Analysis and Development of the Generic Maintenance Management Process Modeling for the Preservation of Heritage School Buildings

Preservation of heritage school buildings requires special maintenance management practices. A thorough understanding of the maintenance management process is essential in ensuring effective maintenance practices can be instituted. The aim of this paper was to develop a generic process model that will promote the understanding of an effective management of maintenance process for heritage school buildings. A process model for the Maintenance Management of Heritage School Buildings (MMHSB) was developed using the Integration Definition for Function Modeling (IDEF0) system through an iterative process. The initial MMHSB process model was submitted to a team of management experts from the Malaysian Ministry of Arts and Heritage and the Ministry of Education Malaysia for verifications. Based on their feedbacks the initial model was refined and a proposed model was developed. From the second verification, the feed back received formed the basis for the final model. The final model elucidates the items for the input, mechanism, control and output elements that are critical in the maintenance management of heritage school buildings. The model also redefines the existing scope of responsibilities of the Headmasters’ and Senior Assistants’ in the management of maintenance. The perceived effectiveness of the model by potential users was surveyed using a selected number of administrators from potentially recognized heritage schools. The results indicated that the process model is perceived as being helpful in clarifying the maintenance management process of heritage school buildings and is useful in changing the current reactive management practices to that of a more proactive practice. In conclusion, it is believed that the MMHSB Process Model is helpful in promoting the understanding of the maintenance management process which would lead to improve preservation practices of heritage school buildings

Factors contributing building safety and health performance of low cost housing in Malaysia

The implementation of safety and health measures on building should be addressed during their life cycles to improve the occupants’ quality of life. However, information concerning the health and safety performance of buildings is not always readily available. This paper aims to determine and identify the factors contributing to safety and health performance of low cost housing in Malaysia. The research first identified the critical factors through a literature review of current safety and health practices from journals, thesis and articles books in order to interpret the factors from a global perspective. A total of fifty questionnaires were then distributed to relevant respondents such as academician, architects, engineers, building surveyors and property managers. In total, 33 completed questionnaires formed a database for descriptive and ranking analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the reliability of the instruments were greater than 0.80. A preliminary finding concluded three factors that the most dominant building design factors contributing to safety and health performance of low cost housing in Malaysia were structural and finishes integrity, amenities and fire services installation. Meanwhile, it was found that three of the most building management factors were documentation and evaluation, building services and structural and finishes integrity. Collectively, results provide evidence that the instruments are reliable in the Malaysian context. However, a bigger sample would be needed to represent the larger population of construction practitioners in Malaysia

Analisis tren semasa demografi personel penyenggaraan bangunan warisan di Malaysia

Personel penyenggaraan merupakan antara keperluan sumber terpenting bagi sesebuah organisasi penyenggaraan. Tanpa personel penyenggaraan adalah mustahil kerja-kerja penyenggaraan sesebuah bangunan itu dapat dilaksanakan. Walaubagaimanapun, tinjauan literatur mendapati bahawa kebanyakkan personel penyenggaraan hari ini terdiri daripada kalangan yang tidak terlatih serta tidak berkelayakan. Jesteru itu, kajian ini dilakukan bagi mendapatkan tren semasa demografi personel penyenggaraan dalam praktis pengurusan penyenggaraan bangunan warisan di Malaysia. Instrumen kajian berupa set soalselidik dan diedarkan kepada setiap personel penyenggaraan yang terlibat dari beberapa buah bangunan warisan terpilih. Hasil kajian mendapati kurang satu pertiga daripada bilangan personel yang terlibat mempunyai kelayakan untuk menjalankan kerja-kerja penyelenggaraan di bangunan warisan. Ini membuktikan bahawa praktis penyelenggaraan hari ini tidak dilakukan oleh personel yang benar-benar berkelayakan. Kajian ini diharap dapat memberi gambaran semasa berkenaan dengan praktis penyenggaraan bangunan warisan dan seterusnya membuka ruang untuk penambahbaikan di masa hadapan

Durability Evaluation of Cement Board produced from Untreated and Pre-treated Empty Fruit Bunch Fibre through Accelerating Ageing

Durability issue known that natural fibre tends to degrades in cementitious matrix particularly when in hot and humid exposure for a period of time. This experimental approach evaluates the potential of EFB cement board's durability in accelerated ageing condition. Initially, the EFB fibres are pre-treated for 24 hours by being soaked in 1% NaOH solution and oven-dried at 103±2°C. Cement boards of 1300 kg/m3 density are fabricated in the laboratory, with 2.5:1:2 ratio of ordinary Portland cement, EFB fibre and water with 3% CaCl2. Accelerated ageing assessment of hot water immersion for 10 days, 30 days and 60 days also wet dry cycle for 5 cycle, 15 cycle and 30 cycle at 70°C temperature are then conducted. The tested samples reveal finding ranges in modulus of rupture (MOR) of 3.98 – 9.11 MPa; modulus of elasticity (MOE) of 1056 – 4699 MPa; internal bonding (IB) of 0.28 – 0.53 MPa and thickness swelling (TS) of 1.66 – 9.25%. In addition, the field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) showed degradation mechanism of EFB cement board of before and after the accelerated ageing assessment. Conclusively, the findings showed that, accelerated ageing approach for durability assessment of cement boards could be done in quantifying the durability of samples in shorter time

