You are on page 1of 12

Turkish Journal of Computer and Mathematics Education Vol.12 No.

3 (2021), 2253-2264
Research Article

Occupants Satisfaction Towards Building Maintenance of Low-Cost Building


Apartment In Kajang: Pilot survey
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin1*, Norsafiah Norazman2, Adi Irfan Che Ani3,
Mohamad Sufian Hasim4
1,3
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
2
School of Housing, Building and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
4
Faculty of Architecture, Planning and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Article History: Received: 10 November 2020; Revised: 12 January 2021; Accepted: 27 January 2021;
Published online: 05 April 2021
Abstract: A typical apartment in Malaysia, especially in urban areas such as Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, is
usually categorized as a low-cost residential building. Commonly, to distinguish its classification in the
aggressive apartment sector, maintenance management is key to enhancing its market value. Therefore, this
study focuses on building apartment maintenance through user satisfaction in the Kajang region, Selangor.
Among its research objective is to identify the maintenance team's critical challenges in a low-cost apartment.
The research engaged the quantitative and qualitative approaches, where questionnaire surveys were distributed
to forty-three (43) respondents and interview sessions with six (6) experts. The research findings illustrated that
the current maintenance level was dissatisfactory due to a low maintenance level, reflected through the number
of occupants’ complaints about the facilities, maintenance aspects, and obvious building defects. A limited
number of workers and a lack of maintenance period for building services were consistently the chief culprits for
the maintenance team's poor performance. Hence, overcoming these critical challenges would effectively
improve the environment in a low-cost apartment building.
Keywords: Maintenance, Management, Residential, Satisfaction

1. Introduction

In recent years, several researchers determined that the cost of maintenance, cost efficiency, and company's
strategy (Douglas 2016) affected the building life cycle cost (LCC) (Ruparathna et al., 2018). In this respect,
good building maintenance tends to prolong the building's life span and delay the need for restoration, which is
beneficial for social and environmental impact. Therefore, low cost-building conditions are essential for low-
income groups in Malaysia, especially in rapidly developing areas such as Kuala Lumpur and Selangor that have
a higher cost of living standards. Its maintenance efficiency ensures a higher level of local perception as low-cost
buildings constitute flats, apartments, and condominiums that may attract other income communities.

Apart from being among the most basic components in life, residential housing is an essential aspect to
livelihood where (Steenbakkers et al., 2018) mentioned that it satisfies a high (85%) individual needs compared
to other criteria which are 70 percent for security, 50 percent love needs, 40 percent self-esteem and the lowest at
10% for self-actualization.

Besides, regarding (Riratanaphong & Limjaroensuk, 2020), user characteristics are one of the satisfactory
terms required measuring. It serves to understand all the information to gain knowledge of residential satisfaction
and building performance, including the building location aspect (Guidon et al., 2019). According to Z.-A. Ismail
(2017), comprehensive inspections include the management level in Malaysia’s context, repairing method,
technology use in building defect diagnosis, and defect identification (DI) process. However, DI in building
maintenance here is still in median categories compared to other developed countries.

This paper, therefore, aims to study the quality of maintenance levels in low-cost buildings. It is designed to
study users’ satisfaction level with maintenance management in low-cost apartment buildings through the
resident’s feedback. It tries to identify the maintenance team's critical challenges at low-cost apartment buildings
focusing on the Kajang region as a case study area. Findings can contribute to improving building management
in the future.

2253
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin*, Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Mohamad Sufian Hasim

2. Literature Review

2.1 Importance of Building Maintenance

Maintenance has been defined as a combination of technical aspects and management acts' according to the
British Standard Glossary of Term (3811:1993), such as supervision, intended to maintain objects in a state
where they can perform the required function, repairs, and other tasks. In sum, (Nielsen 2016) states that the term
quality of maintenance management is the central aspect affected by the operation of the building facilities and
services. Moreover, (Ofori. I.. Duodu, 2015) argued that the factors that can influence building maintenance are
its structural condition, toilet facilities, discharge of wastewater, roof components, exterior wall condition,
switches condition, to name a few. According to Tahir, Nawi and Ibrahim (2016), poor maintenance of a
building also contributes to energy inefficiency if not monitored properly. The neatly maintained building should
undergone a series of maintenance activities to track and maintain critical building equipment in order to reduce
damage, failure to operate, and to prevent unnecessary operating costs (Mohd Nawi, Tahir, & Yusoff, 2019).

