Refurbishment and Facility Management

The notes given here are extracts from my book, Managing refurbishment Projects, published by UPENA, UiTM 2008. The price RM20.


Rerfurbishment : definition

Refurbishment is defined as the adaptation or alteration of an existing building designed to improve facilities, rearrange internal areas and/or increases the structural span of a building.

Refurbishment can be broadly categorised into two.
1. works that bring back the building to its original design performance. This includes repair, rehabilitation and restoration.

2. works that upgrades the original design performance. This includes extension, renovation, improvement, retrofit, modernization and conversion.

Repair is work to restore the performance of a building to the original or an acceptable condition by renewing, replacing or mending worn, damaged or deteriorated parts.

Rehabilitation is construction work which extends the life of a building in order to make is habitable. It is normally associated with housing.

Restoration is work that reinstates the structural and architectural parts of an old building to its original design and construction. This includes works to a building or architectural of historic importance either due to deterioration and/or following a disaster such as fire or flood damage.

Modernization is a process of bringing a building up to a standard prescribed by its owners and statutory requirements.

Retrofitting is the work of redesigning and reconstructing the existing building in order one to incorporate new technology in M&E and ICT which were not foreseen in the original design.

Extension is carried out in order to increase the floor area of a building.

Renovation is the process of upgrading and repairing an old building to improve the building performance, which may include changing the function of the building, e.g., from residential to office.

refurbishment cycle
Depends on
1. The function of the building.
2. The quality of the building.
3. The way in which the building is being used or abused.
4. The change in statutory requirements, especially those relating to health and safety.
5. The requirements and expectations of the users or owners.
6. The effects of design changes

Factors influencing the growth of refurbishment sector
1. Due to wear and tear as well as user abuse, many of them have become dilapidated
2. Economic recession forced both public and private organizations to conserve their resources.
3. Deterioration of a building structure and fabric is generally associated with one of the three causes: dampness, bio-decay and movement
4. Office buildings built in the 1960s and 1970s generally have no provisions for electronic equipment and communication systems
5. Changed their organizational structure and working practices. Those changes may require them to have open-plan office layout that gives greater flexibility
6. Demographic change mostly influences the demand for refurbishment of residential properties. In Malaysia, the increasing prosperity, availability of funds and bigger family size, encourage many house owners to extend their houses by adding bedrooms, a study or having bigger kitchen.
7. Many factories and warehouses become empty whilst demands for offices and entertainment outlets are increasing.
8. The advent of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has changed the working environment of many people
9. A growing environmental awareness to save natural resources through sustainable construction
11. The difficulty in obtaining planning approval in order to redevelop a listed building
12. To meet building regulations concerning access, ventilation, energy conservation and the use of acceptable building materials, means of escape and other fire safety regulations, many property owners built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s to refurbish their buildings

The performance of refurbishment projects
Primary and secondary objectives of refurbishment projects
The level of uncertainty at the three different stages of refurbishment projects

THE DESIGN PROCESS
The main objective of design process is to produce a design that can be used to construct functional, economical and aesthetically pleasing building.
1. For new build projects, the design team start fresh, and progressively build up, revise and refine their designs. The design team are free to choose the specifications, the layout and the details of the building components.
2. In refurbishment projects, the designers have to be more analytical, gather information on the existing building and to develop the design that is compatible with it.
3. It is also important for the designers to be able to assess the current condition of the building. The designers must understand how the existing structures were designed and how they have been used.
4. The state of completeness of design before refurbishment work starts on site
5. The importance of improving the design process
6. The effect of design input on project cost
7. Sustainability as an objective in design - Refurbishment has always been considered as one of the best strategies for sustainability because it reused and recycled the existing resources.
reduce energy consumption and minimizing heat losses. To improve sustainability, there should be minimum demolition work. However, it is very tempting for the designer to opt for demolition because it will give them more freedom in design

The stages of design process
Conceptual design
the client leads the project and identifies the need for building based on space requirements and budget allocation. The client can assess the space requirements by analyzing the existing space.
A purpose statement should be prepared at the briefing process. The formulation of the clients brief should include an appraisal of the existing asset by the design team. The projects technical and physical characteristics must be established.
A high proportion of important information could only be obtained from the client.
During the conceptual design, the architect reviews the refurbishment project requirements furnished by the client to ascertain the requirements.
The architect must then provide a preliminary evaluation of the client’s program, schedule and construction budget requirements.
the architect reviews the alternative approaches to design and construction of the refurbishment project with the client.
The architect normally produces concept drawings which are used for discussions with the client and other design team members.

