Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(5) April 2014, Pages: 1859-1863
AENSI Journals
Advances in Environmental Biology
ISSN-1995-0756
EISSN-1998-1066
Journal home page: http://www.aensiweb.com/aeb.html
Value Management: A Strategic Approach for Reducing Faulty Design and
Maintainability Issue in IBS Building
1
Nawi, M.N.M., 2Radzuan, K., 3Salleh, N.A. and 4Ibrahim, S.H.
1,2,3
4
School of Technology Management and Logistic, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, 94300 Kota Samarahan Sarawak, Malaysia.
ARTICLE INFO
Article history:
Received 23 January 2014
Received in revised form 19
April 2014
Accepted 6 April 2014
Available online 15 May 2014
Key words:
Building Maintenance; Industrialised
Building System (IBS); Prevention
Maintenance; Architectural Design,
Value Management; Faulty Design.
ABSTRACT
Maintenance is a combination of all technical and administrative actions including
supervision actions, intended to retain an item in or restore it to a state in which it can
perform a required function. Value management is a proactive, creative, problemsolving service, using a multi-disciplinary team-oriented approach to make explicit the
client‟s value system using function analysis to expose the relationship between time,
cost and quality with the aim of maximizing the overall performance of an organization.
While prevention maintenance means steps taken perhaps in the design of building to
make sure it require less maintenance. Meeting the high demand of building in a short
time, it is expected that many errors and defects have occurred during the design and
construction stages which will result later in high maintenance costs. In order to
overcome that issue, this paper will proposed an alternative solution method which
more focuses on the building planning design stage. The concept of prevention
maintenance will be discuss effectively during the job plan stage of the value
management workshop which involve particular parties to reduce unnecessary
maintenance costs and faulty design while improving building performance.
Suggestions on how value management approach through it systematic workshop in
order to minimise the design and maintainability issue will be concluded.
© 2014 AENSI Publisher All rights reserved.
To Cite This Article: Nawi, M.N.M., 2Redzuan, K., 3Salleh, N.A. and ¬ 4Ibrahim, S.H., Value Management: A Strategic Approach for
Reducing Design Faulty and Maintainability Issue in IBS Building. Environ. Biol., 8(5), 1859-1863, 2014
INTRODUCTION
Building maintenance is a major activity in most countries. Malaysia is a developing country also has a very
fast development process in every area including building construction. Public and private sectors have initiated
the need for large and complex construction projects. Meeting the high demand of both parties in a short time, it
is expected that many errors and defects have occurred during the design and construction stages which will
result later in high maintenance costs. The main purpose of this paper is to introduce one alternative or proposal
for reducing faulty design in maintenance aspect by implementing concept of value management. With a current
situation of low level of maintenance culture in Malaysia, so prevention maintenance is the best strategy practice
to reduce design defects in a building especially that using the Industrialised Building System (IBS) technique.
Industrialisation is a process of social and economic change whereby a human society is transformed from a
pre-industrial to an industrial state; involving an investment in strategies and technologies capable, in return, of
simplifying the production process and therefore reducing the costs [19]. It is part of a wider modernisation
process through the gainful utilisation of relevant and viable technologies as mentioned by Warszawski [21],
that the process of industrialisation embraces investment in equipment, facilities, and technology with the
purpose of increasing output, saving manual labour, and improving quality.
For the purpose of this study, IBS is defined as an innovative process of building construction using the
concept of mass-production of industrialised systems, produced at the factory or on-site within controlled
environments, that includes the logistic and assembly aspect using proper planning, coordination and enhancing
value to end users. While CIDB [9] clarify IBS as a construction process that utilises techniques, products,
components, or building systems which involve prefabricated components and on-site installation the
components of IBS. The benefits derived from the implementation of IBS include speeding up the construction
process, the integration of sustainability strategies, reduction of wastages during construction, and the
minimisation of hazards and risks [12;13;16;18; 23].
