Effect of maintenance type on buildings maintenance performance: a case of commercial buildings at Tanzania buildings agency

Building maintenance is an important activity in increasing the life span of a buildings and maintaining the value of the physical asset of the building stock. Nevertheless, the methodology for guiding the selection of maintenance type to be adopted has remained without clear approach. The consequence of this defect is the adoption of a particular type of maintenance that may have undesirable effect maintenance indicators due to misperceptions of feedback. In this study, an approach that can help decide the type of maintenance to be adopted that takes into account the dynamics between the type of maintenance, factors affecting maintenance performance, has been developed in computer by using software SD - Modelling. Different methodologies were used in this research. These include open-and closed- ended questionnaires to at least 50 TBA staff based in Dar es Salaam and interviews to TBA tenants. The study concludes that, the use of preventive maintenance type for building maintenance is more appropriate in estate management especially when dealing with maintenance of old buildings and reactive maintenance type is more appropriate when dealing with new buildings. The study recommends that, in order for preventive maintenance type in buildings to be implemented properly the investor should provide enough resources especially in the initial phase where costs seem to be high.