Syahrul Nizam Kamaruzzaman

Factors affecting housing maintenance cost in Malaysia

Purpose – It has been found that the cost for housing maintenance is relatively high due to poor maintenance practices. This paper aims to determine and identify the factors contributing to rising maintenance costs.Design/methodology/approach – A quantitative approach was adopted that sought to gather factual data using the approach taken by El‐Haram and Horner. The research first identified the critical factors through a literature review. A total of Eighty questionnaires were then distributed to relevant respondents such as building managers or supervisors, maintenance management staff and others. In total, 31 completed questionnaires formed a database for descriptive and ranking analysis.Findings – The research concluded that five of the most dominant factors were expectation of tenants, building materials, building services, building age and failure to execute maintenance at the right time. Meanwhile, it was found that two of the most influential impacts were outstanding maintenance charges and over‐b...

Development of facilities management in Malaysia

Purpose – This paper aims to provide better understanding of the practices and experiences of facilities management (FM) in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses contemporary roles, issues and future challenges facing FM in Malaysia. It also reviews other western countries where FM is better and more effectively managed. In addition, the paper generates ideas on the future plans and strategies for the development of FM in Malaysia.Findings – The paper finds that Malaysia still lacks a maintenance and facilities culture. Many things need to be established in order to satisfy both the public and private sectors. Out‐sourcing is identified as one of the best options for FM in Malaysia, which may involve more companies, with more contracts being tendered out.Originality/value – This literature review offers insight into FM in Malaysia. It is suggests that more technical expertise in this field should be encouraged in order to improve the status of FM in the country.

Measuring the performance of office buildings maintenance management in Malaysia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the key aspects of performance measurement for maintenance management of office buildings, in order to enhance maintenance service delivery.Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method was adopted with the selection of five buildings as the case studies. In total, 1,230 questionnaires were distributed to the end‐users of the buildings.Findings – This paper proposes a performance measurement system that is proved to be practical and suitable to measure the effectiveness of maintenance service delivery of office buildings.Research limitations/implications – Future research could focus on developing a performance measurement system from a strategic approach.Practical implications – The proposed performance measurement system is anticipated to facilitate the evaluation process for maintenance providers, as it has taken into account the key elements of a maintenance management system.Originality/value – The outcomes of this research are significant in their ow...

The characteristics of refurbishment projects in Malaysia

Purpose – The main objectives of this paper are to identify general characteristics of refurbishment projects and problems arise in Malaysian context.Design/methodology/approach – Quantitative and qualitative approaches using postal questionnaire survey and semi‐structured interviews were used in data collection. A total of 1,552 questionnaire sets sent to professional architects.Findings – The results show that the majority of refurbishment projects in Malaysia involved residential and office types of building with contract value less than RM500,000.00 (USD 150,000.00). Some of major problem in refurbishment projects are inconsistence in clients needs, refurbishment projects exceed targeted costs and times.Research limitations/implications – The literature search and survey results showed that systematic studies into the refurbishment were relatively sparse. Therefore, more detail study gear towards refurbishment area is needed for Malaysian construction industry in the future. The findings provide gene...

A review of Critical Success Factors in building maintenance management of local authority in Malaysia

Critical Success Factors (CSF) is used to measure an organizations performance in achieving its mission. In building maintenance, CSF is important as it can identify the cause of failure as well as improving the system. The aim of this paper is to derive a generic concept of CSF in maintenance management to be used by various organizations in Malaysia. This paper reviews the current practices of maintenance management in local authorities in Malaysia. The focus is the management of maintenance including setting up an organization, policies and quality standards. The target group for sampling of data are the local authorities in Selangor. Two stages are involved in the study and this paper presents the first stage of data collection. Based on a literature review and the findings, the critical factors for success are identified. It is believed that CSF can enhance the management process and work planning, which would result in a more economic use of resources and a corresponding reduction in the total cost of maintaining buildings.

