Key participants' involvement framework for the briefing stage of building refurbishment projects

Refurbishment sector is becoming one of the most important sectors in the construction industry. In Malaysia, more than 20 percent of construction output was related to refurbishment works in the past years. However, refurbishment projects are more complex than new-build projects. Affected design information in refurbishment project is one of the main factors, which leads to refurbishment projects performance failure and briefing is one of the most important information sources for designer in refurbishment projects which suffers from various types of complexity. Thus, it is important for the construction industry to identify and address complexity factors and find the appropriate framework of key participants involved in briefing stage of building refurbishment projects to enhance the achievement of required design information for design team. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop key participants involvement framework to reduce the level of complexities in briefing stage of building refurbishment projects in order to acquire the optimum amount of required information. This aim is achieved through the following four objectives: (1) to identify the complexity factors in briefing stage of building refurbishment projects; (2) to determine the problems associated with complexity factors, which affects acquiring the required design information in the briefing stage of building refurbishment projects.; (3) To develop and validate appropriate framework of key participants involvement initiatives in the briefing stage of the building refurbishment project towards the achievement of required design information; and (4) To recommend improvements on successful participants involvement initiatives in the briefing stage as a mediator in building refurbishment projects to achieve the required design information. In achieving the objectives, the triangulation research method was adopted in the form of a questionnaire survey, in-depth interviews, and expert interviews. The questionnaire survey meant to get the general perception from 139 experienced Architects and Interior Designers involved in building refurbishment projects on the problem statement. Based on the replies, in- depth data collection was conducted in the form of semi-structured interview with 12 architects and 8 interior designers. Finally, the data collected in previous steps underwent validation by four (4) experts which concluded the triangulation approach. At the end of the research, a participants involvement framework for briefing stage of refurbishment project was developed to improve the briefing stage in refurbishment projects. The findings highlight on the main critical complexity factors that need to be more considered by the refurbishment projects practitioners. This research has successfully investigated the current practices in the industry in dealing with complexities in briefing stage of refurbishment and common problems associated with complexity factors, which affects acquiring of required design information ate the end of brief. The strategies towards achieving a successful participants involvement have been identified as being comprised of elements that are essential for addressing the effects of existing complexities in briefing stage of refurbishment projects.