Enhancing building maintainability through early supplier involvement in the design process

Abstract The post-construction phase represents a critical milestone in the project lifecycle. This is because design errors and omissions as well as construction defects are examined during this phase. The traditional procurement approaches that are commonly adopted in construction projects separate design from construction, which inhibits contractors, suppliers and other parties from providing the design team with constructive comments and feedback to improve the project design. Consequently, lack of considering maintainability aspects during the design process results in increasing maintenance and operation costs as well as reducing building performance. This research aims to investigate the role of early supplier involvement (ESI) in the design process as an approach for enhancing building maintainability. To achieve this aim, a research methodology consisted of literature review, case studies and survey questionnaire was designed to accomplish four objectives. Firstly, literature review was used to examine the concepts of building maintenance, maintainability, the design process and ESI. Secondly, three case studies were presented and analysed to investigate the role of ESI towards enhancing building maintainability during the design process. Thirdly, a survey questionnaire was conducted with a representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to investigate their perception and application of ESI towards enhancing building maintainability during the design process. Finally, the research developed a framework to facilitate ESI during the design process in ADFs in Egypt. Data analysis showed that ‘Difficulty of trusting external parties and sharing information with transparency’ was ranked the highest challenge of ESI in ADFs in Egypt.