Assessment of architectural defects attributed to lack of maintenance feedback to the design team

Abstract

Planning for maintenance should start during the design phase and continue throughout the useful life of the building. This research aims to emphasize the significance of the provision of maintenance feedback to the design team during the design development and review stages. The objective of this article is to identify and assess significant architectural defects that are attributed to lack of maintenance feedback to the design team. These defects were identified based on knowledge from international literature and professional practice. The research confirmed the importance of all the identified defects based on the assessment of the maintenance department managers of 13 public Saudi Arabian universities that operate and maintain an extensive infrastructure in their campuses. The paper also recommended a set of guidelines to be considered by the architectural design team at different project design stages (i.e. 30%, 60% and 90% design completion) to reduce the amount as well as the complexities of unplanned maintenance activities in buildings. This article has the potential to raise awareness among professionals in the built-environment community about the significance of the interaction as well as communication between the maintenance and design teams throughout the design phase.

Keywords:

• architectural defects
• maintenance feedback
• guidelines

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals for the support and facilities that made this research possible. The authors acknowledge the cooperation of the executives of the maintenance departments in the 13 public Saudi Arabian university who assessed the operation and maintenance challenges presented in this paper.