The use of facilities management in tertiary institutions in Osun State, Nigeria

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the use of facilities management in selected tertiary institutions in Osun State, Nigeria. This is with a view to giving needed attention to the built environment in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria in order to make them more conducive for learning. Design/methodology/approach – The study used purposive sampling technique to select four tertiary institutions out of six in the study area. A total of 60 questionnaires were distributed to obtain information from construction professionals in works and physical planning departments of the selected institutions. The selected institutions are Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile‐Ife, Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso, The Federal Polytechnic, Ede and Osun State College of Technology, Esa Oke. Both descriptive and inferential statistical methods of analysis were used to analyse the data. Findings – The results revealed that the in‐house maintenance technique, which was mostly used, was found to be inefficient whereas the outsourcing and the one‐site technique, which were scarcely used, were found to be more efficient. Also, it was revealed that outsourcing reduces risk due to reliance on experts and infusion of new technology. Practical implications – The study concluded that the use of the outsourcing and one‐site techniques should be embraced to upgrade and sustain the built environment for conducive learning. Originality/value – The study is an attempt to stop the magnitude into which the built environment in the tertiary institutions of Nigeria is deteriorating, before becoming unconducive for learning.