Maintenance management of commercial buildings within the central business District in Nairobi: a survey of Moktar Daddah street.

Abstract

Maintenance of property and related infrastructure is a very important aspect of property management. More so, it is more important within the Central businesses district, which is such an important area of any city or town. with the increased demand for commercial property and the strained economic situation which is making it hard to invest in the property market, there is need to maintain to a very high standard the existing facilities and keep them in the highest practicable standards. the economy cannot thrive in a poorly maintained environment. The paper aims at studying the maintenance management practices of commercial property within the central business district. Most of the buildings that are under study are in a poor state of maintenance although they are located within a prime area of the city. With proper management and maintenance practices, this buildings should be in a better state and therefore be more profitable to the building owners .. the study has also outlined the features of property management practices and classified the under four headings. These features are organizational and management issues, policy and legislation, finance and cost recovery, and technical issues. The findings of the study have revealed that there lacks a maintenance management policy within most buildings to be a guideline to maintenance ofthe property. In cases where one exist, there lacks an enforcing "agent to ensure that it is implemented. There lacks a national or local level maintenance policy to act as guidelines to maintenance. Old age of the buildings is also another factor that has led to the deterioration of he buildings and so has poor design .that fails to take into consideration future maintenance. The study recommends jhe formation of a national or local agency charged with maintenance of property at their respective levels. The body should have legal recognition and should have set objectives on maintenance and a means of enforcing the standards. A maintenance fund should be established within all buildings and the money used for purposes of maintaining the facilifo/in 'acceptable standards.