The Limitations - Case Study Example

LIMITATIONS There were several limitations in the conduct of gathering data in this research. The first limitation was during the data gathering of the interview results where the questionnaire has to be translated from English to Arabic while the answers need to be translated from Arabic to English. Due to the process of translation, it is cautioned that some data might have been inadvertently lost or made slightly inaccurate during the process of interpreting a certain language to a different language. Time also proved to be a constraint during the conduct of this research. The researcher did not have enough time to formulate adequate questionnaire method that will cover a comprehensive picture in uncovering the defects that has the most significant impact in hospital maintenance. CHAPTER 6: Conclusion and recommendations Introduction This chapter presents the conclusion of the case study followed by a set of recommendations on how to reduce the impact of defective design on KFH maintenance in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Conclusion Recommendations This case study has provided a number of valuable facts based on the interviewee’s answers on the questionnaires and subsequent validation of the applied literatures of the study. Based on the facts provided by the interviewees, some recommendations are presented in order to increase the effectiveness of maintenance efforts and to reduce the negative impact of defective designs on KFH maintenance in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study presents the recommendation from two areas; namely, maintenance recommendation and maintenance and design recommendations. Maintenance Recommendation In order to implement better and an effective maintenance practice, several recommendations are hereby proposed to reduce the impact of maintenance issues of the KFH as summarized as follows; 1- There should be a continuous development of the training curriculum by MOH that would reflect the best maintenance practices. These training courses and workshops should be made compulsory to the Engineers who are engaged in the maintenance practice. 2- Research on projects that is involved on maintenance design and issues should be continuously supported and funded especially those researches that relates to special issues in the KFH. 3- To better manage the availability and cost-effectiveness in the acquisition of spare parts related to maintenance, it is highly encouraged that some spare parts are to be manufactured locally. 4- The documentation of standards of maintenance and its specification at the various levels of maintenance management should be officially encouraged. 5- Conferences that allow experts in the maintenance field to impart their know-how should be encouraged to increase the knowledge and expertise of managers in the maintenance field. 6- Standard of best maintenance practice should be established. This should be reinforced by giving awards to companies that achieves the best practice in the maintenance industry. 7- Total Quality Management Strategies should be implemented to reduce maintenance errors through documentation to avoid repetition in the future. 8- Allocations of budget for maintenance should be adequate and sufficient to cover maintenance processes in maintenance contracting. 9- Criteria on the selection of contractors should be based solely on their history, expertise and experience in the field of hospital maintenance as enumerated: Provides proper planning and scheduling to hospital maintenance. Provides qualified and specialised maintenance workers. Procures high quality material to the hospital. Provides adequate budget to cover the need for maintenance. Provides efficient administration. Ensures the availability of required equipment and facilities. The objectives behind that recommendation are: To reduce and minimize errors committed by workers by continuous trainings and workshops. To optimise the performance and control/monitor maintenance systems. To reduce the risk of breakdown of hospital services. To increase the interaction of mechanical subsystems within the hospital. To prevent the acquisition of defective materials and spare parts from maintenance contractors. To prevent the deterioration of materials and spare parts that is caused by climate condition. To prevent the deterioration of materials and spare parts that is caused by mishandling of unqualified workers. To prevent the deterioration of materials and spare parts that is caused by insufficient and inadequate maintenance equipment. To increase the reliability of the system of hospital services. To reduce energy usage, optimize time usage and ultimately reduce operating costs. To decrease future maintenance needs by preventing the recurrence of defects and errors. Recommendations of Design and Maintenance To achieve a better maintenance design that will reduce maintenance issues and design defects of the KFH, the following are the recommended course of action; Balance the initial cost outlay of the building with that of the developer’s budget during the design stage in consideration of the life cycle building costs. Forge relationship and cooperation between designers and maintenance engineers during the hospital design stage to encourage free flow of information that will improve the design of the building. Provide adequate tools for decision making during the design and maintenance period of the building. Develop an adequate support system that can provide reference to the latest information, instruction related to design and maintenance, documentation feedback data and benchmark data collection. Understand the life cycle building costs during the design stage with the developer’s maintenance budget. Understand the quality of hospital building operation system as it is associated with the quality of process design and maintenance. Utilize experience and strategic design during the design stage of the hospital to reduce maintenance requirements in the future. Involve engineers in the design stage of the building to avoid and minimise maintenance issues in the future. Materials, parts, finishes and other components should be procured according to the recommended specification of building the hospital to ensure quality, low maintenance, availability and cost-efficiency. Good design and adequate attention to details should be given importance as it will serve as the first line of protection against wear and tear brought by climate conditions. Consideration of "build ability" and "maintainability” in design and maintenance should be proposed to establish a good standard of work. Provision for accessibility, ease and safety for maintenance should be considered during the design stage of the building to avoid long shutdown periods in the future when a certain component needs to be inspected for maintenance purposes. The objectives for these recommendations are: (1) To be able to provide adequate structural, architectural and civil design for the building of the hospital. (2) To be able to provide proper access to maintenance equipment. (3) To be able to provide proper exterior and interior finishes compatible with the existing climate conditions. (4) To be able to hire qualified designers. (5) To be able to provide sufficient details both in the construction and architectural drawing preparation. Conclusion In this paper, the negative impact of defects in the design maintenance of KFH has been investigated. Maintenance issues, design defects and the relationships between them were among that has been discussed. Literatures written about these common problems were identified and approaches to reduce the burden of maintenance through design were also described. The impact that poor design has on maintenance was expanded in terms of political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal aspects. Moreover, those defects in design in terms of professional obligations that each agent in the design team was accountable have also been tackled. This paper also emphasized the defects that are associated with the civil engineers, architects, interior designers, commissioning agents, and structural engineers commit in the poor design process. This paper also discussed the different aspects of legal action that can be taken as a remedial measure of a poor design. This paper also includes the inherent limitations of the building design, its maintenance and their limitation in their relation to the other. This paper lists the scope of the projects as well as their objectives. It concludes the significance of an investigation of the impact of design on the maintenance of hospital buildings in Saudi Arabia. Such that it includes a set of recommendations that has been proposed that could help in improving the maintenance practices and management in the Kingdom. After the collection and analysis of interviewees’ answer to the questionnaires, it was found that there were two factors that influenced KFH maintenance which were maintenance dilemmas and design defects. These factors had an impact on maintenance by increasing the time, effort and maintenance costs of the building. However, the most significant factor that has an impact on the maintenance issues of the hospital begins from the defects of the design. This defective design resulted from the inability of the designers to understand the maintenance need of the hospital beginning from the conceptualization and planning stage of the building. And this failure to recognize the maintenance needs of a hospital resulted in an increased unplanned maintenance cost. To avoid this, it is suggested that there should be a strong coordination between the design area and maintenance field to produce a high quality design that will minimize maintenance needs once the structure is erected. This research has also revealed several important defects at various design stages. And as such, this study will aid in understanding hospital maintenance issues caused by defective designs. Poor design has always been a result of minimizing construction cost to the detriment of future maintenance need. This by-product of poor design results in unplanned maintenance and is in fact, makes it more expensive due to increased cost of repairs. This is not an isolated issue as defective designs and its consequences are a serious problem that can be seen in hospital buildings of Saudi Arabia. Such, this issue calls for a need to conduct a more extensive research in this field to resolve the design deficiencies that resulted in a high maintenance cost and additional financial burdens. Read More