Based on (Bubou et al. 2017), lack of repair or poor maintenance of a building will contribute to high costs in
the component’s replacement that would further deteriorate its condition in the future. Buildings with many
defects can also create an unpleasant environment that causes health problems for its residents and contributes to
the rapid decline in the building façade.

Furthermore, building deterioration occurs due to neglect, ignorance, misuse, and insufficient support for
building maintenance. Therefore, periodic maintenance guarantees a more robust condition of the building. This
statement is supported by (Ganisen, Hakim Mohammed, Jawahr Nesan, & Kanniyapan, 2015), who opined that
the maintenance scope has a considerable effect on the adequate performance of the maintenance system and the
overall building. A study by (Mohammadi et al., 2018) also showed that the financial and maintenance aspects
would depreciate the management organization’s image.

The table 1 below shows a summary of the maintenance definition obtained through a literature review.

Table 1. Maintenance definition

DEFINITION SOURCES
Combination of technical aspects and management acts. British Standard (3811:1993)
Quality of maintenance Nielsen 2016
Factors influence the level of maintenance Ofori. I.. Duodu, 2015
Lack of repair Bubou et al. 2017
Maintenance scope Ganisen et al., 2015
Financial factor Mohammadi et al., 2018

2.2 Residential Satisfaction

Residential satisfaction is considered a lively and productive process, whereby the level of satisfaction varies
with the criteria and accomplishments. Zhan et al., (2018) found that low-cost residential satisfaction relies on
community factors, while other studies reporting that occupants’ satisfaction with the housing management
agrees that adequate maintenance would offer a positive perspective and remove deficient management identity
(Ogunbayo et al., 2018). Thus, high building performance improves residents’ satisfaction. Foregrounding
previous researchers, in terms of satisfaction level, tenants accept that good administration and maintenance of
public housing represents a positive image of governance, especially in the public sector. At the same time, it
reduces common derogatory perceptions often labeled for public housing management. (Azimi & Esmaeilzadeh,
2017).

Table 2 illustrates the summary of key variables related to satisfaction.

2254
Occupants Satisfaction Towards Building Maintenance of Low-Cost Building Apartment In Kajang: Pilot survey

Figure 1. Residential Satisfaction variables

Sources: Azimi & Esmaeilzadeh 2017; Hassan, S. Z., Naeem, M. A., Waheed, A., & Thaheem, M. J. (2019)

According to Azimi & Esmaeilzadeh (2017) and Hassan et al., 2019 (figure1) to assess the residential
satisfaction of a building, feedback on the facilities, maintenance, and safety aspects of the users or resident is
taken into account in the survey. As a result, the overall maintenance performance is determined by the
satisfaction gauged from users and residents towards the building maintenance management.

Table 2. Factors of Satisfaction

VARIABLES SOURCES
Community factors Zhan et al., 2018
Maintenance and management perspective Ogunbayo et al., 2018
Tenant perspective Azimi & Esmaeilzadeh, 2017
Facilities, Maintenance & Safety Azimi & Esmaeilzadeh 2017,
Hassan et al., 2019

2.3 Critical Challenges Faced by the Maintenance Team

As a consequence, maintenance problems typically arise and are the critical areas of the organization's
challenges. The challenges faced by the maintenance team would significantly influence the level of maintenance
quality of the building. One of these issues is the identification and coordination of the maintenance management
team and the residents' involvement to ensure that the company is centered on its goals and objectives.

The several challenges faced by the maintenance team has been summarized, as shown in Table 3 below:

Table 3. Critical challenges faced by the maintenance team

CHALLENGES SOURCES
Poor monitoring Wanza & Nkuraru, 2016
Lack of trained maintenance staff Dalkilic, 2017
Improper planning or scheduling Al Nasseri& Aulin,2016
A limited number of workers Dahlan & Zainuddin, 2018
The insufficient building services maintenance period Duan 2019, Khairina 2018
Lack of implementation of new technologies Ganisen et al., 2015, Z. A. Ismail, 2018
N. Ismail et al., 2015

2255
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin*, Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Mohamad Sufian Hasim

i) Poor Monitoring

According to (Wanza & Nkuraru, 2016), the performance of individuals or members of the maintenance team
has to be evaluated from their tasks executed so that the strategy can help to enhance the employees'
commitment. Less supervision by management would lower the level of efficiency, success, and quality of
employees' work. Therefore, the supervisory team's evaluation is regarded as an assessment that would enable
workers to get motivated and perform well within the required satisfactory quality and specification.

