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2
CAUSES. CONSEQUENCES. AND SCALE
~NEGLECT
Neglect of Maintenance and repair (M&R) and consequent
growth of backlog are caused generally by shortages of funds or
by failure to recognize fully the need for M&R. These two
causes are often closely related.
PHYSICAL AND MANAGEMENT
CAUSES OF NEGLECT
Physical causes of neglect grow out of difficulties owners and
managers have in determining the condition of building sub-
systems and the likelihood of failures. The effects of wear or
deterioration are cumulative and manifest themselves slowly.
Serious conditions can develop without being visible. Thus, it is
possible to simply underestimate the need for M&R.
In addition, decisions made in a building's design to use
short-lived materials and equipment (to save on construction
costs) generally increase M&R requirements. Poor design or
improper construction or installation can cause inadequate
performance from the outset and increase M&R needs. Abuse,
misuse, neglect, and overuse of building components all increase
needs for M&R. Furthermore, incorrect maintenance procedures
can shorten the life of systems and components and cause pre-
mature failures.
Management causes of neglect spring primarily from failure
to allocate adequate funds to M&R. Secondarily, management
of the M&R function is frequently ineffectively planned. Main-
tenance personnel are often not properly trained and main-
tenance methods are ineffective. Records are often poorly kept
and not reviewed to extract lessons for future maintenance
planning.
An M&R backlog is often the result of a combination of these
physical and management causes. Facilities managers, lacking
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firm performance criteria and statistical bases to describe M&R
needs and the consequences of its neglect, can find it difficult to
defend their budget requests. Public officials (and private
owners as well) faced with neither convincing technical argu-
ments for the need nor immediately visible consequences of
neglect are typically persuaded to give higher priority to other
demands for limited public resources.7 M&R budgets are then set
at too low a level and the backlog grows.
CONSEQUENCES OF NEGLECT
It is often difficult to discern the direct consequences of
neglect of M&R because the physical evidence may not be
immediately visible. Several years may pass before the con-
sequences are noticed by the building user. However, eventually
a decline in appearance, increased operations costs, and pre-
mature failures occur and are evident to both the building user
and the management of the facility.8 The typical consequences
of neglect are summarized in Table 2.1.
Threats to health and safety have received increasing atten-
tion in the nation's aging building stock. Legionnaires disease at
one extreme as well as more prevalent sinus problems and allergic
reactions have resulted from inadequate maintenance of air
ducts, humidifiers, and filters. Poorly maintained lighting,
7 For example, a study of expenditures for school building
maintenance in Kansas found that the local government's level
of outstanding debt was the best predictor of maintenance
expenditures--larger debt led to lower maintenance effort. As
may be expected, expenditure limitations were cited as a causal
factor for the scale of estimated backlog (Stewart and Honeyman,
1988).
~ The link between maintenance and productivity has not
received extensive analysis but is measurable. Chaubhry and All
(1989), for example, estimated that increasing maintenance
expenditures on irrigation canals in Pakistan by 10 percent
increases agricultural output by more than 3 percent and, in
general, that the ratio of marginal benefits to investments in
operation and maintenance has been in the range of 11 to 26.
Studies of bridge maintenance in New York City have found
that the city government may "save" $20 million over the years
by reducing maintenance but that taxpayers at all levels directly
bear a premature $300 million cost of replacement (Robison,
1989~.
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TABLE 2.1 Potential Consequences of Underfunding
Threats to Health and Safety
Health failure
Safety failure
Structural failure
Service Failures
Power service loss
Heating, ventilation, and air~conditioning system
failure
Leakage for other shelter failure other losses of use
Excessive Costs
Energy costs
"Domino effect," minor failures leading to major
failure
Replacement versus repair costs
Absenteeism and turnover
Losses of production
Loss of assets (building contents)
Social Costs
Inability to attract and retain personnel
Poor morale
Poor image
Loss of readiness
stair coverings, and floors lead to accidents. Water infiltration
of poorly maintained roof decks can lead to structural corrosion
and failure.9
Service failures of building systems or components often
result from a lack of maintenance resources. Trade-offs are
made within a limited maintenance budget, taking a gamble that
9 A report on the corrosion of the weathering steel decks in
the garage atop the New Haven Coliseum, which could result in
demolition of the entire 17-year-old facility, stated that"a jury
found that because the owner had not adequately maintained the
building throughout its life, the owner--and not the design
engineer--was totally responsible" (ENR, 1988~.
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nothing will go wrong. For example, in a case known to the
committee, an owner decided not to contract for services to main-
tain an emergency generator and also neglected to train and
equip in-house personnel, ostensibly due to lack of resources.
Consequent failure to inspect and test the generator each year
resulted in loss of coolant and failure of the automatic high-
temperature shutdown circuited when the generator is needed.
Inadequate maintenance can result in excessive operating
costs. For example, during the Vietnam war era, the U.S. Navy's
funding for M&R dropped significantly. (The funds gained from
the M&R reduction were used to fight the war.) Consequently,
there was a gradual degradation of Naval facilities. At one
installation the refueling piers deteriorated so badly that ships
could not dock, and they had to be serviced by fuel barges, a
costly operation. Funding of the functional operations but not
the facility's M&R resulted in costs that were higher than if
adequate M&R had taken place. In addition, the disregard of
maintenance for the pier resulted in its ultimate replacement at
a considerable cost to the Navy.
Social costs are harder to measure but can be documented.
