Keywords: sustainability, service life planning, maintenance.

The construction industry has been expected to construct reasonable quality housings that are cheaper, faster to build and most critically to be durable with minimal maintenance required. With the emergence of new technologies and concern for theenvironment, increasing attention in the construction industry is given to sustainability. Minimal financial commitment, the high standard quality of living and considerations for environment are among the main objectives in asset management. However, the anticipated service life of an asset is dependent upon its environment, material properties as well as operation and maintenance.

It is generally acknowledged that quality and performance of building components decrease with time and that the imposed loads and the level of maintenance affect the rate of degradation. However, these issues are normally not identified early during the design stage of the building construction. The maintenance cost of this public housing is of great concern to the decision makers. With little attention paid on what happen during the life span, it is not surprising that most public housing management faces a lack of funding for operational, maintenance and replacement of building components [1]. By using assessment of building components performance, preventive maintenance, repair and major rehabilitation, decisions can be made based on economic analysis on the life cycle of the buildings. Through optimising of service life of the building components and its materials, operational and maintenance cost can be reduced.

The construction industry is continuously seeking new ways in optimising the construction process as to effectively conserve energy and fuel and thus working towards sustainable buildings. Concerted efforts from the government and industry are necessary if service life planning is to be the main agenda imposed on the construction industry. Encouragement alone for the inclusion of the service life planning at the design stage for any construction project will not suffice unless levy waivers are offered as a recognition from the policy makers.

In an effort to encourage adoption of the public and private sectors, the Ministry of Housing has worked together with researchers at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in developing software by incorporating local data and environmental factors. The software LICCOMS (Life Cycle Cost for Multi-Storey Housing) is able to estimate the life cycle costing of a housing project through an estimation of its initial cost, maintenance and replacement cost.

LICCOMS Version 1.2 was developed to cater for the inclusion of life cycle costing for the Malaysian construction industry. LICCOMS Version 1.2 enables building owners to estimate and compare financial commitments at the design stage when different materials and systems are selected for the construction. This is to ensure that sufficient funding is provided for maintaining the buildings without compromising on the quality buildings and comfort of the occupants. In achieving effective financial planning, analysis of data on the service life, the prediction of the building components was incorporated in LICCOMS Version 1.2. Implementation of service life planning is necessary in the construction industry so as to ensure that the construction industry continuously works toward sustainable buildings.

1

Tapsir, S.H, "Final Report: Affordable Housing Research Project - Life Cycle Costing Approach for Residential Housing in Malaysia Phase-1, Ministry of Housing and Local Government", Malaysia, 65-72, 2001.

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