A building maintenance decision tool for PFI projects

The growth of PFI (private finance initiative) and PPP (private public partnerships) is fundamentally changing the nature of the construction industry from a product and to service base. This involves moving the balance from capital investment to revenue generation. As a consequence the costing and scheduling associated with the maintenance phase has gained significant importance. This paper constitutes part of a broader research work which proposes a holistic model that provides a radical approach to decision making concerning the design, construction and maintenance of buildings and structures. This is in reaction to the need for buildings and structures to provide increased functional performance through their design life at reasonable cost, while including measures aimed at conservation and sustainability of the earth's non-replaceable resources. A model is proposed comprising of three parts namely, data, simulation and presentation. With an associated web-based decision tool that consumes data and generates knowledge, the supply side of data is primarily through facilitating access by product suppliers and manufacturers, as well as data generated through lab-based research work and actual monitoring of material degradation. The knowledge generated by the system will benefit a whole range of stakeholders within and peripheral to construction industry.