Corresponding Author: Nawi, M.N.M, School of Technology Management and Logistic, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010
Sintok, Kedah, Malaysia
E-mail: [email protected]
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Advances in Environmental Biology, 8(5) April 2014, Pages: 1859-1863
2.0 Definitions of Maintenance:
There are many different definitions of maintenance. Standards, definitions and expectations develop and
change over time. For example, BS 3811: 1964 (British Standards Institution, 1964) defined maintenance as
“Work carried out to keep or restore every facility, i.e. every part of a site, building and contents, to an
acceptable standard”. Defined by British Standards (BS 3811:1974) as “A combination of any action carried out
to retain an item in, or restore it to an acceptable condition” (Mills, 1980). “Maintenance is synonymous with
controlling the condition of a building so that its pattern lies within specified regions”. By 1991, BS 4778, part
3, Section 3.2 (British Standards Institution, 1991), had refined this to “The combination of all technical and
administrative actions, including supervision actions, intended to keep an item in, or restore it to, a state in
which it can perform a required function.” While building maintenance is defined as “work undertaken in order
to keep, restore or improve every part of a building, its services and surrounds, to a currently accepted standard,
and to sustain the utility and value of the building” (Seeley, 1976). The aim of maintenance is to reduce the
frequency and severity of failures so as to ensure the availability, efficiency and performance of the existing
plant, equipment and building at a maximum level and to the standard of acceptance. Alner and Fellows (1990)
describe the objectives of building maintenance are as following:
 To ensure that the buildings and their associated services are in a safe condition.
 To ensure that the buildings are fit for use.
 To ensure that the condition of the building meets all statutory requirements.
 To carry out the maintenance work necessary to maintain the value of the physical assets of the building
stock.
 To carry out the work necessary to maintain the quality of the building.
3.0 Linkage Between Design and Maintenance:
The term 'design' according to Gropius [11] embraces the whole orbit of man-made, visible surroundings,
from simple everyday goods to the complex pattern of a whole town. Design and maintenance are two important
elements in the building process. The link of the two elements is vital in order to shape the building forms and
ensure buildings will stand for longer periods. The effectiveness of building design is not only being measured
by the aesthetical values of the building but how it would serve the required functions for better performance
and accessibility for good maintenance. According to conducted survey by the Building Research Establishment
in England, the building failure is patterns and their implications and the most common defects. There are three
major aspects that can be linked into design defects, i.e. the shape or form of the building and its components,
choice of materials or finishes and construction techniques to suit the design [2]. Seeley (1987) have reported
that it was found that 58 per cent of the defects originated from faulty design. An increase in the cost of
maintenance can be attributed to faulty designs. These are not to be regarded as defects in workmanship but
rather as higher expectation in the design [14].
Faulty design decisions are the most common faults which may be grouped as follows: failure to follow
well-established design criteria in the choice of structural system and selection of materials; ignorance of the
basic physical properties of the materials; use of new materials or innovative forms of construction which have
not been properly tested for use; misjudgment of climatic conditions under which the material has to perform;
and poor communication between different members of the design and construction teams [11].
According to Al-Hammad [1], one of the faulty designs is defects in maintenance practicality and adequacy.
This includes defects caused by improper planning and ignoring the requirements of preventive maintenance
during the design stage such as:

Ignoring access for maintenance equipment:
Buildings are designed so that maintenance staff with their equipment can access any place in the building
to perform the task. Ignoring such a factor will increase cost and efforts.
 Designing permanent fixations:
Designers should always avoid permanent fixation of elements which need continuous maintenance.

Ignoring maintenance equipment availability
The designer should design according to the available maintenance equipment on the market, (e.g. a
problem may arise during the cleaning of a building‟s exterior surface or windows or changing lamps in very
high locations).

Ignoring maintenance requirements in the design:
Designers should consider the frequency of maintaining the building‟s elements. These elements should not
be obstructed. Maintenance should be possible without interrupting the building‟s operation.
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The UK committee on building maintenance suggested there are four main reasons for the existence of design
defect in building:
 Inadequacy of client brief: the architect as a professional is expected to assist the client in developing an
adequate brief.
 Inadequacies of design: most design errors are errors of specification or choice of materials, juxtaposition or
incompatible materials or components and inadequate provision of safe access for maintenance.
 Construction errors due to ambiguity or inadequacy of specification of supervision
 Defects in materials and components
Out of the above four reasons, Ahmad [2] stressed out three major aspects that can be linked into design defect
in the context of Malaysia scenario i.e. the shape or form of the building and its components, choice of
materials, or finishes and construction technique to suit the design.
4.0 Issues in Maintenance:
The maintenance issues were always highlighted on media and its become more serious when the matters
raised in the parliament. The issues of quality and waste cost like ceiling fall, roof leaking and minor destruction
on several government building dared to the professionalism and technical image of JKR. Previous research
shows unrealistic and impractical design can contribute to the lack of the quality and to high maintenance cost.
