service delivery. Many of the deficiencies in maintenance are linked to weak planning, adhoc
budgeting, and poor management. This chapter outlines an approach to planning and budgeting, based mostly on
the notion of preventive maintenance and task-oriented budgeting, and describes a series of management tools that
will assist in implementing such a programme.

A. Initial steps in planning infrastructure maintenance

1. Asset inventories and condition assessments

The first step in planning maintenance will be to conduct a detailed inventory and condition assessment of all assets,
fixed or mobile. The purpose of such an inventory is to identify and collect technical information on each asset to
be maintained. The purpose of a condition assessment is to define general as well as specific data on maintenance,
repair and rehabilitation needs. Inventories also form the database upon which regular record-keeping is based, as
discussed later in this chapter.

2. Resource inventory
An inventory of the human and financial resources for maintenance should be conducted along with the inventory
of physical infrastructure to be maintained. These are the basic inputs required for the planning process. The
following is a list of useful data to collect and indicators to develop such as:

Materials:

Indicators to be used to examine material, equipment and facilities resources in maintenance agencies and
department include:

• Vehicles: inventory with data on type, age, condition and availability

• Workshops and special facilities: inventory and condition
• Workshop tools and equipment: inventory and condition
• Stores for tools, equipment, spares, materials: procedures used, shortfalls incurred Finance:

Indicators to be used to examine financing practice and resources in maintenance units include:

• Source of funds
• Annual maintenance expenditure
• Percentage ratio of annual maintenance expenditure to new capital investment.
Staffing:

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 • Existence of a staff inventory
• Availability of job descriptions
• Staff turnover rate
• Staff internally recruited as percentage
• Typical number of applicants for vacant positions.
• Ratio between salary/benefits in public versus private sector
• Breakdown between professional/craftsperson/unskilled staff.
• Total staff per unit of infrastructure or urban service delivery
3. Task identification and definition
Once a detailed inventory of the infrastructure to be maintained has been developed, the maintenance tasks which
must performed on each element must be identified. Three types of maintenance tasks will have to be identified:

• preventive maintenance,
• common corrective maintenance,
• And rehabilitation tasks.
For each task, the identification should include data on: task name, brief description, and frequency (daily, monthly,
annually, and biannually).

Another way of viewing task definition is to consider them as maintenance-work quality standards; thus, they define
the level of maintenance service that should be provided. For example, the frequency of defect detection efforts on
roads will define the level of maintenance service, with impacts on service provision and on other infrastructure
sectors. Choosing standards will be a difficulty trade-off between maintenance expenditure, rehabilitation expense,
and capital investment in replacement of the assets. This issue is discussed in more detail when multi-year
maintenance planning is discussed later in this chapter.

Discussions with other users of the equipment may also be useful, but the same cautions should apply. Thus, the
task identification must often start from zero. For vehicle, pumps, engines and other electromechanical equipment,
the best place to start is the recommendations of the manufacturer, which should be able to specify the above data
on each task to be done. Engineering handbooks and manuals will also be useful references. A final source of
information would be outside consultants with maintenance planning experience with the relevant equipment.

4. Maintenance task standards

The standards must be developed for planning programming and budgeting purposes, but also to guide actual
implementation, and facilitate monitoring and evaluation of performance. The primary purpose of standards, as
opposed to the task descriptions, is to identify the resources (human, material and equipment) necessary to complete
a given task. With a predetermined target, crews and workers can be made accountable for their time and

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expenditures, promoting more efficient work. Managers can easily measure performance and analyze variances,
and can be held accountable themselves to the workers they direct.

A maintenance task standard should specify:

• Task name;
• Task description
• Task code;
• Date of maintenance standard;
• Task steps or work methods;
• Personnel, equipment and materials needed;
• Work measurement unit;
• Estimated productivity (such as work measurement units/day);
• Estimated cost per work unit, based on costs of labour, materials and equipment.
Maintenance standards demand a significant amount of work to develop. Local skills, tools, maintenance practice
and costs make standards specific to one location. Thus, standards have to be developed probably at national level,
with some allowance for local modifications.

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