Wellness of the patients correlated with the hospital building performance. For building to achieve it design objectives and provide value added services to owners, users and other stakeholders, maintenance functions are strategic. As a result, management of the maintenance of hospital buildings is a delicate and expensive task to perform. Despite the fact that there is a lack of representative data on the maintenance of hospital buildings in Malaysia, there is a growing concern surrounding the subject. Fire outbreaks and decay in hospital buildings suggest a need to conduct critical research to investigate the maintenance management practices of hospital buildings. This paper reports part of an ongoing research that aims to develop a maintenance model for hospital buildings. Hence, this current research reports the results of literature reviews and observations on hospital buildings in Malaysia and their maintenance practices. Upon reviewing the literature, a conceptual framework of maintenance model for hospital buildings was proposed. The research found that the current approaches to maintenance management in the hospital buildings were corrective, fragmented, cost-driven and expensive. The procurement of maintenance services was mainly outsourcings. All these call into question, the decision making processes of the hospital maintenance organisations. Collectively, the above considerations have led to the formulation of the main research question- what are the critical success factors [CSFs] for the maintenance of hospital buildings? The current study also discussed a proposed research methodology for the main research. Furthermore, issues pertaining to the research design, ontology and epistemology were briefly discussed. It was established that to enrich the findings of the main research, it was imperative to collect primary data using both quantitative and qualitative research paradigms.
The present research aims to investigate the insights of housing providers on potential benefits of sustainable affordable housing. Housing providers need certainty on the benefits of sustainable affordable housing for homebuyers. We used a cross‐sectional survey questionnaire consisting of 23 benefits of sustainable affordable housing administered to 121 experts from the housing industry. In total, 82% of the housing professional respondents believed that sustainable affordable housing offered all 23 benefits included in the survey. The first five main benefits were an increase in the comfort of homeowners, the enjoyment of natural ventilation, a reduction in water bills, a reduction in electricity bills and an increase in housing values. An exploratory factor analysis returned 5 components: environmental, energy, social, cost and status. The findings provide insight into the drivers of sustainable affordable housing. A framework for the benefits of sustainable affordable housing was developed. The results will be useful for policy‐makers, developers, place managers, housing associations and academics attempting to increase the supply and demand of sustainable affordable housing.
Abstract.Heritage buildings represent the tangible cultural heritage of a community. However, many of the heritage buildings have being left neglected. Ipoh as a city rich in heritage, has many dilapidated heritage buildings which are experiencing a resurging interest. However, the problems faced by many owners are the lack of technical information of such buildings, leading to premature abandonment and demolition. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to determine the types and extent of defects present in the building studied. To achieve these objectives, a case study of a century old heritage property in Ipoh, Perak was conducted. The study aims to provide reference to owners and those responsible for the conservation of heritage buildings with similar conditions to identify and prioritize critical defects in relation to the building life span to determine its condition. The findings determined the probable causes of defects such as settlement and façade cracks, which are over 30 years old, were attributed to leaking plumbing pipes, rainwater ingress and the construction of an adjacent 20 story apartment building. The major issues to address were stabilizing the foundation through cement grouting, reinforcing the existing structural systems and roof systems as well as arresting the decay of timber floor structure. In conclusion, major maintenance guidelines are need to address structural issues and weather tightness of the building envelope, especially its roof and drainage systems.
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