Factors in building design that improve building maintainability in Malaysia

Abstract

A building designed with good maintainability considerations not only functions as intended, but is also adaptable to current and future use. The purposes of incorporating good maintainability considerations into the design of a building are to achieve high building performance, ease day-to-day housekeeping tasks, make the building adaptable for future needs and maintain a stable usage cost throughout the building’s design life. This study identifies factors that improve building maintainability in building design by applying structural equation modelling with partial least square estimation (PLS-SEM) technique. Data collection method in this study includes an expert panel interview using prepared semi-structured interview questions and a questionnaire survey to identify the influencing factors to improve the maintenance-related needs of the building. Based on hypotheses derived from the expert panel interview, a structural model is developed using systematic procedures in the application of PLS-SEM technique. The population of interest is defined as building designers, including architects, civil, mechanical and electrical engineers, quantity surveyors, and client's technical and maintenance engineers. This study identifies five significant factors or variables that can enhance building designs, and in turn improve building maintainability in Malaysia. The most significant variable is developing efficient design tools that utilise information and analysis focusing on the user’s usage behaviour.