Appropriate building repair and maintenance strategies using multicriteria decision-making analysis – a Delphi study

Abstract

As an influential and significant factor in improving the service of building components and elements, maintenance plays an essential role in maintaining reliability, availability, and quality, as well as increasing efficiency and security. Therefore, how to define this maintenance system and determine the appropriate criteria and strategies for that play an important role in the cost and longevity of the buildings after construction and during their operation. The purpose of the article is to determine the effective criteria for evaluating buildings based on maintenance and repair (R&M) and finally determining the appropriate strategy for the maintenance of residential buildings, using multicriteria decision-making methods. These criteria were first identified by reviewing the literature and using the Delphi method to obtain the opinions of maintenance experts. The criteria were then prioritized, based on the SWARA method, and the results were compared and evaluated. Based on comparison, safety, health, environment, and proper utilisation were rated the top four criteria to consider for building R&M. Finally, using the VIKOR2 method, it was found that the breakdown maintenance (BM) and corrective maintenance (CM) strategies are the best strategies to use for the R&M of residential buildings.