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SS
28,5 Elemental cost format for
building conservation works in
Malaysia
408
Wee Li Woon and Lim Yoke Mui
School of Housing, Building and Planning, University Sains Malaysia,
Gelugor, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to propose a new format to present the cost of building conservation
works which will better reflect the actual cost components and have a higher relevance to building
conservation works.
Design/methodology/approach – To achieve the study’s aim of presenting a new format suitable
for building conservation works, a total of 16 conservation projects were selected and work items of
the highest frequency were identified and aggregated into the relevant elemental component to
formulate a new elemental cost format.
Findings – Work items of the highest frequency identified are partitions, doors and ironmongeries,
followed by roof finishes and rainwater goods, floor finishes, external walls and windows. In addition
to the usual building works, new work items such as scientific analysis, archaeology excavation and
temporary roof are also found to be important.
Research limitations/implications – The proposed format has yet to be tested in the local
industry, which is necessary to ensure compatibility with industry needs.
Practical implications – This new cost analysis format includes a list of work items that are
specific to building conservation works, which may guide the quantity surveyor in preparing a
budget/cost estimate with higher accuracy by reducing the risk of omitted work items that are
pertinent in building conservation works.
Originality/value – Owing to the lack of cost data information for building conservation works,
estimating and controlling the cost in this area of work is very challenging. The proposed new format
of elemental cost analysis designed for building conservation works seeks to fill this void by providing
a guide in estimating costs for building conservation.
Keywords Building conservation, Cost estimates, Heritage, Malaysia
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Heritage buildings are icons for a country and reflect the cultural background and the
national identity of that country. For this reason, heritage buildings should be
conserved as important monuments for future generations. Article 1.4 of the Burra
Charter (Australia ICOMOS, 1999) states that conservation is defined as all processes
of looking after a place so as to retain its cultural significance. It encompasses the
activities that are aimed at the safeguarding of a cultural resource so as to retain its
historic value and extend its physical life. Mustapa et al. (2007) argue that
Structural Survey
Vol. 28 No. 5, 2010
pp. 408-419 The authors would like to express their thanks and appreciation to Universiti Sains Malaysia for
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-080X
funding this research. Part of this paper was presented at the 13th Conference of the Pacific
DOI 10.1108/02630801011089182 Association of Quantity Surveying.
conservation, although defined as a general meaning of preserving and conserving Cost format for
historical buildings as a national heritage, can be specifically categorised and each building
category carries a different meaning, outlining and defining the difference on the scope
of works that are associated with it, such as restoration, rehabilitation, preservation, conservation
reconstruction, repair and maintenance.
It is a fact that there are many heritage buildings of different eras in Malaysia that
should be conserved. Recent large-scale urban development continues to threaten 409
pre-war buildings, while other historic buildings are simply deteriorating due to age,
neglect, and the high cost of maintenance (Kamal et al., 2007). The listing of George
Town and Malacca as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the year 2008 has increased
the amount of conservation work in these sites. However, Kamal et al. (2007) pinpoint
that building conservation practice is relatively new in Malaysia compared to some
other countries. As such, research on conservation works, especially in the costing
aspect, is rather limited. The lack of complete costing information for conservation
projects has led to the difficulty of preparing a cost budget for conservation projects.
The lack of information, coupled with the quantity surveyor’s lack of understanding in
the intricacies of conservation works, may cause the estimated cost budget to miss out
work items that are pertinent in conservation projects. Thus, to further improve the
competence of quantity surveyors in this area, this study aims to formulate a new
format of cost analysis that is specifically tailored to building conservation works. The
insight gained from this study may help quantity surveyors to prepare a more accurate
cost estimate of for conservation projects in the future.
Methodology of study
A quantitative approach was adopted in this research. As the research was carried out
in George Town, Penang, the project samples collected are conservation projects from
the same city. According to the Penang Municipal Council, there are approximately
3,700 buildings in Penang that are listed as heritage buildings either in Category I or II Cost format for
by the state government. Although there are thousands of heritage buildings in George building
Town, there are not many buildings that have been properly restored. Amongst those
that are restored, a total of 16 buildings with distinct building classification were conservation
selected for this research. The selection of the projects is based on one important
criteria: the project must have a complete breakdown of costing information. As such,
many projects are not selected due to the incomplete costing information, as some 411
projects did not follow the full tendering procedures. From the costing data of each
selected project, the main cost items were extracted from the BQ in the contract
document. Thus the completeness of the BQ used is critical in this research to identify
the cost items that are pertinent to building conservation works. Although only
conservation projects in George Town were selected, the findings are postulated to be
reflective of the building conservation scenario in Malaysia as heritage buildings in
Malaysia are quite similar in typology and construction.
The selected buildings in this study comprise of shops, commercial buildings,
religious buildings, private houses, and government buildings. The selected heritage
buildings are prestigious and major conservation projects in Penang. A variety of
buildings was chosen to ensure that the proposed ECA format would essentially
capture the various variables found in the different building types and the final
product can be used for the various types of buildings. The details of the project
samples for this study are as shown in Table I. The percentage of each type of
buildings is indicated in Figure 1. These buildings were selected because the cost
documentations are proper and complete with breakdown information that is in
compliance with the study criteria mentioned above.
