Norhanim Binti Zakaria

The Effect of Design on Maintenance for School Buildings in Penang, Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to focus on identifying building elements with design defects and established the relationship between design defects and difficulties in carrying out maintenance works.Design/methodology/approach – A total of four cases have been selected covering primary‐ and secondary‐level for both National and National‐type schools (commonly known as vernacular schools). Interviews with school management were carried out throughout the study to assess the common design defects in the buildings.Findings – A list of the design defects that have caused high maintenance cost was tabulated. It could be concluded that the most common design defects are building facade and missing slot underneath the floor slab which led to more defects.Research limitations/implications – Only four schools in Penang, Malaysia were involved in this study. Data were gathered from the school management and maintenance personnel. No data have been obtained from the designers because difficulties in tracing...

Risk management: Looming the modus operandi among construction contractors in Malaysia

Construction projects are commonly afflicted by risk due to their uncertainty and complexity in nature. Thus this requires the contractor to have an effective risk management approach. Previous studies revealed that there was no formal risk management being used by the contractors in Malaysia. Hence, the study concentrated on the types of risk involves during construction project, the application of risk management by contractors in Malaysian construction industry and the strategy taken by them to mitigate risks. The research conducted surveys to the contractors registered with the Construction Industry Development Board, Malaysia (CIDB). The finding shows that there is a lack of standardization in the practice of risk management. Risk management has been mandated by the company and that the application has improved project performance. Besides formal approach and educating the people to conduct risk management, it is recommended that a standardized guideline of risk management is needed to improve the application of risk management among contractors in Malaysia.

Organisational culture of Malaysian international construction organisations

Abstract Malaysian contractors are tenderfoot in international markets. Hence, it is critical to pay attention to their organisational performance. Organisational culture becomes a momentous measure in analysing organisational performance. As such, this study aims to explore organisational culture of international contractors. This research was quantitative based and data was collected through a questionnaire survey. It was found that client orientation is the most dominant organisation culture elements in international contractors. In contrast, technology orientation, innovation orientation and marketing formalization playing less critical role in their organisational culture. This implies that international contractors are generally lack of competitive advantage in international trade. The results indirectly explain the importance of international joint venture and partnering especially in developing countries. Yet, they are not an ineffective way to improve organisational performance, instead, a competitive culture is critical. As such, the role of top management and cultural reformation are important to counteract the uncompetitive culture.

Restoration of historical timber building: a Malaysian case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the most influential buildings elements in term of the cost for timber restoration works. Design/methodology/approach – The research employed the case studies methods with questionnaires surveys. Two case studies were chosen and questionnaire surveys were distributed to contractors and consultation companies. The cost was identified based on the elemental cost analysis of historic timber buildings. Findings – The restoration of historic timber buildings in Malaysia has grown rapidly, especially in the UNESCO world heritage sites, Melaka and Penang. Data obtained on the restorations of timber buildings show that the most influential elements were upper floors, roofs and walls. Termites’ invasions and the lack of building analysis were found to be the major issue in timber restoration works. In addition, the availability of timber material contributed significantly to the increase of cost for restoration works. Originality/value – The cost for every element...