In this section, we will outline some expectations concerning the impor- tance of maintenance services. For this reason, we focus on the ‘generic serv- ice’ (Levitt, 1980) i.e. the ‘problem-solving benefits’ of the service (Kotler and Armstrong, 2004), assuming that these the most important part of the service. Chapter 6 will draw attention to the relative importance of different service aspects.
Maintenance can be perceived as a form of problem-solving for those needs that are covered by building components and installations in dwellings.
With regard to needs related to housing, Lévy-Leboyer and Ratiu (1993) make a distinction between what one might call minimum conditions of physical comfort (shelter, heating, light) and conditions of ‘socially defined comfort’. Phillips (1967) and Peach (1982) have explored different categories of physi- ological wellbeing and comfort. Heijs and Stringer (1987) categorise the corre- sponding sub-properties of the dwelling as thermal, visual, auditory, olfactory (smell), tactile and kinaesthetic comfort. Heijs and Stringer subsequently add two categories, one that incorporates general necessary conditions for physi- cal health and safety, and another relating to all kinds of conditions for sat- isfying occupants’ (other) biological needs, such as eating, drinking, sleeping, and personal hygiene.
De Jonge (1960, 1961) suggests that, besides physiological needs, the dwell- ing must also satisfy psychological needs (for example, privacy), cultural needs (such as being able to carry out particular activities in particular spac- es), and fashion-dictated needs (for example, the style of decor). There is a decreasing amount of durability of these needs (Priemus, 1984), which may point at some prioritising.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
When it comes to the prioritisation of general needs, the best-known au- thor is Maslow (e.g. 1943; 1970). Many theorists and practitioners adhere to Maslow’s hierarchy, but there are also those who challenge his approach (Bellott and Tutor, 1990; Frame, 1996; Maddi, 1977; Sackett, 1998). Some have questioned the practicality and reality of the hierarchy, the process by which people proceed through it, and its relevance and applicability to modern soci- ety. However, while not particularly new, his hierarchy of needs is still wide- ly applied in many different disciplines and has been tested by others than Maslow. For instance, Franke (1983a: 16) stated that it ‘yielded the hypothesis that a high degree of dissatisfaction of lower-level needs results in behavior conducive to economic growth,’ and found strong and significant relation- ships between the basic needs of managers and the economic growth rates of 11 developed nations.
In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1943), there are at least five sets of goals that may be termed basic needs (Figure 5.1): physiological, safety, love and belonging, esteem, and self-actualisation. Maslow believed that human beings aspire to becoming self-actualizing (Stephens, 2000). The needs that are usually taken as the starting point for motivation theory are the so-called physiological drives. A person who is lacking food, safety, love, and esteem would most probably crave food more strongly than for anything else. If the physiological needs are relatively well satisfied, a new set of needs will then emerge, which may be categorised roughly as the ‘safety needs’. If both the physiological and safety needs are fairly well satisfied, the needs for love, af- fection and belonging subsequently arise. An individual’s need for belong-
ing or love covers a wide variety of needs, from a sense of affiliation (group membership, clubs, churches, work affiliations, etc.) to friendship and love of spouses, children, and parents (Seeley, 1988). All people have a need or desire for a stable, firmly grounded, high evaluation of themselves, for self-respect or self-esteem, and for the respect of others. The esteem needs represent an individual’s desire for a feeling of self-confidence and adequacy. This may re- flect internal feelings of strength, achievement, independence, or external de- sires for reputation, prestige, recognition, attention, etc. (Seeley, 1988). Finally, self-actualisation indicates the desire to realise one’s full potential (Seeley, 1988) (see Figure 5.1).
Application to maintenance
Maintenance influences the characteristics of dwellings and, as a result, the way in which dwellings fulfil certain needs. The most ‘basic’ needs are physi- ological. Kitchens, bathrooms, toilets and drains play some role with regard to these. They enable residents to eat and to excrete. However, maintenance of these building components is not always directly related to physiological needs. In particular, maintenance of kitchens, toilets and bathrooms is often primarily directed towards visual aspects and luxury: tiles, painting, cupboards etc. In this case, maintenance has more to do with fashion-dictated needs, and therefore, with esteem. This aspect is positioned much higher in the hierar- chy of needs than that of physiological needs. Services related to physiological needs that are functional (as opposed to visual) include maintenance of heat- ing and water systems, and maintenance of drains. Therefore one would ex- pect these two maintenance services to be essential for tenants. Roofing is an- other function that is related to people’s physiological needs. It seldom occurs that a roof loses its entire function, however. Small leaks are more common, but their impact is limited. Maintenance of lifts may also impact the function-
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After physiological needs, safety needs are essential for human beings. Well-functioning hinges and locks of windows and external doors provide the best protection against external violence. One would thus expect main- tenance of hinges and locks of windows and external doors to be very impor- tant for tenant satisfaction with maintenance. More indirectly, a well-main- tained environment directly surrounding the dwelling may add to security, of to the perception of security. There are many maintenance services that can influence the liveability of the neighbourhood. In multi-family dwellings, maintenance of shared areas is important for liveability. This includes main- tenance of entrance halls, galleries, corridors, stairs, lighting in shared areas, and cleaning of shared areas. In addition, exterior paintwork, maintenance of communal greenery and maintenance of paving around a building may af- fect tenants’ feelings of security, albeit to a limited degree. In a more general sense, almost all types of maintenance imply some impact on safety. When, for instance, maintenance of balconies is neglected for years, safety levels may be reduced. In particular, inadequate maintenance of heating and water systems may carry significant risks for inhabitants.
The third level in the pyramid, ‘love and belonging’, is not directly influ- enced by maintenance. Esteem, on the other hand, can be influenced by the visual, aesthetic impact of maintenance. One would expect this to be par- ticularly applicable to individual dwellings, rather than shared areas. Exterior paintwork is a service that might also influence esteem, as might the mainte- nance of kitchens, toilets and bathrooms, communal greenery and the main- tenance of paving around a building. The effect, however, will be limited and not easily measureable.
An overview of the functions of the services is offered in Table 3.2, Chap- ter 3. By means of the large-scale survey presented in this chapter, the actual perceived importance of maintenance services has been measured. In the next section, we will explain the different measures of attribute importance used to gauge the perceived importance of maintenance services.