International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 6, No.

3, June 2015

The Common Problems Facing the Building Maintenance

Departments
Ayman Alshehri, Ibrahim Motawa, and Stephen Ogunlana

working within public organizations in Saudi Arabia.

Abstract—Building maintenance has consistently been
treated as the ‘poor relation’ of the construction and building
industry. In term of Saudi Arabia, it is said that the II. BUILDING MAINTENANCE
management procedures used by maintenance contractors is
poor and not based on scientific background. In addition, the Building management is considered as a matter of the
Saudi Arabian Government spent SR3172 (£529) billion during larger unit the Facilities Management [4]. Building
2005 to 2009 on construction projects. Despite the growth in maintenance is a collection of a lot of activities. In order to
demand, the building maintenance in the Kingdom faces several carry out the maintenance job we may require some
difficulties. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to find out
approvals for the work arrangement, which may vary
the common problems facing the operation and maintenance
departments. In order to explore the current status of the according to size, characteristics of the project, management
building maintenance in Saudi public sector, twelve interviews style, work environment and the cooperation of all parties
with professionals who are working in operation and involved. Due to the dependence of these factors some of the
maintenance departments were conducted. Data collection from work orders may not be completed. In an ideal maintenance
these interviews were analyzed to identify the common operation, the important parties involved in the execution of
problems which categorized into three grouped, management
the work are the owner or the client, the contractor and the
problems, human resource problems and technical problems.
The interviews also revealed that there are fourteen obstacles user. The relationship between the key partners and their
that facing the operation and maintenance industry. attitudes towards each other is the main factor which
promotes the speed at which the work is completed and also
Index Terms—Building maintenance, public sector, Saudi estimated the efficiency of the execution and the maintenance
Arabia. operations [5].
In the country of Saudi Arabia the management procedures
I. INTRODUCTION currently used by the maintenance contractors do not support
Saudi Arabia is having a diverse set of infrastructural the present building scenario as they do not have a scientific
facilities. Elements of this infrastructure need be continually back ground. In general there is an absence of understanding
maintained to ensure its optimal value over its lifecycle. of the need for maintenance work. There is mention in the
Maintenance and operation services for public building is not literature of maintenance issues in Saudi Arabia. [6] pointed
a core service or business activity in Saudi Arabia. As rustle, out the importance of maintenance in the Kingdom. [7]
maintenance services are usually outsourced to specialty attempted to create a standardized maintenance contract by
contractors [1]. The size and number of construction projects collecting essential information from a number of
financed by the government directly affects the building and government offices around the kingdom after studying the
construction industry of Saudi Arabia. In 2008, the value of present public building maintenance contract. Further, [8]
capital assets of the building and construction sector was and [9] have discussed the obstacles faced by the
SR154.5 billion [2]. As more and more facilities and maintenance industry and also the effect it has on the
infrastructure is being constructed in Saudi Arabia, more development in Saudi Arabia. [3] identified the main key
maintenance work is becoming necessary to ensure the factor affecting the importance given to building
serviceability and safety of the constructed facilities [3]. maintenance in projects. Other papers have discussed the
Therefore, The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a living experience accumulated on maintenance practice and
challenge when it comes to fulfilling the operations and management in several fields. For example, [8], [10], and [11]
maintenance needs. In order to improve the current state of summarized such factors, the most important of which are: 1.
building maintenance, it is essential to address the current Lack of building by laws and regulation; 2. Both imported
problems in this industry. Hence, this paper focuses on and locally produced materials have been used without any
identify of such problems that have been faced in the restriction or tests; 3. Various foreign standard, rules of
operations and maintenance industry. The scope of the thumb and personal judgment were employed without
research is focused on building maintenance departments reference; 4. Unavailable or poorly written operational
maintenance manuals; lack of coordination between
Manuscript received February 3, 2015; revised April 16, 2015. construction and maintenance group; 6. Method of
A. R. Alshehri is with Heriot Watt University, UK (e-mail: classification of maintenance contractors; and 7. Lack of
[email protected]).
I. Motawa and S. Ogunlana are with the School of Built Environment, uniform maintenance. In addition, [12] discussed the
Heriot Watt University, UK (e-mail: [email protected], manpower requirement for operations and maintenance in
[email protected]). Saudi Arabia. [13] discussed the Method of classifying

DOI: 10.7763/IJIMT.2015.V6.608 234

 International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 3, June 2015

maintenance contractors. very much influenced by the organization president. Hence,

