Supreme Special: Types of school plant maintenance

Effectiveness and efficiency of a maintenance programme are achieved if the maintenance of the school plant is consciously scheduled instead of only responding to emergencies. This means planning the programme in such a way that some maintenance services are performed as they ought to. Some on a regular basis, some periodically and others as the need arises. Based on this, we are going to be discussing the four major types of maintenance program in a school plant.

PERIODIC MAINTENANCE

As the name implies, the periodic maintenance are carried out at intervals, monthly, yearly as the case may be. It is a scheduled type of maintenance and it includes works like painting, fixing and servicing of laboratory equipment before major/external examination, servicing of vehicles and other school equipment.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE

This preventive maintenance is the most important of all because every other type of maintenance is hinged on this. How does it work? It is simply carried out to ensure that the school building is in good shape and every other equipment is functioning maximally to prevent a breakdown of the system or any of its constituents. It is a stitch in time saves nine type of maintenance; though it is hardly ever practiced in Nigerian public schools because they don't have trained custodial staff. It prevents the school building, equipment, vehicles, furniture and every other infrastructure used in the school from deteriorating /tear and wear.

EMERGENCY MAINTENANCE

This is the most common type of school plant maintenance program. It arises due to some unforeseen or unexpected emergencies. This type of maintenance is the work done when a system, an equipment, especially one that is frequently in use, unexpectedly breaks down. It is also the type of work done when a part of a building collapses because of a natural disaster, structural defect, age etc.

REPLACEMENT MAINTENANCE

This type of maintenance involves removing and replacing an equipment or parts of it when due. Some machines, vehicle parts, electrical and plumbing fixtures needs to be replaced due to expiration or before they become completely bad, cause accident or an entire break down of the equipment. It is poor practice to wait until an item of equipment or machine becomes completely unusable before replacing it. Regular replacement of an item of equipment or some of its parts prevents embarrassment, down-time and ensures relative safety.

Prevention they always say is better than cure. Managers of publics primary and secondary schools in Nigeria should pay adequate attention to the subject school plant Maintenance.

KRYSTAL IBHADE TAMUNOSIKI (Krystal.taminosiki@gmail.com)