Structural Engineering and Mechanics
Volume 64, Number 3, 2017, pages 347-352
DOI: 10.12989/sem.2017.64.3.347
Optimal inspection frequency to mitigate the risk of building system failure
Cheong Peng Au-Yong, Azlan Shah Ali, Faizah Ahmad and Shirley Jin Lin Chua
Abstract
The poor maintenance practice increases the possibility of system failure. Subsequently, the consequences of failure fall on the aspects of output, safety and healthy, environmental integrity, system quality, and customer satisfaction. Conditionbased maintenance is seen as a potential strategy to improve performance. Whereby, the key success factor of this maintenance strategy is identified as the system inspection. This study aims to investigate the association between system breakdown rate and frequency of inspection. A mixed method approach is implemented by distributing questionnaire and interviewing for data collection. Subsequently, descriptive analysis, correlation analysis and regression are adopted to analyse the collected data from 100 respondents and the results are validated with interview data of 10 interviewees. The research result establishes significant relationship between the system breakdown rate and the frequency of inspection. Additionally, the result of regression analysis confirms that the frequency of inspection is the significant predictor of system breakdown rate. Planning of accurate inspection frequency is crucial to secure the system performance. Hence, the research signifies the importance to carry out regular inspection towards the building systems and components. As a recommendation, the maintenance personnel should assess the risk criticality of the building systems. Then, continuously monitor the condition of critical building systems; regularly inspect the condition of non-critical building systems and randomly inspect all of them.
Key Words
inspection; preventive maintenance; condition-based maintenance; system failure; maintenance performance
Address
Cheong Peng Au-Yong, Azlan Shah Ali, Faizah Ahmad and Shirley Jin Lin Chua : Centre for Building, Construction & Tropical Architecture (BuCTA), Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya,50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia