Relationship between Quality of Building Maintenance System and Occupant Satisfaction for Office Buildings

School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Penang, Malaysia

^a Corresponding author: hilcom@usm.my

Abstract

Buildings will be weary, decaying and dirty as time goes by; but with highquality maintenance management we can prolong the life-span of building, provide building services and keep the building performance at its ultimate level. The importance of carrying out a systematic and routine maintenance is to conserve building performance. However, this task is often neglected due to various factors including misunderstanding the needs of the maintenance works and lack of budget allocation. This paper highlights the current practice of maintenance management that are being implemented in 6 office buildings located in Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Kedah and Pulau Pinang. Using the responses of questionnaire answered by 150 respondents employed from these selected offices, personal interviews and visual inspection the following findings were made: the occupants were satisfied with the maintenance management of their buildings elements and the delivery characteristics of maintenance works. Visual inspection however showed that some elements are not in a good condition. In conclusion, some recommendations are made to improve the existing system including the establishment of a maintenance plan, selection of experienced contractors and the provision of a service desk.