In Saudi Arabia, there is Lack of community awareness the background, experience and education of the president
about the importance of maintenance. And no uniform play an important role in the management style. It is difficult
maintenance standards and uniform standard specifications for the management to be committed toward any issue
for maintenance activities. This would result in difficulty in without the president's commitment and support. Most
encountering the problems during the performed government organizations do not have a tool to measure their
maintenance works. Hence it is even more evident how performance. The top management live in democracy
necessary this research is to improve the building environment so this main reason that effect on delay
maintenance in the public sector of Saudi Arabia. maintenance processes.
In order to achieve the paper aim, it was decided that the
C. Procurement Management
strategy of semi-structured recorded interviews (in-depth
recorded interview) face to face with professional According to the government procurement system the
practitioners who are working in public sector would be used contractor is required to provide three quotations from three
to obtain information. Semi-structured interviewing can different suppliers. The offer which conforms with the
provide much needed flexibility. The sample approach for specification and is lowest in price will be accepted. One of
this objective is the snowballing and purposive approach. the interviewees believed that the situation of the relationship
This involves input in the form of descriptions and between the contractor and the suppliers. According to him,
modifications from several of the participating experts. the contractors have two different strategies depending on the
Therefore, some level of flexibility in interviews in terms of type of contract. If the contract is a lump sum, the contractor
following up questions was needed during identifying the surveys the market for the best price. However, if the material
common obstacles in building maintenance departments. is not part of the contract, the contractor recommends certain
To conduct structured interviews, it was first necessary to suppliers to the client where the client can benefit from such
decide the sample of participants to be interviewed, and the recommendation such as favorable prices when the
number of organization for interviews. The criteria for contractor has a lump sum contract or even a special
selecting the participants was based on the level of seniority commission. It was clear from the interviews that the major
Interviewees with a high level of seniority are more likely to concern of the contractors is cost and they have little
know much more information for the research requirements, consideration for other issues such the quality and time of
furthermore, participants enthusiasm toward the research, if delivery.
interviewees are willing to participate in the research, it is D. Unqualified Maintenance Contractor
much easier to obtain much information required for the In Saudi Arabia, public maintenance contracts are awarded
research. After the criteria for structured interviews were based on competitive bidding to secure the lowest price for
determined, the next step was to decide how many interviews performing maintenance operations. The project is normally
would be selected. The number of interviews was twelve awarded to the lowest bidder provided. The least bidder will
interviews were regarded as sufficient for this stage, each try to complete the work with the lowest possible cost in
interview between 30 minutes and two hour. Furthermore, order to generate a profit from the project [14]. Normally, the
the results will be obtained from the semi-structured maintenance department of the owner supervises the work
interviews would give the author a better understanding of flow in the maintenance operation, and requires the
building maintenance process, problems and related issues. contractor to submit a monthly report on work progress. The
diversity of contractual methods and work types involved
makes the maintenance contracting system a very complex
III. PROBLEMS IN BUILDING MAINTENANCE one.
The interviewees were asked what are the common Most of maintenance contractors operate and maintain the
problems would happen in the operation and maintenance public building through foreign worker ranged from the
processes. These human problems will be categorized into highly skilled to unskilled. However, the unskilled worker
three grouped, management issues, human resource problems represented the majority. They were paid low wages and
and technical problems. came from high- unemployment countries such as Pakistan
A. The Top Management Problems and India. As a result, local nationals abandoned working in
the operation and maintenance industry and the industry
There are problems with the management in building
became dominated by foreign worker. Governmental
maintenance projects. These problems are related to
maintenance contracts is for three years periods. Almost six
maintenance group management, performance and execution
months before the end of the contract period, the government
of management during maintenance. They can be classified
announce the contract for a new maintenance contractor if the
as follows:
old contractor’s bidding cost was not the lowest. This process
B. Poor Management of Maintenance Team implies two major problems:
Maintenance management is an effective tool for First, the old contractor having known that a new
achieving a high standard of maintenance work. In the contractor will take over. So he tends not perform as he
absence of such management and leadership of people, it will should and leaves much of the work to the new contractor to
lead to time consuming and most likely failed maintenance save money. These six months at the end of the contract is
works. The top management in maintenance departments are considered a loss to the client. Second, at the start of the new

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 International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 3, June 2015