This problem can be reduce or avoid if there have a better understanding between the consultants and the owner
(Ahmad, 2003). Better understanding between consultants and owner can be improved by good method of
communication especially on the early stage of building process.
5.0 Maintenance versus Design versus Value Management :
Building efficiency can be affected by decision taken and actions performed at any time in the history of a
building from its initial stage to its final stage. The designer should be involved in all these decisions because
the design influence on the maintenance of all building is greater than ever before. Today, buildings are
designed to meet more complicated needs than those of previous times do. Designer should know the building
owner's requirements such spaces needed, lifespan of building required and the amount of money he (willing to
invest) can afforded to spend for his building. At this time in the preparation of the design, brief decisions can
be taken which will have a vital effect on the amount of maintenance the completed building will need. The
lowest initial cost in not necessary the most economical at the end, for cheaper materials often require more
frequent maintenance and may have a shorter working life (lifespan) than the more expensive. Regarding to the
amount of maintenance for the completed building, the best proposal is develop design for ease of maintenance
concept or synonym with prevention maintenance at the management level. Management or client of project
should be aware of the objective, concept and the method of design for ease of maintenance. In order to
implement it the best practice is value management study. Value Management (MV) as a rigorous, systematic
and innovative methodology with multi- disciplinary approach to achieve better value and cost optimisation for
projects, products, facilities, systems and services without sacrificing the required performance levels [7].
Further, VM is a style of management dedicated to guiding people and promoting innovation with the aim to
improve overall project performance [17]. It has been used successfully to increase numbers of construction
projects to achieve value for money and to satisfy clients‟ needs [15]. It is a powerful methodology due to its
ability to influence thinking, to quickly bring about change, to identify the basic functions and to unify a group
of strong individuals into one collective whole [20]. It is a structured approach to establish what value means to
a client in meeting a perceived need by, clearly defining and agreeing the project objectives and establishing
how they can best be achieved [9] Male et al. [15] defined VM as „a proactive, creative, problem-solving or
problem-seeking service, which maximises the functional value of a project by managing its development from
concept to use through structured, team-oriented exercises which make explicit, and appraise subsequent
decisions, by reference to the value requirements of the clients.‟ Using the job plan of value management
methodology can enhance the performance of the design by form design for ease of maintenance
implementation committee to develop the design process and implement it on pilot project.
6.0 Suggestion and Discussion:
In this paper will suggest an application of value management concept in order to increase the quality of
communication among client, design consultant and maintenance expertise and facility manager. Through that
concept (value management workshop) will provide a good database or formal communication channel among
parties to discuss and share the knowledge to produce a good design process for maintenance value. In this
workshop, an opportunity is available for the consultant to open their door and allow and experience
maintenance manager to be part of their design team for the particular project. The presence of the maintenance
manager from the inception stage or preliminary design doesn‟t mean to control the consultant in the way that
infringes on their professional responsibilities or changing the contracting method to pure construction service
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but try to work as team at very early stage of design process. This experience maintenance manager comes to
inform more about the maintenance problems, strength and weaknesses and their maintenance method. A part
from that, this manager also will help to develop design for ease of maintenance concept at the management
level, form a policy which is include design for the ease of maintenance objective, commitment from
management, funding from project owner and close linked to construction implementation. The combined
efforts and ability to work together between many professions and trades, both skilled and unskilled together
with the knowledge to read, understand and interpret architectural drawing is prime important to ensure success
of the completed building.
Conclusion:
To determine an optimal maintenance strategy for reduce faulty design in a building, it is necessary to
integrate and assemble the facility (maintenance) managers, client, designer or any related player at the early
stage of design process in order to improve quality of building maintenance by :
 Set a policy to implement a concept of value management (VM) as formal and systematic method and
strategy before construct the building by produce good design of ease maintenance ; and
 Alternate VM as a proper or medium to overcome a problem of lack of communication among players
especially at the earlier stage either in inception, design or construction stage. As known lack of communication
means not clear of objective, information or instruction effect to the value of design process.
Introducing this approach to building maintenance management is expected both to reduce faulty design
affected to costs of building maintenance and to improve the health, safety and satisfaction of the user. Although
the paper has proposed a new approach to building maintenance management, testing of its effectiveness at this
stage is hampered.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support by the Universiti Utara Malaysia for providing the funding
under PBIT Grant Scheme (s/o code: 12871).
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