A System of Comprehensive Technical and Economic Evaluation of Standardized Design Documentation

One of the most important tasks of Russia’s Ministry of Construction is the compilation of the registry of building designs approved for repeat use in public facilities construction. When completed, this registry will facilitate the design process and reduce building-related costs and construction timeframes. The existing guidelines, standards and regulations applicable to repeat designs are analyzed. Challenges hampering the broader use of repeat designs are assessed and possible solutions are suggested. The article presents a set of criteria for the selection of the most efficient designs recommended for repeat use (technical and technological evaluation, investment attractiveness, operation and maintenance costs estimate).


Introduction
One of the ways to encourage permanent construction of public facilities is the use of standardized designs (designs approved for repeat use, repeat designs).Russia's Ministry of Construction, Housing and Utilities is currently working on the Registry of Standardized Designs.So far, more than 200 designs have been added to the Registry.The following types of facilities are represented: residential, administrative, educational, healthcare, sports facilities and venues, cultural facilities, miscellaneous [8].

Comprehensive Technical and Economic Evaluation of Standardized Designs
To be added to the Registry, the design must fulfill the following requirement: x The structure and the contents of the design documentation must be in compliance with the Russian legislation.
x The design must have a state expertise approval issued no more than 7 years ago; x The design documentation must be in compliance with by-law land use and development regulations for the site where the design is to be repeated (including dimensional limits for permanent construction, e.g. the height of the building).
x Its repeat use must be in compliance with the intellectual property rights in accordance with the civil legislation of the Russian Federation, i.e. if the design is to be repeated by anyone other than the owner of the rights, there must be a legal basis for it (e.g. a license agreement, a contract of uncompensated use etc.).x The repetition on a new site must be possible and appropriate with regard to topography [2.8].
x Such designs must have the best performance in terms of: x Building-related costs and service life estimate; x The ratio of net floor area to gross floor area; x Energy performance (resources consumption per unit of power necessary for the operation of the building); x Innovative architectural, engineering, technical, technological and/or organizational solutions.
All designs added to the Register must have a portfolio containing sufficient information to help investors and developers get a full picture of the design and its main technical and economic parameters [1,8].
However, the analysis of the design portfolios published by the Ministry of Construction raises some questions and ambiguities that need to be addressed.Table 1 shows part of the Registry.A 17-storey large panel residential building, BS3-Tl type 1 (a 67-flat leftend section with a 2-2-2-2 floor plan) 1.5.4 Section 5. High-rise residential buildings (>16 storeys) A 17-storey large panel residential building, BS3-Tp Type (a 67-flat rightend section with a 2-2-2-2 floor plan) 1.5.5 Section 5. High-rise residential buildings (>16 storeys) A 17-storey large panel residential building, BS4-Tp type (a 84-flat bend section with a 1-1-1-3-3 floor plan) 1.5.6 Section 5. High-rise residential buildings (>16 storeys) A 17-storey large panel residential building, BS7-R type (a 84-flat bend section with a 1-1-1-1-2-2 floor plan) In order to analyze the data for each design, all construction costs need to be adjusted to a single price level.This article uses the adjustment indices of estimated construction costs issued by the Ministry of Construction of the Russian Federation [3].The analysis of the adjusted construction costs raises questions about whether it is appropriate to re-use these designs.Seven designs out of ten exceed the average market prices of housing accommodation.Note that we intentionally chose to analyze residential buildings, as the market for housing accommodation is open, active and does not allow for much correction in terms of construction costs estimation and operation requirements [7].
The compilation of the Registry of Standardized Design has the aim of reducing budget expenditures.However, the share of government budget that goes to residential construction is minimal.The main budget spendings are associated with the construction of public facilities, i.e. schools, nurseries, sports venues [4].The analysis of the data currently published in the Registry of Standardized Designs revealed numerous in consistencies where the designs added to the Registry fail to comply with the requirements for designs approved for repeat use as stipulated in the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Conclusion
It can be conclusion that now there exist numerous issues regarding the contents of the Registry and the viability of the designs added to it.Below is the summary of the issues: x ambiguity of the criteria for the selection of a design by the investor (developer); x poor quality of the contents that stems from insufficient requirements for the portfolio of standardized designs; x lack of legislation regulating repeat design siting, expertise and operation; x ambiguity in terms of respecting intellectual property rights for the repeat design documentation.Yet, standardized designs remain a powerful tool the principal benefits of which are time and cost savings.We suggest that new information be added to the Registry to reflect the following: maintenance and operations experience; design drawbacks; procedures for routine and major repairs for specific designs, construction and finishing materials.Local features, such as climate, material resources and workforce market, also need to be taken into consideration.

Table 1 .
Registry of Standardized Designs.

Table 2 .
General design information.

Table 5 .
Estimated construction costs adjusted to 2016 prices.