ii) Lack of Trained Maintenance Staffs

Dalkilic, (2017) clarified that maintenance personnel must be well trained, experienced, and properly trained
to ensure the building and facilities' maintenance. This would indirectly support the fact that maintenance
workers should generally be qualified to deal with various building defects and are aware of routine maintenance
activities. Moreover, their expertise in handling particular kinds of maintenance equipment is essential to avoid
any problems occurring in the future.

iii) Improper Planning or Scheduling

Based on (Al Nasseri & Aulin, 2016), the organization's mission is to create proper planning to deliver
successful resource integration. Strategic planning is most often an initiative of the top management to develop
the impact of the company. Besides that, the maintenance organization's goal is to deliver efficient programs and
schedules that would substantially decrease the building services defects and focus on the successful operation of
a building.

iv) A Limited Number of Workers

An insufficient number of workers, as defined by Dahlan & Zainuddin (2018), may reduce the organization's
efficiency and, in the event of failure, may have an indirect effect on the building components. Thus, it will cause
an increase in significant defects, thereby incurring more expensive maintenance procedures. Besides, adequate
staff is essential for departments providing good services and establishing a high level of performance.
Consequently, a limited number of maintenance technicians or workers in the maintenance office may slow
down the repairing work, which would affect the planned maintenance schedule.

v) The Insufficient Building Services Maintenance Period

Research by Duan (2019) stated that working within scheduled time could reduce costs by considering the
main aspects of performance frequency such as idleness, elimination of waste, approval rate, delay, queues, that
would eliminate unnecessary actions. Moreover, Khairina (2018) mentioned that once the maintenance team fails
to diagnosis the building items or components’ breakdowns of the building on time, problems will arise later. For
example, maintenance workers will be required to fix the defects immediately after the diagnosis that affects the
quality of workmanship without proper time of assessment. Therefore, the delay in repairing work or diagnosing
the building defects can decrease the value of building services and its physical condition and indirectly affect
the performance of the overall building system.

vi) Lack of Implementation of New Technologies

Applying new technologies in maintenance is essential to an organization. The management must be


continuously educated, be concerned with, and allocate an upgraded maintenance process to ensure they can
fulfill and accomplish clients' or residents' demands and satisfaction immediately through the use of the latest
technology. Lack of implementation of new technologies will decrease the building performance level of
maintenance, especially in an organization (Ganisen et al., 2015). Hence, the connection between Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) helps smooth and effective building maintenance process. Based on the
perception from Ganisen et al., 2015, a high percentage of ICT adoption ensures that maintenance work is more
accurate and well organized because the technological applications can reduce errors and increase the
performance level of the maintenance process. Besides, Ganisen et al. (2015) and N. Ismail et al., (2015) posit
that advanced technology needs to be introduced in the management department immediately to meet clients'
needs.

2256
Occupants Satisfaction Towards Building Maintenance of Low-Cost Building Apartment In Kajang: Pilot survey

3. Research Methodology

The compilation of data was either from published and unpublished information obtained from various
sources such as articles, journals, reports, textbooks, and the internet. A combination of quantitative and
qualitative approaches was used in the data analysis. To achieve this study's objective, a questionnaire survey
was developed and distributed to the occupants of a selected low-cost apartment around the Kajang area.
According to (Krejcie Morgan 1970), the suggested number of the smallest sample size of a population is 40 to
45, which means that the number of questionnaires distributed could be more than the suggested. Nonetheless,
due to the research constraint, the survey was distributed to 45 residents of a low-cost apartment, whereby 43
survey feedback was collected from cooperative volunteers. Then, the collected data was analyzed using SPSS
version 25.

In terms of the quantitative approach (Apuke 2017), the questionnaire was designed to gather information
from occupants, including the owners and tenants, using descriptive statistics. The questionnaire was based on
the five Likert-scale model to set respondents' agreement level into specific measurements. This scale is
classified in the range of 1 to 5 for each respondent's evaluation of the level of maintenance satisfaction or a user
perspective. The Likert scale distinguishes 1 as "Very dissatisfied," 2 as "Dissatisfied", 3 as "Neutral", 4 as
"Satisfied," and 5 as "Very satisfied." This questionnaire was distributed to determine the level of occupants'
satisfaction with the services rendered by the building management in relation to the level of building
maintenance and to found out the difficulties encountered by the maintenance team. The results demonstrate the
residents' level of satisfaction experience and informed the key obstacles the maintenance workers face to
maintain the low-cost apartment.

