Abstract:
Buildings require maintenance for their continuous operation at a higher level through
their extended life. Early prediction of maintenance costs (MC) would enable efficient
maintenance and smooth operations of the buildings and thereby ensure achieving value
for the investment. The effects of factors on MC provide a chance to refine the design to
ensure the optimisation of MC during early design development. Thus, this study aims
to analyse the MC of high-rise residential apartments along with the effects of factors
influencing MC in Sri Lanka. Initially, a questionnaire survey was conducted to assess
the factors’ impact on the MC elements based on a 1-5 Likert scale. Then, a case study
approach was employed using three high-rise residential apartments with above 30
floors located in Colombo to analyse the costs of MC elements. The data collected from
semi-structured interviews and document review were analysed manually as a
percentage of MC. The findings revealed that MC accounts for 30% of running costs
(RC). According to Pareto analysis, 11 out of 29 sub-elements including lifts and
escalators, maintenance management, repairs and replacement, and electric power and
lighting contribute to 80% of MC. Further, most of the building design factors and
technical factors highly affect the MC. The annual MC per GFA is about Rs. 350.00. It
is expected that these findings would enable the designers to forecast the MC and focus
on the relevant design and technical factors to optimise the maintenance costs of highrise
residential buildings at the early design stages