Schematic design
Based on the mutually agreed-upon concept, schedule and construction budget requirements, the architect then prepares schematic design documents for client’s approval. These documents consist of drawings and other documents illustrating the scale and relationship of project components. Schematic designs show general refurbishment work, site plan, organization, and space allocation. The design team also needs to produce an outline specification, which lists all components such as exterior materials, finishes, major interior systems including mechanical, electrical, structural, lighting, kitchen components.
In addition, the architect submits to the client a preliminary estimate of construction cost based on current area, volume or other unit costs. The client needs to decide whether he agrees with the estimates. These decisions lead into the detail design development phase during which even a higher, more-refined level of architectural and engineering specificity is determined.

Detailed design
During this phase, the design team develop greater detail for all aspects of the building. The collaborative process continues with the architect providing graphic focus for the various members of the design team. The final product of this phase is a detailed design on which all key members of the design team may be asked to sign off.
The development of contract documents involves translating the detail design into formats suitable for pricing, permitting, and construction. Decisions continue to be made with the appropriate contributions of all design team members.

Construction
The uncertainty of refurbishment projects means that in most cases, the contract documents are not complete when the projects start on site. in complex and uncertain refurbishment projects, the design phase often overlapped with the construction phase. Therefore, the design team members for refurbishment projects need to remain fully involved during construction stage.
When the traditional procurement system is used, the contractor may need the design team to clarify the decisions previously made during design stage. Lack of involvement of any team member could delay the work on site
Besides, in refurbishment projects, very often the client makes many changes during construction stage.
A refurbishment project with complex structural loads in which the strengths of the structure is not clear, it is better to overlap design and construction phase.

Commissioning
At this stage, the construction management team or third parties assess the success of the contract documents produced by the design team in meeting the client’s requirements. Here the full range of functions in the building is evaluated and the design and construction team can be called upon to make changes and adjustments as needed.

THE COMPLEXITY OF REFURBISHMENT PROJECTS DURING CONSTRUCTION

A.Design completeness

1. Most refurbishment projects start with design not complete – design uncertainty
   Implications
2. Interdependency between client and contractor –needs greater client involvement
   Requires shorter communication time between participants
3. Requires quality information – needs involvement of experienced construction firms
   Choose ‘integrated’ procurement system – e.g., design and build
   

B.Changes in design

1. Implications of changes in design
2. Susceptible to opportunistic behaviour
3. Could be reduced by greater involvement of contractors during design stage
   

c.Difficulty of access :implications

1. Most refurbishment projects are difficult to be accessed
2. For sensitive premises- need extra precautions to ensure security
3. Comfort and efficiency of occupants could be affected – may cause conflicts
4. working at night causing stress on workers
5. Delivery of materials and disposal of excavated and other waste materials may have to be done in uneconomically small batches
6. Traffic restrictions may require deliveries to be made in the early hours in the morning
   

d.Occupied buildings

1. Most refurbishment projects are carried out when the buildings are occupied.
2. Obstruction to effective investigation – need to tell the client the importance of investigations being made as thoroughly as possible so that uncertainty in estimates, time and money could be minimised
3. Investigation could cause disruption to the routine activities of the occupants
   Occupied buildings
4. The clients need to take greater role at all stages of refurbishment projects than new build
5. Their involvement should be properly structured and integrated into the project management decision through the single client representative
6. The project managers, site managers and lead designers should acquire basic understanding of the client business and therefore the primary requirements of the occupants
7. Where occupancy involves high degree of security such as bank and prison, an authoritative representative must be made available by the client to the project manager in the earliest stages of the project
8. Routing of construction access require careful planning to accommodate the needs of the client – e.g., construction of access corridors through or adjacent to occupied areas
9. Parking problems
10. The need to deal with neighbouring occupiers
11. The project manager must make sure that occupants and neighbours are consulted, kept informed and feel that their concerns are being attended to – a crucial role
12. The project manager must be a good communicator. The success of the project depends more on human relationships rather than technical skills.
13. Conducting the client’s business is always going to be the priority over efficient building methods
14. Many non productive activities such as additional cleaning, furniture removal, etc
    Occupants may initiate changes during construction in an informal and potentially disruptive manner. The problem is greater in situations where there are many users
    

