Building maintenance in the context of developing countries

Wall, D M (1993) Building maintenance in the context of developing countries. Construction Management and Economics, 11(3), pp. 186-193. ISSN 01446193

Abstract

This paper reviews literature about building maintenance in developing countries. A search of published sources revealed a disappointingly small and fragmented literature relating mostly to technical and managerial matters. These are presented in the paper under the headings: the effect of climate, design and materials choice, construction and maintenance personnel, managerial systems and financial systems. Few sources cover the economics of building maintenance and none discuss the important aspect of how building maintenance impacts on broader economic and development issues. The paper discusses building maintenance in the context of the six forms of capital usually encompassed in World Bank development projects (human, institutional, cultural, natural, physical, and financial) and as such contributes to the economic analysis of building maintenance. Several areas needing further research are noted.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: building maintenance; developing countries
Index terms: economic analysis, developing country, personnel, building maintenance, World Bank
Subjects: development economics, management, institutional frameworks, design analysis, construction type
Topics: Design Practice, Human Resources, International Construction, Construction Technology, Governance
Descriptive scope: 3 PCA

N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here