By Jude Njoku
Inspecting your home on a regular basis and following good maintenance practices are the best way to protect your investment in your home. Whether you take care of a few tasks at a time or several all at once, it is important to get into the habit of doing them.

Experts posit that it is necessary to establish a routine for yourself, and you will find the work is easy to accomplish and not very time-consuming Chairman of the Facilities Management Faculty of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers NIESV, Pastor Stephen Jagun described regular maintenance is necessary to ensure that facilities are not only preserved, but are up-to-date.

•A residential property in Lekki, Lagos... Regular maintenance is required to keep such property in top shape.

Jagun who is a former President of the International Facilities Management Association, IFMA Nigeria, told Vanguard Homes & Property facilities maintenance will preserve the value of the home and the life of the facility.

Noting that a well maintained facility will elongate the lifespan of your investments, he stated that a well maintained facility could even be better than a acquiring a new one. Maintenance, he said, should be total or comprehensive. That implies that it should not be limited to the building or the facilities installed in it.

“You should maintain a facility until it is no longer economically viable to do so. In other words, the cost of maintenance is almost the same with the cost of replacement; unless the facility is of historical importance or has some intrinsic value,” he said.

Continuing, the former IFMA President declared: “If a house is 30 years and you paint it, it will look new, but if the building is just one year old and you fail to maintain it, it will look run down. Maintenance could even be to clean the glass or the doors,” he said.

Jagun posited that for maintenance to be effective, it should be undertaken as a preventive and corrective measure. “Preventive maintenance will ensure that the facilities are in good shape, that they are not broken down and the running cost is not high,” he said.