Purpose -This paper aims to provide insight into the use of a standard for condition assessment. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on a literature review, an analysis of the development, content and practical use of the Dutch Standard for Condition Assessment of Buildings, and the findings of several research projects about condition assessment and maintenance planning by Dutch housing associations. Findings -By using the standard for condition assessment, building inspectors can provide property managers with objective data about the condition status of building components. Aggregated condition data could be used for setting condition targets for built assets and for benchmarking. It is anticipated that as a result of the standardisation, condition surveys will become more reliable and as a consequence more popular among large-scale property owners.Research limitations/implications -The standard has been introduced recently. At present there is little experience of the use of (aggregated) condition data for maintenance planning and benchmarking built assets. Practical implications -The standard is a tool to assess the technical status of the properties to underpin the long-term maintenance expectations. Condition assessment is not meant for preparing the annual maintenance budget and planning of the work. Supplementary information is needed in the phase of preparing for the execution of remedial work. Originality/value -This paper provides practical tools for condition assessment and maintenance planning.

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The growing environmental problems, the rapid urbanization, and the disappearance of the demographic dividend in China has brought unprecedented opportunities to the development of prefabricated housing (PH). However, many barriers are hindering the promotion of PH, for instance, cost, lack of regulations, and the shortage of knowledge, among which cost is identified as one of the most critical barriers. Unlike previous studies focused only on production costs, this research aims to investigate transaction costs (TCs), e.g., searching costs, negotiation costs, and enforcement costs. First, this paper develops a theoretical TCs framework of the PH supply chain, based on an extensive literature review. Secondly, an empirical study was conducted on two cases in Chongqing to validate the TCs framework. Key stakeholders are identified by Social Network Analysis (SNA). Subsequently, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders, both to verify the new TCs framework and to explore stakeholder concerns about TCs. The centrality metrics by SNA identified six key stakeholders who have a significant influence on TCs. It is found from the interviews that both the conceptual phase and the construction phase are stages where the majority of TCs occur. Both the developer and the general contractor are paying for more TCs compared to the other stakeholders. This study contributes to theory by initially introducing the concepts of TCs to the PH field, and the findings bring implications on the governance of PH supply chain to both private stakeholders and the government.

ABSTRACT. New procurement approaches combined with performance-based building approaches should reduce costs, but empirical qualitative and quantitative studies are lacking. Performance-based maintenance contracts give maintenance suppliers incentives to improve their way of working. Innovative, cost-effective solutions that meet the performance criteria can be achieved, especially if the principle of whole-life costing is being adopted. Indirect cost savings are expected as well. It enables maintenance contractors to assume responsibility for certain activities for which they are better equipped to perform than their clients. A calculation model was developed that calculates the net present value of the direct (product) and indirect (transaction) costs at project level for a competitive maintenance tendering approach and for performance-based maintenance contracts. The fi ndings show that performance-based maintenance contracts reduce both direct and indirect costs compared to a competitive tendering approach. Essential preconditions are an early supplier involvement and longer term contracts, giving opportunities for maintenance product and maintenance process improvements.

By adopting a condition-depended approach to maintenance, facility managers can exercise control over the desired maintenance performance levels and costs. The practise of condition assessment by building inspectors yielded variable results due to subjective perceptions of inspectors. Nowadays well-trained building inspectors are able to manage condition surveys and provide property managers with objective, reliable information about performance loss and defects of building components. The implementation of various performance levels in planned maintenance requires not only the standardisation of the condition assessment method, but also the related planning methodology. This paper describes findings from research that examined the methodology of condition assessment of building components using a six-point condition scale in the Netherlands. We distinguish different categories of performance loss in maintenance and link that to different kinds of maintenance activities.