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An increase in the usage of information and communication technologies (ICT) and the Internet of Things (IoT) in Facility Management (FM) induces a huge data stack. Even though these data bring opportunities such as cost savings, time savings, increase in user comfort, space optimization, energy savings, inventory management, etc., these data sources cannot be managed and manipulated effectively to increase efficiency at the FM stage. In addition to data management issues, FM practices, or developed solutions, need to be supported with the implementation of lean management philosophy to reveal organizational and managerial wastes. In the literature, some researchers performed studies about awareness about building information modeling (BIM)-FM, and FM-related data management problems in terms of lean philosophy. However, the comprehensive solution for effective FM has not been investigated with the application of lean management philosophy yet. Therefore, this study aims to develop an FM framework for healthcare facilities by considering lean management philosophy since more stable workflow, continuous improvement, and creating more value to customers will help to deliver a more acceptable solution for the FM industry. Within this context, the integration of BIM, Building Energy Performance Simulations, and Big Data Analytics are proposed as a solution. In the study, the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology was followed to develop the FM framework. Depending on the DSR methodology, two scenarios were used to investigate the issue in a real healthcare facility and develop the FM framework. The developed framework was evaluated by four experts, and the revisions of the proposed framework were realized.

The use of digital technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) and smart meters induces a huge data stack in facility management (FM). However, the use of data analysis techniques has remained limited to converting available data into information within activities performed in FM. In this context, business intelligence and analytics (BI&A) techniques can provide a promising opportunity to elaborate facility performance and discover measurable new FM key performance indicators (KPIs) since existing KPIs are too crude to discover actual performance of facilities. Beside this, there is no comprehensive study that covers BI&A activities and their importance level for healthcare FM. Therefore, this study aims to identify healthcare FM KPIs and their importance levels for the Turkish healthcare FM industry with the use of the AHP integrated PROMETHEE method. As a result of the study, ninety-eight healthcare FM KPIs, which are categorized under six categories, were found. The comparison of the findings with the literature review showed that there are some similarities and differences between countries’ FM healthcare ranks. Within this context, differences between countries can be related to the consideration of limited FM KPIs in the existing studies. Therefore, the proposed FM KPIs under this study are very comprehensive and detailed to measure and discover healthcare FM performance. This study can help professionals perform more detailed building performance analyses in FM. Additionally, findings from this study will pave the way for new developments in FM software and effective use of available data to enable lean FM processes in healthcare facilities.

Investigation of the dispute factors and their effects on construction projects that are arising from Covid-19  Determination of the relations between the dispute factors and their effects using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method  Identification of approaches that should be applied to reduce the effects of the disputes arising from Covid-19 in construction projectsFigure A. Results of Structural Equation Modeling AnalysisPurpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Covid-19 on the construction projects in terms of contractual relations between the parties of construction projects.Theory and Methods: Within the scope of this study, data was collected from a total number of 173 construction projects that were carried out by Turkish construction companies. Then, collected data was analyzed by using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method to determinate the relations between the dispute factors and their effects that are arising from Covid-19 as a force majeure factor.Results: Results of the SEM analysis show that "dispute factors arising from contract and claims" affect "project-based dispute factors" whereas "project-based dispute factors" affect "dispute factors arising from financial factors". Key dispute factors to be cognizant of are "progress payments", "failure in claim notifications of contractors within the relevant period following the occurrence of pandemic in written form" and "failure in implementing quality monitoring and control processes due to lack of personnel" with the highest factor loadings in their clusters. Among the effects of dispute factors arising from Covid-19, impact on project duration (time extension) has emerged as the most prominent effect in comparison with cost overruns, termination and suspension of work, and appeal to court/arbitration. Conclusion:Despite the unforeseen nature of the Covid-19 pandemic, contractors could still be contractually responsible for delays or cost overruns on their current projects in the long term. It is expected that both contractors and owners will be carefully reviewing contracts to identify where contractual rights and duties exist under the conditions caused by the virus' spread. It is recommended that parties review their contracts and take specific note of any force majeure provisions that prevent possible disputes arising from Covid-19. In this context, the results of the study are important in terms of revealing how construction companies are affected in the short term due to Covid-19, as well as in terms of revealing measures that should be considered by construction companies in order to reduce the effects of possible dispute factors that may arise from Covid-19 in their future contracts.

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