Identification of the Criteria for Building Maintenance Decisions in Facility Management: First Step to Developing a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach

Building maintenance is a fundamental practice in facility management, which supports the longevity of a building. Increasing costs of maintenance practices is a challenge for facility management professionals. Given that, building maintenance decisions often comprise complex and conflicting criteria. The primary purpose of this study is to develop and rank a set of criteria needed for constructing a multi-criteria decision-making model for use in building maintenance processes. This study also has an exploratory aspect and tries to establish the decision-making and condition assessment practices currently used in facility management. To do so, a literature review was conducted to reveal the significant criteria for building maintenance decision-making processes. Moreover, the results of a nationwide survey conducted with the members of two globally recognized facility management organizations were utilized. Identified criteria address a gap in facilities management research, i.e., the lack of comprehensive criteria in building maintenance decision-making, and can be used for the development of a multi-criteria decision-making model for use in building maintenance processes. Furthermore, the results of this study can help establish the current status of decision-making and condition assessment practices in facility management.