Abdul-Mohsen Al-Hammad

The effect of faulty design on building maintenance

Outlines the defects and faults during the design stage that affect building maintenance in Saudi Arabia and their relative degree of importance. Performed a survey of a randomly selected sample of 90 contractors, 30 architectural/engineering firms (A/Es), and 20 owners from the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The survey included 35 defects and the respondents were asked to indicate their degree of importance. The defects were grouped into six groups. The level of importance of the defects and the groups were measured and ranked by their severity index for contractors, owners and A/Es. The following results were obtained: contractors, A/Es and owners generally agree on the ranking of the individual defects; contractors and A/Es agree on the ranking of the defect groups whereas contractors and owners, A/Es and owners do not agree; the construction drawings group of defects was ranked highly by all three parties whereas the architectural design group of defects received a low ranking.

Factors affecting outsourcing decisions of maintenance services in Saudi Arabian universities

Purpose – The objectives of this paper are to identify the critical factors that influence the decision to outsource maintenance services in public Saudi Arabian universities, and to investigate the relative importance of each of the identified factors based on the expressed opinions of the in‐house maintenance managers in the concerned maintenance departments in these universities.Design/methodology/approach – The authors conducted a comprehensive review of the literature in the fields of maintenance management and outsourcing practices to achieve a thorough understanding of the issues involved, and identifying the crucial factors affecting the outsourcing decision of maintenance services. A questionnaire survey was developed to assess each factor influencing the decision to outsource maintenance services in the public Saudi Arabian universities. The survey included 38 factors grouped in six major groups. The respondents who have opted to outsource several of their maintenance services to specialty contr...

The effect of faulty construction on building maintenance

Saudi Arabia is a rich developing country with huge capital resources and is developing quickly in every area, including building construction. Public and private sectors have initiated large and complex construction projects on tight completion deadlines which in some cases have led to errors and defects occurring that will result in later high maintenance costs.

Design — Construction interface problems in Saudi Arabia

During the last decade the construction industry in Saudi Arabia employed 15% of the total labour force and used 19% of energy consumed in the country. Abdulmohsen Al‐Hammad and Sadi Assaf discuss the results of a survey which identified the interface problems in design and construction, and document the lessons to be learned from that boom period

Factors affecting the relationship between contractors and their sub‐contractors in Saudi Arabia

Delay in contract progress payment, lack of construction quality, errors and delay in shop drawings and/or approval of sample materials were ranked highest as interface problems, whilst legal disputes, scheduling conflicts amongst sub‐contractors, geological problems and weather conditions were ranked lowest.

An expert system for evaluation and selection of floor finishing materials

Abstract This paper describes briefly the building and development stages of an expert system for evaluation and selection of floor finishing materials. The scope of the study is limited to available materials in the Saudi market, local or imported for residential buildings interior. The study forms a model for a perhaps future comprehensive evaluation and selection system that may involve interior and exterior finishing materials covering floors, walls and ceilings. The system, emphasizes the potentials of expert system applications in architectural engineering as computer aided building design tools to help architects and decision makers do their selection on a rational basis and assist in documenting, standardizing and disseminating problem solving methodologies.

Post-Occupancy Evaluation of Housing Facilities: Overview and Summary of Methods

AbstractAlthough post-occupancy evaluation (POE) is an old tool with hundreds of studies, it is yet to become routine in the housing industry. The growing complexity of buildings and emerging trends in the industry further reinforces the need to carry out more POE studies. Though some studies exist, a holistic approach is yet to be given priority in the industry. This paper presents an overview of POE; it presents a broad introduction, levels of investigation, POE methods, performance elements related to the housing context, and POE tools and frameworks. It also highlights key benefits to be derived from a POE and barriers forestalling its adoption in the industry. The goal of this paper is to provide a foundation and source of reference for current research in housing evaluation studies.

Factors effecting construction contractors' performance

A number of interesting and important aspects have been achieved in this research; in particular, that quality of work should be of major concern to contractors and could become a pre‐requisite in any selection process by the client body. Contract documentation should be clear and should not include ambiguous clauses and contradictory documentation, as this only leads to problems for all parties during the contract and a low performance rating from the contractor.

Design Phase Maintenance Checklist for Water Supply and Drainage Systems

AbstractThe majority of operation and maintenance challenges in building projects are attributed to the decisions made during the design phase. The timely involvement of the maintenance team in the design development and review stages provides a potential for reducing maintainability problems during the functional life of buildings. This paper identifies and assesses the significant water supply and drainage systems’ design defects that commonly occur in the building projects in Saudi Arabia as a consequence of the lack of maintenance feedback to the design team. These defects were identified based on knowledge from the published literature and professional practice. The research reported in this paper endorsed the importance of all the recognized defects based on the appraisal of the executives of the campus maintenance departments in the 13 public Saudi Arabian universities renowned for operating and maintaining substantial building stock. The paper then presents a series of validated maintainability de...

Holistic Postoccupancy Evaluation Framework for Campus Residential Housing Facilities

AbstractThis paper presents a holistic postoccupancy evaluation (POE) framework and its application to a campus residential facility. The development of a framework was based on an extensive review of literature and an identification of a comprehensive set of performance indicators. Multiple evaluation techniques were employed, including the review of existing documents, interviews, walkthroughs, questionnaire surveys, and spot measurements. The importance-satisfaction (IS) matrix was utilized to identify building performance successes and failures. The study shows that occupants are moderately satisfied with their residential environment. Specific issues identified were related to HVAC and lighting systems, among others. The holistic POE framework will help to derive more qualitative feedback in housing evaluation studies for more reliable decision making. This study bridges the research gap for the need for more holistic forms of POE in the facilities management sector. The recommendations provided in t...