For example, interviews of teachers in public schools have found
neglect of maintenance to have a definite impact on the educa-
tional process (Corcoran et al., 1988~. Poorly maintained school
buildings were cited as demoralizing to teachers and students
alike. The committee learned of another example in which re-
ductions in personnel staffing and training in a private cor-
poration's electrical power distribution facilities were soon
followed by a higher incidence of personnel injury and equip-
ment damage.
In its discussions of the impacts of underf unding M&R
functions, the committee observed that one of the worst con-
sequences of long-term neglect of maintenance is the crisis
management condition in which building managers and owners
A This example also resulted in excess cost--$30,000 for
overhaul of the generator. Other modes of failure could have
occurred, with different consequences.
i~ In another instance the Navy found that inspection and
repair of steam traps was being deferred by many shore activi-
ties. It was determined that $23 million was lost each year due
to failed steam traps. As a consequence, boiler plants were
straining to meet heavier loads. Up to 20 percent of the steam
generated was lost due to failed traps. A Navy survey showed
that for every dollar invested in steam trap maintenance at least
$3 in steam costs was avoided (Navy Civil Engineer, 1988-1989~.
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are put. Hasty decisions are often made, with expensive and even
inappropriate products and services purchased.
SCALE OF THE PROBLEM
The committee knows of no comprehensive study on mainte-
nance deferral and backlog, but anecdotal evidence suggests that
the scale of the problem is substantial. In unofficial discussion
with the committee, representatives of the Department of the
Navy, for example, estimated its backlog to exceed $1 billion in
1987. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has estimated that
it had a backlog of approximately $300 million in 1989, and the
amount may be growing under the constraints of the state's fiscal
austerity.
A study by the Association of Physical Plant Administrators
of Colleges and Universities estimates the current capital asset
value of colleges and universities to be $300 billion with capital
renewal and replacement needs of $60 billion to $70 billion.
M&R funding needs were estimated at $6 billion with a backlog
of approximately $1.2 billion (Rush and Johnson, 1989~. A study
of the nation's largest urban school districts found that in one
district the current M&R budgets were only adequate to paint
classrooms once every 100 years and to replace floor coverings
once every 50 years (Corcoran et al., 1 9X8~. Another study
collected data on over one-half of the nation's schools in all 50
states and found that one of every four is in inadequate con-
dition. Of these, 61 percent need maintenance and major repair
(see Table 2.2~. The study estimates $41 billion in M&R needs for
public school buildings (EWA, 1989~.
The committee recognizes that maintenance backlog needs
may be often overstated for a variety of reasons. A major study
of the Department of Defense's investment in real property
maintenance activities was prompted in part by Congress's con-
cern that "backlog estimates appear to have little validity and
are not verified or developed consistently between services" (U.S.
Senate, 1988~. However, the committee observed that while the
actual size of the backlog may be overstated, there is nevertheless
a significant problem resulting from past policies and attitudes
regarding the importance of maintenance funding.
APPROACHES TO SOLVING
THE PROBLEM
The committee believes that the underfunding and sub-
sequent neglect of M&R that prevails in many public agencies
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result in large measure
from a failure of those
who decide on funding
levels to recognize fully
the impact of their de-
cisions on the public's
capital assets, the in-
vestment in public
buildings. These deci-
sion makers have limit-
ed information to help
them evaluate the bud-
gets submitted by their
facilities managers and,
thus, they must make
relatively uninformed
decisions. If these de-
cision makers had better
information to aid their
evaluations, their man-
agement capabilities
would be strengthened.
The committee proposes
that formulation and
evaluation of M&R
budgets should consider explicitly (1) the appropriate size of the
routine M&R budget, which is a part of the cost of ownership
(Chapter 3), and (2) the M&R backlog, which may be estimated
using the procedures of condition assessment (Chapter 4~.
TABLE 2.2 "Inadequate" School
Buildings Problem Areas
Percentage
Problem Area Reporting
Need maintenance
Obsolete
Environmental hazards
Overcrowded
Unsound structures
Source: EWA ( 1989~.
References
61
43
42
25
13
Chaubhry, Muhammad A., and Mubarik All, Economic
Returns to Oneration and Maintenance Expenditure in Different
Comoonents of the Irrigation System in Pakistan' ODI/IIMI
Irrigation Management Network Paper 89/ld, Overseas Develop-
ment Institute, London, 1989.
Corcoran, Thomas B., Lisa I. Walker, and J. Lynne White,
Working in Urban Schools Washington, D.C., Institute for
Educational Leadership, 1988.
Educational Writers Association (EWA), Wolves at the
Schoolhouse Door: An Investigation of the Condition of Public
School Buildings, Washington, D.C., EWA, 1989.
Robison, Rita, "Preventive Maintenance: Fixing What Ain't
Broke," Civil Engineering, vol. 59, no. 9, pp. 67-69, September,
1989.
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Rush, Sean C., and Sandra L. Johnson, The Decavine
American CamDus: A Ticking Time Bomb, Association of
Physical Plant Administrators of Universities and Colleges and
the National Association of College and University Business
Officers in cooperation with Coopers & Lybrand, Alexandria,
Va., APPA, 1989.
Stewart, G. Kent, and David S. Honeyman, "Capital Outlay
and Deferred Maintenance in Kansas," Journal of Education
Finance. vol. 13, pp. 317-323, 1988.
U.S. Senate, Senate Appropriations Committee, Report on the
DOD 1989 AnDrooriations Bill. Report 100-402, Washington, D.C.,
Government Printing Office (GPO), 1988.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
poorly maintained
