Reports on the building services unit of a railway corporation in Hong Kong which has developed a computerised maintenance management system (CMMS) to improve the reliability and performance of its maintenance services. Profiles the development of in-house CMMS and describes how a generic LAN-based PC system was successfully utilised for the prototype setup and implementation of the system. States the performance of the CMMS has provided a low-cost comprehensive information system for the building services maintenance unit. In particular, the attempt to introduce artificial intelligence into a relational data-base management system has proved to be productive and operationally effective. Outlines the benefits of computerisation of the system.

KEYWORDS: Building services, computers, maintenance, management, Hong Kong, China, railways, performance, artificial intelligence, energy management, controls, microcomputers, quality control.