To achieve objective two, the data was collected through semi-structured interviews between 6 experts within
the management personnel. According to De Paulo (2000), the number of qualitative research samples is not
essential as long it is broad enough to hear much of the perception that may be important for the study.
Therefore, the information gathered was used to comprehend the survey questionnaire’s result further. The
interviews contained various items such as interviewees profile, years of experience, and the maintenance
practiced. Finally, content analysis and descriptive analysis were used to analyze the results of the interview
session.

4. Result and Discussion

This section discusses the analysis of the questionnaire results and the interview session's findings that consist
of three parts, namely Part A, determining the demographic profile of the practicing professionals and the extent
of maintenance practiced at the low-cost building. Meanwhile, Part B comprises the findings on the level of
users’ satisfaction regarding the low-cost apartment building's maintenance. Cronbach Alpha was used to
measure the reliability of the results gathered. Finally, Part C estimated the percentage and frequency of critical
challenges faced by the maintenance team.

Respondents' Profile (N=43)

7%

Owner Tenant

93%

Figure 2. Respondent classification of residents

2257
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin*, Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Mohamad Sufian Hasim

Figure 2 outlines the demographic profile of the respondents. As indicated, most 93% (40 residents) of
respondents are tenants, while only 7 percent or three residents are owners of their homes as long-term property
investments.

Table 4. Respondent classification of the maintenance team

Characteristics Categories Frequent % Respondent

Position  Building manager 1 16.66


2 33.33
 Building executive/Supervisor
3 50
 Building technician
Years ‘experiences  less than 5 years 0 0
 6-10 years 5 83.33
 11-15 years 0 0
 More than 15 years 1 16.66
Maintenance practice  Planned maintenance 6 100
 Unplanned maintenance 6 100
 Ad-hoc maintenance 6 100

Table 4 shows the detail of the six experts interviewed. The session was conducted with the building
manager, two-building executives, and three building technicians. As shown, all participants have more than five
years of working experience in building maintenance. However, general maintenance inspections were reported
as inconsistent, scheduled either every day, weekly, monthly or annual plans. Therefore, in a particular situation,
ad-hoc maintenance will be applied based on the building defects condition.

In order to estimate the level of residents' satisfaction, the classification of the scale index adopted by M.
Sondalini (2008) is identified in Table 5

Table 5. Classification of scale index

No Item Scale Index


1 Very dissatisfied 4.50 < mean index < 5.00
2 Dissatisfied 3.50 < mean index < 4.50
3 Neutral 2.50 < mean index < 3.50
4 Satisfied 1.50 < mean index < 2.50
5 Very Satisfied 1.00 < mean index < 1.50

Table 6. The summary of the frequency scale for maintenance management and its classification by using the
Likert Scale model
ITEM Satisfaction Level / Percentage (%)
MAINTENANCE Very Dissatisfied Neutral Satisfied Very
MANAGEMENT dissatisfied Satisfied

FACILITIES

Accessibility Frequency 2 0 3 32 6

Percentage (%) 4.65 0 6.97 79.1 13.9


Garbage disposal Frequency 3 38 2 0 0

Percentage (%) 6.97 88.37 4.65 0 0

2258
Occupants Satisfaction Towards Building Maintenance of Low-Cost Building Apartment In Kajang: Pilot survey

Water supply Frequency 4 36 3 0 0

Percentage (%) 9.30 83.72 6.97 0 0


Electricity Frequency 2 0 2 35 4
Percentage (%) 4.65 0 4.65 83.72 9.30
MAINTENANCE

Building maintenance Frequency 8 30 5 0 0

Percentage (%) 18.60 69.76 11.62 0 0


Street maintenance Frequency 8 32 3 0 0

Percentage (%) 18.60 74.42 6.97 0 0


Parking lot maintenance Frequency 9 30 4 0 0
Percentage (%) 20.93 69.76 9.30 0 0
SAFETY

Security Frequency 12 29 0 2 0
Percentage (%) 27.91 67.44 0 4.65 0
Safety Frequency 10 28 0 5 0
Percentage (%) 23.26 65.12 0 11.63 0
Enforcement of rules Frequency 0 0 8 24 11
Percentage (%) 0 0 18.60 55.81 25.58

Figure 3. The respondent response of satisfaction level to the maintenance management

As demonstrated in Table 6 and Figure 3, more than 50% of the apartment respondents expressed
dissatisfaction regarding the garbage disposal facilities around their building, with a score of 88.37% or 38
respondents. This is because the garbage is usually picked up after every two days or sometimes until four days a
week.

2259
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin*, Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Mohamad Sufian Hasim

Water supply also shared a sizeable dissatisfactory ratio, with 83.7 percent or 36 respondents complaining
that they faced a shortage of primary sourced water. Almost all respondents claimed that the upper floor tenants
faced more water shortages compared to the lower floors.

Respondents also reported their frustration with the maintenance aspects of the apartment. Thirty-two
respondents (74.42%) criticized that the street maintenance was poor, with debris appearing along the street due
to the building is near the main road. Many respondents complained that they were dissatisfied with the building
maintenance and parking lot with a share score of 69.76% or 30 respondents. According to them, when residents
lodge complaints about building defects, they need to wait an extended period before the problem is eventually
resolved. The percentage also reflects the frustration regarding building defects and faults, or when some defects
appear in the resident's unit that they need to repair themselves. These concerns involved, for example, toilet
problems, ironmongery fixtures, or broken doors. However, since these issues occur in individual units, it does
not fall under the management's responsibility, much to the tenants' grievances. In terms of the parking lot, the
management or organization did not provide facilities' proper maintenance. The respondents also mentioned that
most tenants need to park outside the premises due to inadequate parking provisions, causing issues like double
parking.

Next, 83.72% or 35 respondents are satisfied with electricity maintenance because when residents complain
of blackouts, for instance, the maintenance team or person in charge will quickly solve the problem after getting
a call from a resident in an emergency.

However, most of the residents are dissatisfied with the security and safety aspects, with a large 67.44% or 29
respondents and 65.12% or 28 respondents expressing concern caused by frequent vehicle thefts within the
residential area, especially motorcycles.

Nonetheless, the respondents favored the building management indicated by the score of enforcement of rules
recording 55.81% or 24 respondents agreeability. This result verifies the interview session with experts who
confirmed that the management would usually convey the residents' building regulations. Moreover, proper
notification and written notices are commonly practiced with cone placements and signages nearest the entrance
to communicate the repairing work in progress, thereby preventing possible accidents.

(Chua et al., 2018) suggests that in order to achieve good building maintenance, these indicators must be
considered, such as customer service, maintenance costs deviation, time variance of maintenance work, and
downtime rate. In addition, (Riratanaphong & Limjaroensuk, 2020) note that performance appraisal or level of
maintenance relates to enabling the intervention approach to be used as a control method for unique attributes of
building performance. Meanwhile, (E.C Fitch 1992) reported that measuring performance between service
delivery of the management team and customer's satisfaction requires variance tools such as Key Performance
Indicator (KPI) to measure performance between service delivery that may indirectly achieve benchmarking
criteria. Hence, research findings demonstrate that management activities are indicative of the level of building
maintenance displayed that affects building efficiency and tenants’ satisfaction considerably.

Indeed, a customer satisfaction survey is one of the most common performance measurement systems,
whether in a product, business, or service industries. Hence, the theory is also applied to maintenance
management (Piyush, Bhatt, & Pitroda, 2016). It is also reliable to assess the building's overall view (Milion,
Alves, & Paliari, 2017). Moreover, experts interviewed informed that relative to other high-rise residential
building forms, the low-cost apartment has minimal facilities, which influences most homeowners to rent out
their units. According to (Ren & Folmer, 2017), most lower-cost residential building owners have other homes at
more esteemed area.

Results of reliability analysis

Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient is suitable for evaluating the reliability of the variables. Based on Nunnaly
(1978), it is described that the minimum value of Cronbach’s Alpha to be accepted as 0.6-0.7 displayed in Table
6.

Table 7. The Cronbach’s Alpha scale based on Nunnaly 1987


CRONBACH’S ALPHA INTERNAL CONSISTENCY
α ≥ 0.9 Excellent (High-Stakes testing)
0.7 ≤ α < 0.9 Good (Low-Stakes testing)
0.6 ≤ α < 0.7 Acceptable

2260
Occupants Satisfaction Towards Building Maintenance of Low-Cost Building Apartment In Kajang: Pilot survey

0.5 ≤ α < 0.6 Poor


α < 0.5 Unacceptable

Table 8. The Results of Reliability Analysis


Cronbach’s Alpha Cronbach’s Alpha Based on Standardized Items N of Items
.814 .824 10

Table 9. The Results of Cronbach’s alpha.