e.Limited space

1. Limited space both horizontally and vertically are common features of refurbishment projects
2. Most refurbishment projects are carried out in congested areas – difficulty for loading and unloading Solutions see (page 155 )
3. Constructing high cantilevered platform and, small batches delivery of materials
   

f.Services work

1. In refurbishment projects with a high services content – it is important for the contractors staff to include a coordinator who understands the design- advisable to have a services coordinator
2. Need to plan the work with public utilities in the refurbishment program
3. Continued occupancy of the building during refurbishment means that new permanent services have to be installed in phases. This can cause problems of coordination , control and commission
4. M& E subcontractors should be appointed at earlier stage of project
5. Have to make sure the compatibility with the existing system
6. Work might be undertaken when the occupants are not present. For hotels, this option may not be feasible
7. Temporary services may be needed for occupants to continue using the building
   Services work
8. Require extensive cutting and carving- require intensive skilled labour
   increase communication problems
9. Bills of quantities rarely listed in detail –difficult to estimate and plan
10. Employ site managers who have specialised knowledge in services work
    

g.Structural work

1. Use of heavy plant- sometimes not feasible. It could increase the difficulty of access to project sites and reduce the amount of space available to work and store material
   

h.Availability of skilled labour

1. The nature of work is cut and carve –typically involving the formation of large openings in walls and floors to accommodate new services, strengthening and replacing floors or removal old cladding for new –difficult to plan and control and allocating labour resources
2. For old histroical building –difficult to get craftsmen
   

i. Subcontractors

1. Large number of different trades specialising in different technologies
2. Large number of people on small site and short duration- therefore refurbishment tend to be more intensive
3. Need to improve interpersonal and communication skills of refurbishment managers
4. Long term relationship with subcontractors needs to be fostered
   

FACILITY MANAGEMENT

Definition:
The effort spent to provide complete operations and maintenance service support so that physical facility (buildings, equipment, machinery, system and grounds) may operate at an optimum lowest overall total cost.

Facility management function
Design – where new processes or new developments are incorporated into completed drawings and specifications so that facilities erection and equipment and system placements can take place
Construction – uses the drawings and specifications to construct buildings, set equipment and systems and provide services
Maintenance – concerned with everyday problems of keeping the equipment, systems, etc in good operating condition

Principles of organization
Organization must be tailored to fit the requirements of the company. To organize is to establish either formally or informally the relationships, the lines of authority and the responsibilities of the employees

Organization requirements
Philosophy ( any personal belief about how to live or how to deal with a situation; e.g., autocratic or participative management philosophy
Policy- A guiding principle designed to influence decisions, actions, etc. Typically, a policy designates a required process or procedure within an organization. They help to avoid conflicting decisions.
E.g., policies on hours of work, attendance, employee benefits
,safety, product quality, employee transfer and promotion, etc
Span of control
The number of workers a supervisor control - The optimum number of workers supervised depends on the supervisors’ ability- too few subordinates – a waste of supervisors knowledge and skills . Too many – difficult to control and subordinates efforts could go unnoticed
Generally, the more complex the task the fewer the subordinates
Depends on size of organization
Personalities involved – right people, for the right job

Developing subordinates
Levels of organization –make sure that there are no overlapping functions – not too many levels (tall organization)
Skill level of workforce – Lower skill level, may require closer supervision- fewer subordinates for each supervisor. Needs to train the workforce
Operating schedules – single shift/multiple shifts
Type of operation – reflected within the organization of the type of technical people required, types of supervisors needed