Maintenance management success factors for heritage building: a framework

This paper attempts to establish a theoretical framework for maintenance management success factors in managing built heritage. Reviews on past literature on the subject were carried out to build the existing research works on the area and to establish critical success factors of built heritage maintenance management best practices. At the end of this paper, a new area of managing heritage building for future direction of this research was identified. A list of critical success factors for maintenance management practices for heritage building was established

Maintenance management process model for school buildings: an application of IDEF0 modelling methodology

he purpose of this study was to develop a process model for the maintenance management of school buildings. The proposed model was developed in a three-phase process: the information gathering phase using questionnaires, interviews and document analysis; the model development phase using the IDEF0 process modelling technique; and the experts' verification phase by three school maintenance experts. The potential usefulness of the model was tested on 61 school managers. The results of the survey indicated that the model has the potential to improve the existing corrective and reactive maintenance management practices towards preventive and proactive practices

The influence of oil palm empty fruit bunch fibre geometry on mechanical performance of cement bonded fibre boards

The mechanical properties of cement bonded fibreboards theoretically influenced by several factors like density, water cement ratio, fibre to cement ratio and geometry of fibre has been discussed by previous researchers. This experimental research work was conducted to explore the role of EFB Fibre geometry on the mechanical performances of cement boards. The experiment work designed for 1300 Kg/m3 density boards consist of two parts, first is cement boards mixed with different length of EFB; retained 7 mesh (R7M), retain 14 mesh (R14M) and retain 80 mesh (R80M). Subsequently, second part is based on the cement boards fabricated from mixed of 6 different percentage lengths of EFB known as SA, SB, SC, SD, SE and SF. The ratio of EFB to cement was 3:1, while water used in the system was 35% based on cement weight. To improve the compatibility of EFB-cement, the fibres were soaked in 0.4% NaOH solution for 24 hours. The mechanical properties were investigated in this study like modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR) and internal bonding (IB). It was observed that the higher presence of shorter EFB (R80M) in cement boards, the lower mechanical properties were produced. The boards fabricated with heterogeneous fibre length, SE (35% R7M + 45% R14M + 20% R80M) produced the highest mechanical properties with MOE of 4859.5 N/mm2, MOR of 10.06 N/mm2 and IB of 0.36 N/mm2. The properties of MOE and MOR for boards fabricated from SE mixture were satisfy the minimum requirement of British standard

The importance of on-going maintenance in preserving the heritage listed buildings

— Maintenance is not only important in ensuring the condition and physical of the old building to operate safely and effectively, but it also for an activity that is important in determining the life long of the building, so that it can be preserve and be inherit by the next generation. The need of maintenance is not only on repairing but more towards prevention method. According to the previous study, maintenance is done reactively; this further will cost serious problems in future. Therefore maintenance need good planning from the early stage and is followed with on-going implementation from time to time by all those who are responsible in it. In conjunction with this, this paper is to discuss about the importance of on-going maintenance in order to manage the old building after it has been gazette as heritage listed. At the end of the discussion, several strategies have been put forward in order to stimulate the practice of on-going maintenance as an initiative to encourage the culture of maintenance and also help to increase the quality process in a more effective maintenance managemen

Problems associated with indoor air quality (IAQ) in classroom and recommended approaches

School has become a major center of education and development of children in many countries around the world. During the school day, majority of the students spend most of their time in school in the classroom. Therefore, it is very important for the school to ensure that every classroom has good indoor air quality. Imbalance IAQ can contribute to Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) as well as Building-Related Illness (BRI) and thereby affect the health and productivity of students in the classroom. This situation certainly does not reflect the national education goals which aim to produce a good and perfect human capital with good features through a series of effective education. Therefore, this study aims to discuss problems related to IAQ and measures that can enhance the quality of indoor environment of a classroom at school. As a result, the study found that the most common problems associated with IAQ adversely affect the health of students and their performance. Meanwhile, a good quality of indoor environment in the classroom can be achieved through an emphasis on good design, construction and renovation of buildings as well as continuous maintenance practices. In conclusion, a good classroom environment will have a beneficial effect on health and thus can increase the productivity of students