RELIABILITY
No Item
Cronbach’s alpha
1. User satisfaction 0.81
Subscales
1. Accessibility 0.77
2. Garbage Disposal 0.80
3. Water Supply 0.80
4. Electrical Supply 0.79
5. Building Maintenance 0.82
6. Street Maintenance 0.80
7. Parking Lot Maintenance 0.77
8. Security 0.79
9. Safety 0.80
10.Enforcement of Rules 0.81

The results in Table 8 and Table 9 shows all Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient values exceeding 0.7 with
accessibility at 0.77 is recorded by variables of garbage disposal 0.80, water supply 0.80, electrical supply 0.79,
building maintenance 0.82, street maintenance 0.80, parking 0.77, security 0.79, safety 0.80 and enforcement of
rules 0.81. This indirectly proves that all the variables involved in the research achieve internal consistency and
display high reliability. This result can be used in assessing the suitability of variables developed to measure the
level of satisfaction among residents on building maintenance management in terms of action and complaint
feedback.

Table 10. Ranking of the challenges faced by the maintenance team that affected user satisfaction
No Item Frequency % Respondent

1. Poor Monitoring 4 66.66


2. Lack of Trained Maintenance staffs 3 50
3. Improper Planning or Scheduling 1 16.66
4. A limited number of workers 6 100
5. Insufficient Building Services Maintenance Period 6 100
6. Lack of Implementation of New Technologies 5 83.33

Figure 4 The respondents' response to challenges faced by the maintenance team

2261
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin*, Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Mohamad Sufian Hasim

Table 10 and Figure 4 show the frequency and percentages of six critical challenges the maintenance team
faced towards the level of user satisfaction that indirectly affects the perspective of maintenance. As indicated,
the highest challenge for maintenance performance is the limited number of workers and inadequate period for
building services that recorded a 100% agreeability rate.

Next, the lack of new technologies implementation scored a majority of 83.33% respondents agreement.
Evidently, a few maintenance management companies still use the old approach because it is not costly.
Residents must reach the office manager to complete the complaint form and wait for this processing procedure
between 1-3 working days before appropriate action is taken. In contrast, other established companies have
already computerized their system for submitting complaints procedures that considerably reduce the waiting
period of assessment. Likewise, (Laumer et al., 2017) concluded that technology is essential to differentiate
between the dimension of information quality to understand the end-user satisfaction and the resulting
workarounds better when investigating any large-scale complaint or study at the same time taking rapid action. It
indirectly simplifies the process and retains the building efficiency with better performance. Simultaneously, the
maintenance team or management would obtain a higher confidence level from the building occupants.

Hence, poor monitoring recorded 66.66%, with half opined that the challenge is the lack of trained
maintenance staff. Finally, improper planning or scheduling with 16.66% is the minimal seen challenge. These
findings confirmed (Jongo et al., 2019) study that lack of preparation, poor communication, and lack of qualified
project manager that comply with specifications influenced the percentage of building performance.
Additionally, these factors indirectly affect users’ satisfaction, especially for those living at low-cost buildings
because as (Dahlan et al., 2019) suggested that lack of maintenance will contribute to depressing environment
that impacts users' everyday activities within the apartment's compound.

According to Liu et al. (2015), unsatisfactory organization observations will reduce the efficiency level
towards the maintenance team's performance and quality of work. Therefore, the level of performative services
also hinged on staff expertise and commitment level that will substantially raise the level of building services
rendered. Ultimately, the standard of performance quality would benefit the image of the organization. Besides,
(Ganisen et al., 2015) defined a successful operation of facilities as capable of boosting and preventing
unnecessary aggravation for the end-users.

5. Conclusion

This paper summarises the findings on the current implementation of maintenance work undertaken by the
maintenance management of low-cost building apartments to users' satisfaction in the Kajang region. Research
findings indicate several issues in the maintenance and managerial aspects of the building that stems from the
residents' dissatisfaction with the management or organization's maintenance. The typical issues being; the late
intervention of maintenance work to solve the problems, extending to garbage disposal, water supply, building
maintenance, parking lot, and street maintenance occurring around the building. From the interview sessions
with the management team, it was evident that the poor performance level was primarily due to lack of staff,
insufficient building maintenance period, and technological deficiency in practice.

The research is contributive towards academia but also essential as a reference for maintenance practice. By
identifying the residents' satisfaction and needs, the management can identify their failures and course-correct
their actions to offer substantially improved services in the future. Hence, this enhancement will indirectly
minimize the risks of further complaints from the building occupants. Furthermore, future studies are
recommended to focus on specific critical issues in enhancing maintenance management in terms of methods for
lodging complaints that should be more systematic and user friendly.

6. Acknowledgment

I would like to express my appreciation to all organizations and individuals who volunteered and assisted
directly and indirectly in providing good cooperation in completing this research.

References

1. Al Nasseri, H., & Aulin, R. (2016). Understanding management roles and organisational behaviours in
planning and scheduling based on construction projects in Oman. Journal of Construction in
Developing Countries, 21(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.21315/jcdc2016.21.1.1

2262
Occupants Satisfaction Towards Building Maintenance of Low-Cost Building Apartment In Kajang: Pilot survey

2. Azimi, N., & Esmaeilzadeh, Y. (2017). Assessing the relationship between house types and residential
satisfaction in Tabriz, Iran. International Journal of Urban Sciences, 21(2), 185–203.
https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2016.1273128
3. Apuke, O. D. (2017). Quantitative Research Methods : A Synopsis Approach. Kuwait Chapter of
Arabian Journal of Business and Management Review, 6(11), 40–47.
https://doi.org/10.12816/0040336
4. British Standard Institute (1993) Glossary of Term used in Terotechnology, BS 3811, Milton
Keynes,BSI
5. Bubou, G. M., Gumus, S., & Ogungbemi, A. A. (2017). Institutionalising the maintenance management
function in public sector organisations for sustainable infrastructural services in Nigeria. Nigerian
Society of Engineers’ Annual General Meeting and Conference, November 2017.
6. Chua, S. J. L., Au-Yong, C. P., Ali, A. S., & Hasim, M. S. (2018). Building Maintenance Practices
towards the Common Defects and Resident’s Satisfaction of Elderly Homes. Journal of Design and
Built Environment, 1, 62–71. https://doi.org/10.22452/jdbe.sp2018no1.6
7. Dahlan, F. M., & Zainuddin, A. (2018). Establishment of Critical Success Factors for Organizations
Managing High-rise Residential Buildings: A Review. International Journal of Academic Research in
Business and Social Sciences, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v8-i2/3982
8. Dalkilic, S. (2017). Improving aircraft safety and reliability by aircraft maintenance technician training.
Engineering Failure Analysis, 82, 687–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfailanal.2017.06.008
9. DePaulo, P. (2000). How large should the sample size be in a qualitative study? DePaulo Research
Consulting, Montgomeryville, Pa.
http://www.quirks.com/articles/a2000/20001202.aspx?searchID=383113850
10. Douglas, M. U. (2016). Finding the niche towards performance excellence: A study of facilities
management firms in Malaysia. Journal of Facilities Management, 14(4), 330–349.
https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-10-2015-0028
11. Duan, C., Deng, C., & Wang, B. (2019). Multi-phase sequential preventive maintenance scheduling for
deteriorating repairable systems. Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, 30(4), 1779–1793.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10845-017-1353-z
12. E.C.Fitch. Elsevier Science Publishers Ltd, England, (1992)
13. Ganisen, S., Hakim Mohammed, A., Jawahr Nesan, L., & Kanniyapan, G. (2015). Critical success
factors for low cost housing building maintenance organization. Jurnal Teknologi, 74(2), 31–40.
https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v74.4520
14. Guidon, S., Wicki, M., Bernauer, T., & Axhausen, K. (2019). The social aspect of residential location
choice: on the trade-off between proximity to social contacts and commuting. Journal of Transport
Geography, 74(November 2018), 333–340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.12.008
15. Hassan, S. Z., Naeem, M. A., Waheed, A., & Thaheem, M. J. (2019). Assessment of socio-economic
profile and residents’ satisfaction living in apartments and single unit houses in Islamabad, Pakistan.
International Journal of Strategic Property Management, 23(5), 284–297.
https://doi.org/10.3846/ijspm.2019.8067
16. Ismail, N., Ali, S. N. A. M., Othman, N. A. A., Jaffar, N., Hauashdh, A., Jailani, J., Abdul Rahman, I.,
AL-fadhali, N., Audenaert, M., Decramer, A., George, B., Verschuere, B., Manchester, T. U. of,
Ganisen, S., Hakim Mohammed, A., Jawahr Nesan, L., Kanniyapan, G., Dahlan, F. M. M., Zainuddin,
A., … Ferreira, M. (2015). Critical success factors for low cost housing building maintenance
organization. Jurnal Teknologi, 50(2), 31–40. https://doi.org/10.11113/jt.v75.5270
17. Ismail, Z.-A. (2017). A case study of maintenance management systems in Malaysian complex and
high-rise IBS buildings. Journal of Steel Structures & Construction, 03(02).
https://doi.org/10.4172/2472-0437-c1-003
18. Ismail, Z. A. (2018). ICT-based system for Malaysian residential maintenance projects – literature
review. Journal of Facilities Management, 16(3), 354–371. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFM-06-2016-0026
19. Jongo, J. S., Dennis, N. G. A. K., & Mary, S. N. (2019). Original Research Paper Factors Affecting
Performance & Time Schedule For Multi-Unit Residential Building Construction Tesha Gullamabbas H
. Mufaddal Sylvanus. 1.
20. Khairina, Yusuf Latie, 2018. Development of quality management system in the process
implementation maintenance risk-based in government building. Proceedings of the International
Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, IEOM 2018. 689-697/9 ISBN/
9781532359446. ISSN (Electronic)2169-8767
21. Laumer, S., Maier, C., & Weitzel, T. (2017). Information quality, user satisfaction, and the
manifestation of workarounds: A qualitative and quantitative study of enterprise content management
system users. European Journal of Information Systems, 26(4), 333–360.
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41303-016-0029-7

