Importance of Efficiency in Building Maintenance Practices

Importance of Efficiency in Building Maintenance Practices Abstract Building maintenance practices are very crucial no matter what kind of building whether residential or commercial.The practices must be carried out by the management properly and efficiently to ensure the target of the management can be achieve. Nowadays, many issue arise regarding building maintenance including quality of services provided, unmaintained facility and many more. So to reduce or avoid all these problem, the management team should come up with new approaches. Not just maintained , but they must ensure the activities carried out is efficient and effective. There are several strategies that can be practices which are applying managerial function, using computerized maintenance management services (CMMS), and out-tasking. Under managerial function system, it provide basic things that the management need to go through including plan, do, check and act. The sequences of this function are very significant and have it own roles. Besides that, the management must aware that tec hnological also can be applied in maintenance practices due to current state of advance technology. It is proven that, CMMS are one of the updated system that been applied by big and establish management. This is because, CMMS really helpful and make the maintenance works become easier. Last but not least is out-tasking. This system have many benefit and apart from that, it will help the management to complete their maintenance work without hiring expertise. The expertise only appointed when they are needed. Efficiency in building maintenance practices are important in order to ensure the limited resoursces such as time, cost, manpower are being fully utilized. 1.0 Introduction Nowadays, building maintenance practices always been improved allign with technological changing. This is done in order to ensure the practice is up to date and satisfied all the parties involve. As we all known, under this practices many parties either directly or indirectly involve including management body, owner of the building, tenant and so on. Moreover,of late many management body realize and shift their focus of services onto customer oriented where customer satisfaction are their priority and always put on the first place. On account of that, the management body on what so ever condition must ensuring the efficiency of their services performance is always keep in maximum level. Generally, efficiency is quantitatively measurable concept which is can be determined and measured by percentage of output to input. (n.a, 2011). Efficiency also where doing things in the right manner. Whereas building is a human-made structure constructed as a place for work, shelter and many other purposes for the occupants use.(n.a 2011) Maintenance in a simple words mean an activity to keep and restore the subject in order to ensure it can be operated as well as it suppose to. According to Brian Wood, maintenance is keeping an item or restoring it to acceptability position. According to British Standard 3811, maintenance as work undertaken in order to keep or restore every facility,i.e every part of a site, building and contents, to an acceptable standard. Building maintenance as a whole mean an activity where building is keep and restore to its acceptable condition as well as to ensure it can be operated and well functionated. Building also like a human being, it need to be maintained all the time to avoid it from obsolete and damages. So cannot be denied that building maintenance practices is a crucial activitya and must always be carried out efficiently. Generally, building maintenance practices cover a huge area of activity. The activity including cleanliness, landscaping, security and etc. 2.0 Importance of Efficiency in Building Maintenance Practices Why building must be maintaianed efficiently? Just now we all know that building almost like a human being which is need to be maintained. Basically, there are several perspective on property. Property can be seen as physical asset, financial asset, and functional asset. So the activity that carried out for building maintenance practices are always related to it own perspective. In term of physical asset, the objective are to maintain and enhance condition of the building. Whereas for financial asset, the objective is to maximise income, ensure capital growth and return on investment. For functional asset, the objective is to ensure the building is fit for purpose, minimise occupation costs and efficiency of occupation. Normally we can divided into several reason for being efficient in building maintenance practices. 2.1 To ensure building always have good appearance. As we all known, buildings are exposed to many causes of deterioration. Some of them are weather and aging, wear and tear, and vandalism. If human need bath to clean up body and look fresh, building also need to be painted so that it look nice and attractive. So then people or occupant feel calm and easy to enter such premises. For instance like shopping complex. If it is maintained efficiently, the consumer will always feel free and enjoy shopping in that particular building. 2.2 To ensure the building is always safe and free from unnecessary incident. Usually buildings are fitted with many kind of mechanical and electrical installation. So without efficient maintenance, the building services in that particular building definitely cannot be operated as well as it suppose to. As we can see in office building for instance, it fitted with elevator, escallator, travellator, air-cond and etc. So if all these are maintained efficiently, definitely unneccessary incident or claim can be avoided. 2.3 To retain the value of the building Different building have different value. The value of the building generally indicated by the performance of the building itself. So when the maintenance is efficiently carried out, the value of the building can be retain. For instance like premises that well maintained have higher valus as compared to those unmaintained. 2.4 To enforce the regulation Last but not least, efficient building maintenance practices are actually carried out to enforce regulation. In order to fullfill the regulation of schedule H of Housing Development (Control and Licencing) Act 1966 (Act118) developers need to manage and control common property of the building.This is to ensure all interest of the party inside the building are always secured and at the same time the facilities provided in the building are been well maintained. 