Design factors affecting facilities management practice of buildings in Malaysia

Abstract

The prevalence of design effects and their resultant cumulative negative impact on the Facilities Management (FM) practices and the financial performance of building projects are a recurrent challenge in the construction industry. Effective integration of FM at design phase is essential to minimize design conflicts and the cost of building facilities services. In addressing the need to reduce the effect of design factors, the objective of this paper is to identify and assess the major factors affecting FM practice in building projects. Besides, the role of facility managers was explored. Following a rigorous literature review, in total, thirty-eight design factors were identified under three categories: architectural, structural and Mechanical-Electrical-Plumbing (MEP) design. Thereafter, a questionnaire was designed by utilizing a five-point Likert scale of importance. The mean and relative importance index (RII) of the factors were determined, followed by rank analysis. The survey was evaluated by the G7 FM organisation of Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) and corporate member of Malaysian Association of Facilities Management (MAFM). The most important factors from the perspectives of FM practice were “incomplete working drawing and specification”, “inadequate working drawing details”, “non-availability of specific building materials in market”, “inappropriate selection and specification of materials” and “plaster crack at joint i.e. concrete-brick joints and wall-floor joints”. This paper findings are practically significant to all designers and facilities managers, as it will prompt the management of building facilities to concentrate on the most important design factors affecting the FM practices and thereby mitigate that cost.