DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR MAINTENANCE IN SHOPPING CENTRES

Abstract

Building maintenance is important to the economy not only because of the scale involved, but also because it is essential to use the nation's stock of buildings as effectively as possible. Shopping centres have sprung up all over Singapore in the last decade; but many of them lack adequate consideration for maintainability in the design stage. This resulted in many maintenance problems which could have been avoided if there had been consultation with property managers. As competition becomes stiffer year by year, coupled with the legislation that all developers must retain 30% of floor space, all shopping centre developers must ensure that future running costs can be kept to a minimum. Estate Managers should be brought into the design stage of shopping centre development to work in conjunction with the other designers so that bad or inadequate design decisions can be rectified.