2263
Siti Nurul Asma’ Mohd Nashruddin*, Norsafiah Norazman, Adi Irfan Che Ani, Mohamad Sufian Hasim

22. Liu, D., Gong, Y., Zhou, J., & Huang, J.-C. (2015). Human Resource Systems , Employee Creativity ,
and Firm Innovation : The Moderating Role of Firm Ownership Georgia Institute of Technology The
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Jia-Chi Huang. Academy of Management Journsl,
60(3), 1–55.
23. Milion, R. N., Alves, T. da C. L., & Paliari, J. C. (2017). Impacts of residential construction defects on
customer satisfaction. International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation, 35(3), 218–232.
https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBPA-12-2016-0033
24. Mohammadi, A., Tavakolan, M., & Khosravi, Y. (2018). Factors influencing safety performance on
construction projects: A review. Safety Science, 109(June), 382–397.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssci.2018.06.017
25. M. Sondalini. http://www.lifetime-reliability.com, (2008)
26. Nielsen, S. B., Sarasoja, A. L., & Galamba, K. R. (2016). Sustainability in facilities management: an
overview of current research. Facilities, 34(9–10), 535–563. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-07-2014-0060
27. Nunnaly, J. (1978). Psychometric Theory. New York : Mc Graw-Hill
28. Ofori. I.. Duodu, P. M. . & B. S. O. (2015). Establishing Factors Influencing Building Maintenance
Practices. Journal of Economics and Sustainable Development, 6(24), 184–193.
29. Ogunbayo, B. F., Ajao, A. M., Alagbe, O. T., Ogundipe, K. E., Tunji-Olayeni, P. F., & Ogunde, A. O.
(2018). Residents’ Facilities satisfaction in housing project delivered by Public Private Partnership
(PPP) in Ogun state, Nigeria. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(1), 562–
577.
30. Piyush, R., Bhatt, R., & Pitroda, J. (2016). Study of Factors Affecting Customer Satisfaction for
Residential Flats in Surat and Ahmedabad city in Gujarat Region of India. 2016, 3(3), 1–8.
www.irjet.net
31. Ren, H., & Folmer, H. (2017). Determinants of residential satisfaction in urban China: A multi-group
structural equation analysis. Urban Studies, 54(6), 1407–1425.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098015627112
32. Riratanaphong, C., & Limjaroensuk, S. (2020). Occupant satisfaction on facility services: case studies
of six multi-generational condominiums. Facilities. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-11-2019-0123
33. Ruparathna, R., Hewage, K., & Sadiq, R. (2018). Multi-period maintenance planning for public
buildings: A risk based approach for climate conscious operation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 170,
1338–1353. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.178
34. R. V. Krejcie, and D. W. Morgan, Determine Sample Size for Research Activities, Educational and
Psychological Measurement, 1970.
35. Steenbakkers, A., Van Der Steen, S., & Grietens, H. (2018). The Needs of Foster Children and How to
Satisfy Them: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review,
21(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10567-017-0246-1
36. Tahir, M. Z., Nawi, M. N. M., & Ibrahim, A. (2016). Value Management (VM): A Strategic Approach
for Improving Energy Efficiency. International Journal of Supply Chain Management (IJSCM), 5(4),
1–8.
37. Wanza, L., & Nkuraru, J. K. (2016). Influence of change management on employee performance : A
case of university of Eldoret , Kenya. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 7(4), 190–
199. https://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_7_No_4_April_2016/22.pdf
38. Zhan, D., Kwan, M. P., Zhang, W., Fan, J., Yu, J., & Dang, Y. (2018). Assessment and determinants of
satisfaction with urban livability in China. Cities, 79(July 2017), 92–101.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2018.02.025

2264

You might also like