Assessment of factors affecting maintenance cost of public school facilities
International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation
ISSN: 2398-4708
Article publication date: 7 August 2019
Issue publication date: 5 September 2019
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the significance of various factors affecting maintenance costs of public school facilities.
Design/methodology/approach
Detailed literature review resulted in identifying 54 factors that were categorized under nine groups. This was followed by a questionnaire survey completed by 60 experienced professionals. The relative importance index was used to determine the in-group ranking, as well as the overall ranking of these factors.
Findings
The study established that the five most significant factors affecting the maintenance cost of public school facilities were “not providing operations and maintenance manuals to maintenance group” in the “construction phase” category, “ignoring maintainability studies in design” in the “design phase” category, “specification of low-quality materials” in the “design phase” category, “selection criteria of contractors” in the “regulations and contracting” category, and “lack of quality control during work execution” in the “construction phase” category.
Originality/value
The present research represents the first research covering the maintenance cost of public school facilities in Saudi Arabia. The study also presents the unique landscape of facility maintenance in the Saudi Arabian context. The outcome of this research has the potential to significantly cut down unnecessary costs rooted in expensive maintenance of public school facilities, enhancing the quality of these facilities. The findings also underscore the necessity of collaboration and coordination of the various key disciplines toward the realization of cost-effective school facilities.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals for the support and facilities that made this research possible.
Citation
Hassanain, M.A., Al-Zahrani, M., Abdallah, A. and Sayed, A.M.Z. (2019), "Assessment of factors affecting maintenance cost of public school facilities", International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, Vol. 37 No. 5, pp. 528-546. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-02-2019-0019
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited