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Expert tasks public facilities managers with effective maintenance
A building expert and estate surveyor, Mr Dapo Atere, has urged managers of public facilities and infrastructure to be proactive to retain the good qualities of the facilities.
Atere stated this while speaking at the 6th Annual Lecture of the Directorate of Physical Planning, Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, Ondo State on Thursday.
The lecture is titled “The imperative of faculty management as a panacea to sustainable infrastructure in public institutions in Nigeria”.
Atere said the call was imperative following the deplorable state of most public infrastructures in the country.
He said that the development and implementation of a facility maintenance plan needed a consistent approach as against “a fire brigade approach.”
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According to him, the role of a facility manager is to understand the organisation’s needs and expectations of the facility and match these to the most appropriate design solutions, using external consultants as appropriate.
He noted that the involvement of the manager at the design and planning stage, keeping of necessary data bank, management of operating costs, and monitoring of performances were effective strategies for optimum and sustainable facility maintenance in public institutions like Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji.
“Facilities management is based on data acquisition, storage, retrieval and interpretations.
“There should be a provision of service and operating manuals for the installed equipment like borders, air-handling plant, lifts and so on as it is essential to the continuing smooth operation of the facilities.
“Data on the constructed public buildings should be centralised into a single master reference document held under strict control by the facilities manager,” he said.
Also, the Director of Physical Planning, Federal Polytechnic, Ile-Oluji, Mr Oyetunde Oyelola, said that as part of the institution’s long-term vision, the directorate would develop smart buildings capable of harnessing future technologies without distorting their functionality and aesthetics.
Oyetola said the choice of Atere as a resource person was based on his pedigree as an astute estate surveyor and ethically grounded professional in facility management.
Dignitaries at the lecture included the Rector of the Polytechnic, Prof. Adedayo Fasakin, and other principal officers among others.