Residential building defects investigation and mitigation – a comparative review in Victoria, Australia, for understanding the way forward
Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management
ISSN: 0969-9988
Article publication date: 20 August 2021
Issue publication date: 24 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
The issue of building defects is a growing concern that affects all major construction stakeholders as a result of costs and time implications of reworks. The magnitude of the problem is severe with statistics highlighting defects often result in 4% of the total cost of construction of a building. Despite the importance of this problem, studies have seldom considered development of systematic approaches to enhance the quality control process in construction.
Design/methodology/approach
Building defects is a growing concern that affects all major construction stakeholders because of costs and time implications of reworks. Magnitude of the problem is severe with statistics highlighting defects often result in 4% of the total cost of construction of a building. Despite the importance, studies have seldom considered development of systematic approaches to enhance the quality control process in construction.
Findings
Results indicated that poor workmanship is the main cause of building defects and incomplete works is a frequently detected defect type. Results categorised defects based on cost and frequency to identify the severity. Findings also identified four focus areas including control measures, technology use audit and inspections and promotion of best knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
The study lacks generalisation as it covers only Victorian scenario and further studies are needed to generalise the findings.
Originality/value
The study provides a deeper understanding of the challenges currently facing the residential construction industry in Victoria, Australia, and underlines the need for developing quantitative models and methodologies to improve current processes, practices and policies for effective defects minimisation in Victoria, Australia. The systematic methodological framework can also be adopted by researches across the globe to effectively analyse the options for minimising residential building defects.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge and show sincere gratitude to Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) for providing access to de-identified data to conduct the defects assessment. The authors would like to further note that the findings presented in the current study do not represent any of VMIA's views and are solely based on researchers' interpretations.
Citation
Sandanayake, M., Yang, W., Chhibba, N. and Vrcelj, Z. (2022), "Residential building defects investigation and mitigation – a comparative review in Victoria, Australia, for understanding the way forward", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 29 No. 9, pp. 3689-3711. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-03-2021-0232
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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