3.0 Strategy to Ensuring Efficiency In Building Maintenance Practices 3.1 Apply managerial function Basically, managerial function is the key point of successful in building maintenance practices. The basic managerial function is Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). On what so ever condition, the first thing that we must to do is planning. This is because planning is a king-pin in managerial function. Same goes to maintenance practice, we must plan the maintenance activities that want to carried out on the first place. As a management body, the most important thing is we must set out objective of the organization. When there is a clear objective, the organization have it own target or aims to heading their organization. Then they must clear cut on their strategy to achive those target. Planning also including several fundamental element including preventive and corrective action, work schedule and etc. Second managerial function is do. As a management team, they cannot just stop at planning stage only but it must followed by the next stage which is implement all the planning that been set earlier. Implementation of the planning also must be in proper way or manner. Third managerial function is check. This is basically done after the implementation of the maintenance activities. This stage also known as post-mortem. At this stage, the management team will evaluate all their performance and check whether it achive it target or not. Last but not least managerial function is act. This is can be said the last stage that crucial because after check stage have done, some action have to take to correct or enhance the performance. It is whether only several part or entire strategy that have to be shift or change in order to get better result of performance. From all that we can said that managerial function are really crucial, have many advantages, suitable and reliable to be adopted and apply in building maintenance practices because it can lead to efficient maintenance. This is because by applying all the managerial fuction, the management team can maintain the building with less cost, effort and time cycle. 3.2 Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) In the age of advanced technology, there are many computerized system that have developed in order to help the organization to do maintenance practices more effectively and efficiently. Nowadays, the software that mostly used by the maintenance organization is CMMS. CMMS is very helpful as it containing databases that related to maintenance operation. CMMS have several package deal with some of the following: (i) Work Order CMMS will help the maintenance workers by producing schedule maintenance procedure as a code of conduct and it also help to track relevent information regarding the maintenance activities. So the maintenance workers can just refer to the work schedule on what they have to carried out. (ii) Asset Management CMMS have the records that containing important information related to the particular building. For instance, CMMS records the information of specification, service contract, purchase date and anything else deem to be helpful to the maintenance works. (iii) Inventory Control CMMS in the same time will assist the management of spare part, equipment, and etc including the reservation of tools that is needed for a particular works. With these packages, CMMS looks as a system that should be use by the maintenance organization. It is very helpful and easy to handle and the most important things is that it help the organization to maintained the building efficiently. 3.3 Out-tasking Out-tasking is one of the organisational set up that can be applied in building maintenance practice. Generally, out-tasking is said to be when part of the maintenance work are handed over to the other service partner for certain period of time. For instance like air-conditioning system. Usually, inhouse system have it own maintenance worker s that do maintenance towards air-conditioning system. But for certain circumstances like changing belting or other equipment for that system, the organization have to out-tasking the work to other service partner. Usually this happen due to lack of expertise. However there are also an organization that carried out this method of organizational set up as strategy. Advantages of out-tasking (i) Reduce cost Management team can still keep total control all over infrastructure and services with low cost of maintenance as compared to out sourcing it to the other company. This is because the expertise only hired at certain time only when needed. So the payment that will be paid by the management team is much lower as compared to out sourcing it. (ii) Quality of performance When the organization out tasking the maintenanace work to the expertise, definitely the quality will be much better because they only need to focus on the task given. Compared to maintenance workers, they are multi-tasking and not expert on specific area in building maintenance. (iii) Span of control For out tasking, the gap between the management team and service partner are close. This will lead to good interaction and communication between these two parties. Besides, the employer also easy to supervise in order to ensure that the maintenance work is done properly and follow the particular procedure correctly. As compared to out sourcing, the entire maintenance work are out source to the maintenance team. 4.0 Conclusion As a whole, we cannot denied that building maintenance practices are very crucial in many point of view. Not only the building itself get involve but the practices also related to other parties whether directly or indirectly. On account of that, the management must bear in mind that efficiency in building maintenance practices play an important roles in order to ensure the particular building can operated properly. Building maintenance practices can be said like a frame work towards a building. Without a strong and solid framework, definitely the building will be collapsed. So to ensure the building maintenance practices will be managed efficiently and effectively, every organization that is responsible to maintain a particular building must critically regulate their strategy in order to achive their target. Every personnel in the organization must understand their roles and fulfill their responsibilities so that they can avoid or at least minimize problems related to building that need to be maintained. With efficient building maintenance practices, the organization can get better profit as they maintain the particular building with less time, cost and manpower. Other than that, the users or occupant of the building will also enjoy much better and convenient of using the building. http://d1072223.domain.com/Bulletins/B_Maintenance_Why.html work undertaken in order to keep, restore or improve every part of a building, its services and surrounds, to a currently accepted standard, and to sustain the utility and value of the building (Seeley, 1976). The objectives of building maintenance are therefore (Alner and Fellows, 1990) http://www.cocus.de/en/out-tasking.html

Kevin Smith Essay -- essays research papers fc

Kevin Smith Kevin Smith is a prime example of the kind of person in my industry that I aspire to be like. His humor is intelligent, but he walks the fine line between funny and outright offensive. I admire him for his ability to tell a story using people, instead of effects and a huge budget. Kevin's first movie, Clerks, had a budget of around $27,000 (Kevin Smith). The entire film was black and white, and the only effect that had on the movie was to further highlight how obscenely drab these QuikStop clerks' daily lives were. Despite the tiny budget, Kevin showed off his sense of humor and told an involving story using barely anything but the characters. This movie was the birthplace of Jay and his hetero-life-mate Silent Bob, who are now well known after their appearances in several of Kevin's other movies. This film ended up getting into the Sundance Film Festival, and tickets for it sold out before the festival started. There were people outside scalping tickets. This was the cast and crew's first inkling that the movie might just make it. (Brian O'Holloran) The film was bought by Gramercy after the festival. Mallrats was Smith's second film, they went back to Gramercy for this one, and were offered a budget of 6 million dollars. Kevin actually fought against this size budget because he saw no need for that much, "Why? It's just a little picture ...

Chemistry Lab 3 Properties of Gases

Dex Cimino 3/24/2013 CHE101, Tamburro Lab 3 – Properties of Gases Data Table: Experiment Results| Gas| Flamereaction| Glowingsplint| Limewaterreaction| Bromothymolblue reaction| Hydrogen| Popping| extinguish| brownish| green| Oxygen| Brighter| reignite| redish| blue| Hydrogen & oxygen| exothermic| extinguish| brownish| Blue-green| Carbon dioxide| extinguish| extinguish| Milky| yellow| Alka Seltzer| -| -| -| -| Breath| None| extinguish| none| blue| I did not have any alka seltzer =/ Questions A.Give two reasons why we fill the gas generator test tubes almost to the top with chemicals? The first reason is because we want to obtain pure gas and by minimizing the amount of air in the top this will maximize the gases purity. Also some gases may react differently with air. Minimizing contact with air assures a better outcome. B. What happens to the zinc in the hydrogen generation experiment? It dissolved and formed hydrogen and zinc chloride. C. What happens to the manganese in the oxygen generation experiment? The manganese seemed like a catalyst because it sped up the rate of the chemical reaction. Read this Practice Test Chem 105D. Write a balanced equation for the reaction between O2 and H2. 2H2 + O2 ==> 2H2O E. What is the function/purpose of the bromothymol blue in the CO2 experiment? The Bromothymol blue changed color from clue to green and then it turned yellow. After the CO2 was mixed with water, I think carbonic acid was formed. This can measure the amount of CO2 present, a lot of CO2 will show yellow and very little or no CO2, the bromothymol will remain blue. F. Bromothymol blue is blue in the presence of basic solutions, and yellow in the presence of acidic solutions.If your solution is a murky green, what might you assume about the solution? I would assume that the solution is neutral if it is a murky green. With acidic solution, the blue turns yellow. Flow Chart 1. Fill four test tubes with ? distilled water. 2. Add 2-3 drops of bromthymol blue to each test. Part 1: Oxygen 3. Add a small amount of manganese dioxide in an empty test tube. Then add a small amount of Hydrogen Peroxide. 4. Immediately stopper the test tube. 5. Take the stopper out. 6. Repeat these steps for Part 2: Hydrogen and Part 3: Carbon. 7. Record data and answer questions.

A Comparison of Competencies between Associate and Bachelor Degreed Nursing Graduates Essay

Nursing is complex, and within the profession there are many spectrums of career possibilities. Nursing is based on a foundation of caring and what draws many to the profession is a commitment of service. The knowledge and education sought to prepare nurses however differs between the two â€Å"entry† level paths of associate degreed nurses and baccalaureate degree nurses and thus forms a difference in the way they perform their professional practice. Associate Degreed Nurses Associate degree nursing programs were developed in the early 1950’s as a response to postwar shortages (Creasia, Friberg. 2011) they were intended to be two years in duration and designed to prepare the graduate for bedside care in the secondary setting. These program quickly became successful and programs spread across the United States at a record pace. The associate degree program were found to be clinically sound and offered heavily hands on approach, they traditionally graduate nurses that are task oriented and perform well. Associate graduates are tested via the NCLEX after program completion to obtain licensure. The associate degreed path remains the major point of entry into the profession today. The educational prerequisite of the associate degree nursing program are not as robust in sciences often eliminating the need for organic chemistry and advanced mathematics. The associate degree nursing path also is remedial as compared to the BSN in the liberal arts, often leaving the graduate with subpar communication skills when compared to the BSN counterpart. Baccalaureate Degreed Nurses Baccalaureate degree programs are traditionally structured as four year programs with the nursing clinical focus at the latter two years. Programs differ from Associate programs in that there are courses required which  focus on the professional development of the student, and thus the growth of the profession. Baccalaureate programs prepare the graduate for scopes beyond bedside care. Leadership and research roles favor the bachelors prepared graduate. The advanced professional focus allows the graduate to view the practice beyond the task orientation of the associate degreed nurse. A comparison study (Ginger, N. & Davidhizar, R., 1990) found that baccalaureate nurses were more concerned with research methodology, teaching of the individual and the group, and community assessments. The study concluded that the baccalaureate nurse was more process driven than the task oriented associate degreed nurses. Healthcare today is composed of a multiple disciplinary team of practitioners with varied levels of education, preparing nurses at the minimum of the baccalaureate level has been a push of many professional organizations. Recent research (Aiken, 2008) has confirmed a strong link in the educational level of nurses and improvement in patient mortality. The study found when the institution increased the percentage of baccalaureate prepared nurses by 10% that the corresponding mortality decreased by 4%. Practical Comparison One of the situational comparisons that I feel would demonstrate the practice focus differences of the two educational preparations is in dealing with imminent death and dying. Throughout the career of any healthcare provider we will be faced with this challenge, and while there are many task associated with the algorithm of advanced life support or complexity of the hospice patient, there are multiple psych social aspects to consider. The baccalaureate nurses educational preparation allows her to focus on the causes of the underlying pathophysiology, understand the chemistry of the multiple medications involved and problem solve for alternative treatments is initially unsuccessful. The baccalaureate nurse is able to communicate effectively with the healthcare team and reassuringly guide the family thru this difficult process. In my years of practice I feel that clinical experience and confidence can elevate the associate degreed nurse to a comparable level in this situation as well but I have seen that the baccalaureate graduate achieves this standard well before the counterpart. Patient presentation has become more complex and the array of treatments available seems almost endless. Our patients and their families deserve the  best outcomes from the best prepared team.

Acid Drainage essays

Acid Drainage essays Acid mine drainage - causes effects and solutions For hundreds, even thousands of years, human beings have mined for metals and stones, and with the advent of greater technology as well as greater needs, the demands for these resources continue to grow. While these resources benefit our lives in many ways, the effects of mining can be detrimental, and one such effect is the topic of this essay, acid mine drainage (A.M.D.). The causes of A.M.D. will be discussed, along with some of the physical and biological problems associated with it. Some prevention and remediation treatments will also be considered. Acid mine drainage refers to water (leachate, drainage or seepage) that has come into contact with oxidised rocks or overburden that contains sulphide material (coal, zinc, copper, lead). (Keller, 2000; U.S.G.S.; U.S.E.P.A., 2002). A common sulphide is pyrite, or iron disulfide (FeS2), and throughout this essay it will be pyrite that will be the primary sulphide considered. Acid mine drainage is not a new phenomenon, early mining techniques utilized gravity to avoid water pooling, resulting in the water becoming polluted by acid, iron, sulphur and aluminium (U.S.E.P.A., 2002). It is most commonly associated with coal mining, especially with soft coal, coal that has high sulphur content. The pyrite that is present in coal seams will be accessible after surface mining when the overlying surfaces are removed or in deep mines that allow oxygen access to the previously inaccessible pyrite-containing coal (D.E.P. 1, 1997). After pyrite is exposed to air and water, sulphuric acid and iron hydroxide are formed, creating an acidic runoff (D.E.P. 1, 1997; 2 2002). When the water comes into contact with the pyrite, the chemical reactions that take place causes the water to increase in pH which will dissolve heavy metals which stay in solution. However, when the pH levels reach a certain stage, the iron can then precipitate out, coating sed...

