Integration of building maintenance cost model into the design stage

Abstract

Maintenance of buildings and other assets are important in order to lengthen the lifespan of the buildings and to retain their good condition. Modern building has witnessed tremendous and progressive transformation in the use of complex design, innovative building materials and modern construction technologies. Thus, the resultant cumulative negative impact increases maintenance cost at post-occupancy phase is a recurrent problem within the construction sectors. In addition, lack of facilities management (FM) concepts and their limited integration in the design are among the problems. This research investigated the impact of design on maintenance cost performance of building projects by addressing the identified problems that include the assessments of design defects during post-occupancy phase, and parameters impact on maintenance and development of a maintenance cost model for building projects. A quantitative research approach that uses questionnaire survey was adopted for data collection. 71 questionnaires were distributed to FM organizations in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Johor Bahru of Malaysia. The retrieved administered questionnaires revealed a 43.67% (31) response rate. Collected data were analyzed using Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS) to calculate the frequency, mean, standard deviation (SD), relative importance index (RII) and rank analysis. The empirical findings revealed that design errors, lack of maintenance plan and lack of understanding of FM significantly affected the maintenance cost. Thus, the most important design factors are inadequate working drawing details, incomplete working drawing and specification, inappropriate selection and specification of materials and non-availability of specific building materials in the market. Besides, “architectural design defects” and “structural components” are prevalent factors for increasing maintenance cost. In addition, eight design parameters rated as very important for cost model development are cost effectiveness, value of asset, environment, practiced culture, design adaptability, health and safety, client and end-user desires and responsibility. The research concludes by developing a maintenance cost model that integrates the statistically assessed thirty-seven design factors and ten design parameters. The defects in the design factors were categorized as architectural, structural and mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP). Finally, the study revealed that the integration of design factors and design parameters into a design stage is capable of reducing 15-20 percent maintenance cost in building projects. Therefore, this research is of practical significance to designers and facilities managers, as it will prompt the management of building facilities to focus on the most important factors affecting the maintenance cost, thereby reducing the total cost.