Occupants’ satisfaction toward building environmental quality: structural equation modeling approach

It is accepted that occupants who are more satisfied with their workplace’s building internal environment are more productive. The main objective of the study was to measure the occupants’ level of satisfaction and the perceived importance of the design or refurbishment on office conditions. The study also attempted to determine the factors affecting the occupants’ satisfaction with their building or office conditions. Post-occupancy evaluations were conducted using a structured questionnaire developed by the Built Environment Research Group at the University of Manchester, UK. Our questionnaires incorporate 22 factors relating to the internal environment and rate these in terms of “user satisfaction” and “degree of importance.” The questions were modified to reflect the specific setting of the study and take into consideration the local conditions and climate in Malaysia. The overall mean satisfaction of the occupants toward their office environment was 5.35. The results were measured by a single item of overall liking of office conditions in general. Occupants were more satisfied with their state of health in the workplace, but they were extremely dissatisfied with the distance away from a window. The factor analysis divided the variables into three groups, namely intrusion, air quality, and office appearance. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was then used to determine which factor had the most significant influence on occupants’ satisfaction: appearance. The findings from the study suggest that continuous improvement in aspects of the building’s appearance needs to be supported with effective and comprehensive maintenance to sustain the occupants’ satisfaction.

A study of design performance of refurbishment projects in Malaysia

Abstract The refurbishment sector has the potential to keep growing and contribute to the growth of total Malaysian construction output. The increased number of obsolete and deteriorating buildings, coupled with the limited land for new development will contribute to increased demand for refurbishment works in Malaysia. However, the performance of refurbishment projects in most developed countries is unsatisfactory. One of the sources of unsatisfactory performance is related to design problems. This study analyses the variables that could be used for measuring design performance and reviews design performance of refurbishment projects in Malaysia. The study concludes that the design performance of refurbishment projects in Malaysia is used in three-quarters of refurbishment projects. The percentage of completeness of design before work starts on site was more than 80 percent. The additional construction cost attributed to design changes during the construction stage was more than 20 percent of the original estimated cost.

Evaluating Performance Characteristics of electricity use of British Historic buildings in Malaysia

Purpose – To present the findings of the investigation on the electricity use characteristics of British historic buildings in Malaysia, identifying where the design needs further modification as well as pin‐pointing recurring problems within this building type.Design/methodology/approach – This research work was conducted on four British historical buildings by gathering electricity bills, original drawings/documents, meeting with the staff and local authorities to collect as much information as possible on the building, such as occupancy pattern. Based on materials collected, a “normalised“ calculated electricity consumption was established to allow comparison between buildings in different climatic regions or with different occupancy patterns.Findings – Comparing energy consumption against established benchmarks provides the first indication of how well the buildings are performing and opportunities for improvement. It was expected that this study would give a good indication of the electricity consump...

Assessing the readiness of facilities management organizations in implementing knowledge management systems

– This paper aims to assess the readiness of Malaysian facilities management (FM) organizations in implementing knowledge management (KM) systems. , – The questionnaire survey was used to retrieve information on the readiness of FM organizations in Malaysia. , – The findings reveal that, although many FM organizations were capable and ready in terms of information technology, lack of human behaviour and organizational policy is still seen. Technology, policy and human behaviour are the factors that have a strong influence on the successful outcome of KM. , – This paper fulfils an identified need to study in implementing KM systems.

The impact of IEQ on occupants’ satisfaction in Malaysian buildings

This paper focuses on the importance of occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality in buildings as well as the effect of indoor environmental quality towards occupants’ satisfaction. This research applied post-occupancy evaluation as a method to indicate the building occupants’ needs, their satisfaction and comfort level. The research is based on a case study approach whereby a questionnaire survey was conducted among 25 organizations involved in managing office buildings. A total of 115 questionnaires were returned for evaluation of occupants’ overall satisfaction from aspects of indoor environmental quality in these buildings and to determine the occupants’ satisfaction level within these buildings. The findings revealed that indoor environment factors that could contribute to occupants’ satisfaction consists of lighting, air quality and aesthetic perception. These classifications were made based on the factor analysis done with 22 attributes of the indoor environment. The majority of occupants are satisfied with their health conditions and do not face any serious health problems. However, occupants highlighted that some environmental conditions, health effects, air movement, ventilation and air freshness are important criteria for their satisfaction and comfort. This study provides insights into how occupants perceive their indoor environment and comfort, and identify problems that could arise in buildings.