contractor period, the new contractor starts mobilization of reduced based on their evaluation
his staff and equipment. The new staff mostly are unfamiliar
H. The Human Resource Problem
with the new facility and procedures. It is estimated that the
new contractor need a few months to get fully acquainted and These are problems caused by human factors such as
familiarized with the new contracts and start with experience of manpower, their attitude to understand the
maintenance works effectively. As result, the six months at maintenance work. The can be classified as follows:
the end and beginning of the contracts is one year’s loss I. Lack of Supervision from Maintenance Team
contract period, considered a massive loss to the facilities. Some participants consider that the role of supervision is
Sometimes the contractors do not provide excellent team the most critical of all roles in maintenance department. Most
and skilled technicians so they are rejected and replaced with supervisors are appointed one day and are expected to
another contractor, this also cause waste time and effort. The perform all the complex tasks of management the next day
problem is that in order to take the project from a contractor without any form of training or preparation. This is not fair to
and give it to another contractor, this needs another six the individual nor is it an effective strategy for management.
months in fact that the contract period is three years. Unfortunately, the client maintenance team depend on the
E. Government Regulations and Rules contractor for all maintenance duties. The client maintenance
The government policy of awarding the contract to the team in the public sector are working as supervisors only and
lowest bidder, on condition that the value of the new contract do not know anything technical and they just receive the
should not exceed that of the previous contract, has had maintenance report from the contractor for signature only.
adverse consequences. It did not take into consideration The government sector does not have efficient maintenance
fluctuations of prices and ageing of buildings. Buildings need staff.
more maintenance as they get older. The price of spare parts J. Lack of Engineers and Specialist
and labor will rise along with rises in the standard of living Maintenance work requirement for manpower is different
and inflation. when compared with construction, due to the type of work
The method adopted in Saudi Arabia in classifying the and services to an existing facility which need special and
maintenance contractors depend on the total amount of keen skilled engineers. Availability of maintenance work
project capital. Therefore, the classification method adopted force is important factor in the process of maintenance work.
is to look into the capital only. Therefore, all type of In the case that little or no manpower is available locally, as is
maintenance companies (small, Medium and large) are the case in Saudi Arabia, the need for manpower will be
allowed to participate in any maintenance tender. Regardless, dependent on other countries because it is boring
the company profile, resources and quality policy, the environment and the range of resignation is high. These
company with the lowest price is the winner. Further, the foreign workers might leave the country at any time, which
method of classification should look into many factors, such will be a loss for the company and eventually for the whole
as: capital, manpower, experience, equipment available, list country. It is of extreme important to establish a work that
of completed projects, quality certificates, etc. Incorrect will always be around when needed. There is expansion in
classification of a maintenance contractor could cause buildings construction and there is no expansion in the
serious problems in the ability to execute and complete a number of man power.
project.
K. Training and Motivation
F. Stakeholders Communications
There is a need to increase the number of institutions and
Maintenance departments have poor communication. training course that related to the maintenance in general.
Workers and even engineers are not informed about the There is a lack of encouragement for the engineers to enter
department’s goals, objectives and plans. A number of the into maintenance and operation field. The employees can be
interviewees indicated that one of the reasons for not keeping divided into professionals, administrators and labors.
the contractor’s engineers informed about the company is Professionals are engineers, accountants etc., who are
that the relationship between them is temporary. assumed to be experts in their fields, since they are hired with
G. Financial Issues in-depth experience and higher level qualifications. Most of
Maintenance budget is frequently based on the previous these professionals are Saudi. Furthermore, the uncertainty
year’s allocation plus a percentage. And there are often and instability of the operation and maintenance industry
technical difficulties in assessing the quantity, as well as created more difficulty in investing in training employees. It
problems in execution of accurate cost of maintenance works, was rare to find a maintenance department manager who
which results in overruns and underestimates. It is also noted allocates a reasonable training budget.
that many facility client consider the maintenance cost a L. Unclear Job Description and Department Structure
minor portion of the total cost, which they will not allocate It has been noted throughout the interviews that
enough money for. Thus, budgeting for maintaining a facility maintenance departments do not have structured approaches
is considered a secondary obligation and not enough for improving processes. The Structures of maintenance
allocation is considered. It is most important that government departments are unclear in the government sector. They have
budgets include enough financial allocation for maintenance different names, such as service management and support
works as it is a critical and needed function. There are budget services and facilities. It should be organized under one name
constraints from the Ministry of Finance; the budget is

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 International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 6, No. 3, June 2015

and should have a clear supported structure in every public maintenance in Saudi public sector, twelve interviews with
organization. professionals who are working in operation and maintenance
departments were conducted. Data collection from these
M. Lack of Awareness
interviews were analyzed to identify the common problems
Understanding the important of maintenance to facility which categorized into three grouped, management problems,
clients and to the public in general is vital. Facility clients human resource problems and technical problems. The
must be aware of the necessity of maintenance works, so they interviews also revealed that lack of financial support, lack of
can plan, budget and finance the work of maintenance in experienced manpower to conduct the required works in a
order to keep their facilities in acceptable condition and to quick and professional manner and maintenance contract
avoid future break down and failures in which will result loss regulation are key areas for improvement. In addition, it was
of money and time. Facility clients should realize that they clear that the maintenance departments do not get more
should maintain their facilities periodically and not leave support from top management and their efforts are
their equipment at the stage of emergency of break down considered secondary to the main work.
maintenance which will cost them much more than if they use
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day and the client team are busy with action maintenance. A. R. Alshehri was born in Saudi Arabia on 6th April
1981. He is a mechanical engineer as a bachelor degree
from king Saud University in Saudi Arabia and a
master degree in project management (construction
IV. CONCLUSION management) from heriot Watt University from United
The maintenance works is becoming necessary to ensure Kingdom. Currently he is a PhD student at Heriot Watt
University in the field of construction management.
the serviceability and safety of the constructed facilities. The Mr. Alshehri has more than nine years of experience
first step for improvement and development of maintenance in field of construction and facilities management. He
is identifying and evaluating the current practice. Therefore, worked on Saudi National Guard with the project management department as
the purpose of this paper is to find out the common problems a project manager assistant. He participated in OMAENITC conference in
2013 and 2014 as a note speaker and published scientific paper in ARCOM
facing the operation and maintenance public industry. In in 2014. Eng. Ayman Alshehri is a member in PMI, CIOB and RICS.
order to explore the current status of the building

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