Framework can be defined as conceptual models that make reasonable sense of the relationship between a numbers of factors that has been identified as important to the problem (Sekaran, 2003). Also, Collis and Hussey (2014) mention that the theoretical framework assists to organise and direct data collection and analysis.
52 This section provides a framework, which was established by the researcher from the literature review (figure 2.9). The framework is built on the factors that affect lifecycle data management. The establishment of the framework will play a substantial part in the process of choosing the suitable methodology, which is the case study research strategy. Furthermore, the role of framework in this research is to articulate a clear concept that could be used to accomplish the aim of the study through the key factors that could facilitate data management in building handover practices. Therefore, this research will compare the findings in the case study organisation with a number of themes identified in literature review. These themes are not assuming casual links and are not assuming ranking. Subsequently, all themes are considered equal in their importance. These themes include:
Training: training sessions that incorporate all building systems and match the staff’s level of expertise are of particular importance to building procedures and equipment installations. However, suitable and operational training must be arranged for early, partial, or staged handovers. The lack of knowledge on technology or project management among clients might be improved by completing training courses related to construction projects (Sargeant et al., 2010).
Use of technology: The use of technology as a BIM tool is helping professionals all over the world collaborate; this collaboration is accelerating designs while reducing errors and costs.
Effective facilitate management team: Once teamwork has been formed it should stimulate the effectiveness of this team to facilitate a consistently high performance. This can be achieved firstly by improving the individual by assisting on on-going job training, promoting skills regularly, and offering opportunity for personal progress. Secondly, it can be achieved by design teams building programmes and practical workshops, which provide regulation on such issues as team performance, structure, and teamwork. Thirdly, it can be achieved by observer progress and developing approaches to distinguish and reward both the team and the individual in order to inspire, encourage, and stimulate them to perform.
Cooperative relationship: the main benefits of building good working relationships with contractors, designers, and societies is helping develop working practices to understand the points of view of all parts and it spreads good practice throughout an
53 organisation as well as improving networking skills and cooperative solutions to an organisation’s goals, plus increased organisational effectiveness.
Facility budget: A budget is a statement of the amount of money that is available to spend on a building. Facility budgets determine what is reasonable and should be set as early as possible. It is important that they are based on evidence and that they are realistic. It is facilitated by a valuation of expected income and expenses through the life of the venture and by comparison with similar ventures. They facilitate budget covers, calculation of the funds available, pre-design analysis of necessities, and analysis of initial design options. The budget might contain: the construction cost, land or property purchase, approvals fees, scheduling costs, financing costs, site studies, fittings, and equipment. However, it is common on projects that the project budget and the project brief diverge over time and it is for this reason that careful cost control is important.
Transparency: One of the most powerful instruments for the building industry is transparency. It is the ability to see what is truly happening to the entire or any part of the project at any point in time, under any circumstance, in any level of detail (Shaposhnikova, 2015). Cmcs (2015) mentioned that despite the kind or size of a venture, if a venture lacks transparency then complications, like lost project data, disappearance of significant project documents, project financial ambiguity, review and approval bureaucracy, conflicts among stakeholders, cosmetic performance reporting, lack of real life project data, inadequate decisions, among many others that are usually labelled as project fraud, are almost bound to happen.
Clear responsibilities: in the project, the project manager should have full authority and responsibility of the design, implementation, and closing of the organization (Tonnquist, 2008). Main project management responsibilities contain generating clear and achievable project objectives, building the project necessities, and managing the triple constraint for projects, which is quality, cost and time (Ibid).
Legislations: Managers of the projects emphasise that all engineering infrastructure that has been designed, installed, and commissioned should be done in accordance with legislated and design requirements and that they are in full operational modes, before the installations are deemed to be practically completed. Larger, experienced clients may already have handover procedures and checklists, but these still need to be designed in a uniform manner (Utas, 2012).
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Knowledge and experience: knowledge and experience has been recognised to be an important organisational resource, which, if used well, can provide competitive benefits. Information of applied concepts and initiatives used in the current construction industry are crucial in knowing how the building industry works. Dave and Koskela (2009) argued that, due to the fragmented nature of the building industry, capture and reuse of valuable information and experience collected during a construction project pose a challenge. Given the nature of building projects, cooperative knowledge management seems to be the most suitable solution to capture project based information. However, with years of experience in the field, it could provide the most effective handover system in the market (Dornan, 2012).
Protocol of lifecycle: Protocol of lifecycle data is very powerful for conveying the environmental attributes of processes, products and services (Howard and Sharp, 2010). In construction, the protocol of lifecycle gives guidance on applying life cycle data fittingly and appropriately to buildings, particularly highlighting areas that may be overlooked (but are significant) and can potentially lead to erroneous conclusions and decisions (Ibid).
Communication network: Effective communication is significant to the successful end of any construction project. It improves coordination and leads to better project collaboration. However, a lack of communication may lead misunderstandings, delays, and problems down the road (Jones, 2015). Communication is defined by Jones (2015) as the exchange of information in order to convey a message and good communication involves being able to transmit and receive, as well as being understood by the intended recipients.
Feedback cycle to ensure endurance and aftercare: The feedback allows lessons learnt from the end of the project to be contained to later develop and enhance the current processes and information management for each stage of the project (Kagioglou et al., 1998). The whole feedback from all stages will contribute and develop the project delivery strategy, necessities, type of procurements, and the execution of the project. It
55 is increases cooperative decision-making and control, which will improve each stage’s output not only for the present project but also for the future ventures (Ibid).
Figure 2.9: Initial conceptual framework derived from literature review