Appraising the maintenance practices in shopping malls across Lagos metropolis

Abstract

Like other types of buildings, shopping mall buildings in Nigeria receive insufficient maintenance attention. The vast majority of shopping malls exhibit awful structural and aesthetic conditions of deterioration. This study, therefore, aims to investigate the maintenance practices of shopping malls with a view to addressing issues that arise from factors responsible for the deterioration of the building fabrics and components. Data from 97 building maintenance stakeholders from Lagos Island and Mainland malls were gathered using a cross-sectional survey utilizing two sets of structured self-administered questionnaires. The results revealed 31 maintenance practices implemented in shopping malls. The study also uncovered 21 key factors influencing the sourcing decision of maintenance practices in shopping malls. Besides, the results further revealed 22 causative factors that lead to the deterioration of shopping mall building fabrics and components. The study comes to the conclusion that regardless of the sourcing decision, other factors, such as quality and frequency of maintenance, have a significant impact on how quickly a shopping mall deteriorates. It is recommended that maintenance stakeholders should play active roles in ensuring shopping malls are adequately maintained. This may be achieved by developing a defined strategy for routine and preventive maintenance.