In what ways did WWI essays

In what ways did WWI essays What happened in Britain, Germany and Belgium when war broke? How were the civilian population affected? What happened with men? What happened with women? What effect did the war had on these countries? One of the main things that influenced people when the war started was propaganda. In Germany the press was not free and people couldnt question that they were fighting a defensive war. They also had Hate Campaign, which was against Britain, and its main function was to divert attention when Germans were questioning their war aims. In Britain newspapers were censored from 1915 on, there were very strict rules about this, for example no photographs that showed a dead British soldier could be published, and major battle casualty lists were sometimes not made public for weeks. Letters from soldiers were censored too; this was probably to give people a cheerful idea of how life was at the front. The British government printed pamphlets, posters, newspaper reports and advertisement that gave the impression that a soldiers life was heroic, adventurous and romantic, and to persuade people to eat less, buy less, join up, do voluntary work, etc. Most of this propaganda was to persuade men, parents, wives and girlfriends that war was worthwhile and that it was a great adventure rather than a dreadful reality. In Britain there was also anti-German propaganda, which included a few things that were true, but most of them werent. Basically it said that Germany was evil and that Britain would beat Germany. What made pr opaganda so effective was that it didnt show what was really happening in the fighting fronts, so neither the new soldiers nor their families knew the horrors of war that were awaiting them, and people didnt know how accurate the newspaper reports and pamphlets were. Food shortages affected these countries during the war, in Belgium they happened because even if the Belgians tried to buy f...

The National Flag of Canada

The National Flag of Canada The Canadian red and white maple leaf flag is officially called the National Flag of Canada. The flag bears a stylized red maple leaf with 11 points on a white background, with red borders down each side. The Canadian flag is twice as long as it is wide. The white square containing the red maple leaf is the same length on each side as the width of the flag. The red and white used in the National Flag of Canada were proclaimed the official colors of Canada in 1921 by King George V. Although the maple leaf did not have official status as an emblem of Canada until 1965, it had historically been used as a Canadian symbol and was employed in 1860 in decorations for the visit of the Prince of Wales to Canada. The 11 points on the maple leaf have no special significance. A Flag for Canada It wasnt until the 1965 inauguration of the maple leaf flag that Canada had its own national banner. In the early days of the Canadian Confederation, the Royal Union flag, or Union Jack, was still flown in British North America. The Red Ensign, with a Union Jack in the upper left corner and a shield containing the coats of arms of the Canadian provinces, was used as the unofficial flag of Canada from about 1870 to 1924. The composite shield was then replaced with the Royal Arms of Canada and was approved for use overseas. In 1945 it was authorized for general use. In 1925 and again in 1946, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King tried to get a national flag of Canada adopted but he failed, although more than 2,600 designs were proposed for the second try. In 1964, Prime Minister Lester Pearson appointed a 15-member, all-party committee to come up with the design of a new flag for Canada. The committee was given six weeks to complete its task. Three Finalists The process resulted in three final designs: A red ensign with a fleur-de-lis, recognizing Canadas French history, and the Union Jack.Three joined maple leaves between blue borders.A single red maple leaf design between red borders. The suggestion for a red and white, single maple leaf design that was selected for the Canadian flag came from George Stanley, a professor at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ontario. In his speech at the national flag inauguration ceremony, Pearson said: Under this Flag may our youth find new inspiration for loyalty to Canada; for a patriotism based not on any mean or narrow nationalism, but on the deep and equal pride that all Canadians will feel for every part of this good land. Dignity of the Canadian Flag The Department of Canadian Heritage provides the rules of Canadian flag etiquette, which govern how the flag should be flown and displayed in different situations: affixed to a car, carried in a procession, or flown on ships or boats, for example. Fundamental to these rules is the principle that the National Flag of Canada should always be treated with dignity and that it takes precedence over all other national flags and ensigns when it is flown in Canada. Sources History of the National Flag of Canada. Government of Canada.Rules for flying the National Flag of Canada. Government of Canada.