Improving building services coordination at the pre-installation stage

Coordinating interdependencies between concurrent activities is a special challenge in managing increasingly complex building services projects. Effective coordination at the pre-installation stage is key to minimising field conflicts between building services systems. This study aims to investigate the significant causes of production shortcomings traceable to the pre-installation stage, and to what extent these in turn probably contribute to higher volumes of construction debris. Following relevant previous research and preliminary studies of production shortcomings in the building services subsector in Hong Kong, a series of structured interviews with practitioners were formulated and analysed. The findings lead to deductive reasoning in developing suitable approaches for this subsector. The study reveals that “poor coordination among different trades and processes”, and “frequent design changes and/or errors” are seen as two of the major causes of production shortcomings in the pre-installation stage. This paper proposes and discusses improvement strategies based on conceptual models of an “intrainter dependent teamwork concept”, a “dynamic coordination buffer” and a “BS coordination facilitator” in order to reduce the identified critical causes. Although further research is needed, the findings in this paper can be a useful reference for other regions as the study methodology may be replicated. In the search for solutions and improvements, a number of proven industrial management principles are incorporated in new conceptual models. These are expected to help alleviate the identified causes as critical design or related uncertainties are resolved through earlier coordination. This should in turn also reduce the volume of construction debris that can arise from current shortcomings in the pre-installation stage of building services.