Data for the research were extracted from the BQs, collected either from the
consultant firms or contractor firms that were involved in the selected projects. Both
consultant and contractor would have the same set of documents so there would be no
risk of discrepancies although the data came from different sources. The data extracted
from all the BQs was then collated and processed using descriptive statistics to obtain
A Private Commercial
B Private Commercial
C Private Private house
D Private Government
E Private Commercial
F Public Religious
G Public Government
H Public Religious
I Private Shop
J Private Religious
K Private Commercial
L Public Government
M Public Government
N Public Government Table I.
O Private Commercial List of project samples
P Public Government used in this study
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28,5
412
Figure 1.
Percentages of types of
building studied
the frequency of each of the work items. The work items were duly identified and
ranked according to the frequency of their occurrence in the selected projects. The
analysis from the first part were then rearranged and grouped into an appropriate cost
component according to the building function to produce the proposed elemental cost
format. The findings of this research are presented in a combination of tabular and
graphical form with supporting discussions in the following sections of the paper.
A total of 40 work items that are frequently used in conservation works were
identified and are listed in Table II in descending order according to the frequency of
occurrence. These work items are then grouped according to the appropriate group
component as shown in Figure 2.
small portion to the cost of conservation. However, the data collected did not clearly
indicate the distribution of work items for external works, thus hindering further
analysis of this particular work item. The restoration of historical buildings often
includes the installation of new electrical services including lighting installations and
fire alarm systems to comply with current safety regulations. The study found that
close to half of the 16 projects have included works of electrical and lighting
installation, as well as fire fighting for safety purposes.
SS
28,5
414
Figure 2.
Frequency of work items
in conservation projects
The item “Scientific testing and analysis” could also be found in most conservation
projects. This is due to the requirement set by the local authorities that required the
investigation of defective works in a building before restoration work. The study
showed that 11 out of 16 projects had conducted scientific testing on the buildings to
determine the defective works. These tests included “Anti-termite”, “Salt
contamination and rising damp”, “Timber test”, “HABS dilapidation survey” and
“XRF test”. Other tests may also be conducted based on the requirement set down by
the project conservationist. It must be clearly noted that the percentages shown above
only represented work items that are frequently used in conservation projects and it
does not depict the significant costs of the work items in conservation project. In order
to determine a new elemental format for conservation works, all the work items
identified earlier will be grouped under its relevant elemental component. From the 40
work items identified earlier, those items with the same functional use are grouped
under the same elemental component. Table III shows the grouping of 40 work items
according to their functional use in a building. In total, 14 major elements were formed
from the rearrangement of the work items into the relevant elemental component.
As the works for new build and conservation are quite similar, with some
exceptions, the grouping of items for conservation work are also rather similar to the
grouping for new building works. Having said that, the study also found that there are
some elemental components that are not the same with new building works. For
example, “External wall, doors and windows” is combined and listed as an item due to
special consideration for building conservation works where the restoration works for
Cost format for
No. Work items Elemental component
building
1 Demolitions/dismantling works Demolition works conservation
2 Roof covering Roof and rainwater goods
3 Roof construction
4 Timber roof trusses
5 Roof finishes & rainwater goods 415
6 Flooring construction Floor structure and finishes
7 Floor finishes
8 Ceiling and finishes Ceiling and finishes
9 External wall finishes External wall, doors & windows
10 External walls, doors, windows
11 Fence wall
12 Painting
13 Partitions, doors Internal wall, column and finishes
14 Internal wall finishes
15 Ironmongeries
16 Decorations
17 Staircase construction Staircase and balustrade
18 Staircase finishes and balustrades
19 Structural steelwork Structural works
20 Upper floor
21 Frame
22 Substructure
23 Sundries Sundries
24 Furniture and fittings Furniture and fittings
25 Electrical system M&E works
26 Lighting system
27 Security and sound system External works
28 Walkways, driveways, car parks, etc.
29 Pavers
30 Fencing and gate
31 Surface water drains, sump & culverts
32 Water and sewer mains, foal drainage, manholes
33 Fire fighting
34 Adjoining property wall/boundary
35 Landscaping
36 Plumbing and sanitary installation Services
37 Archaeology excavation Conservation treatment
38 Scientific testing and analysis
39 Anti-termite treatment Table III.
40 Waterproofing Grouping of work items
these three elements are inter-related. Likewise, this reason also applies to the item
“Internal walls and doors”, where the deterioration of a wall may also affect its
surroundings, such as doors. Thus, the combination of these two elements as an item is
suggested as above.
The same analysis was also carried out on the preliminaries section but only five
projects of the 16 samples were used due to the lack of breakdown in costing
information in most of the samples. From the analysis, temporary works appear to be
the most frequently occurring work items, accounting for 16 per cent of all
preliminaries items. These works include “Temporary water and electricity supplies”,
SS “Temporary telephone”, “General scaffolding and staging temporary”, “Temporary
28,5 roads” and “Temporary lighting”. These work items are required before and during the
execution of work to ensure the safety and stability of the building. “Research and
documentation” is also an important part of conservation works because it is a tool to
provide proper documentation of the conservation works. Scientific testing analysis
and reports of the proposed building to be conserved is prepared by a conservationist,
416 architect or structural engineer to determine the level of defective works and to provide
suggestions of remedial works to repair damaged items. From our study, we found that
four of the five sample projects had included this item in the preliminaries section.
Other preliminaries items include the preparation of scaled photographs, which are
essential before conservation works begins. This is in line with the local standard
guidelines. In the same guidelines, the preparation of Historical Architectural Building
Survey (HABS) report is also required. A report is prepared in the three different stages
of work, before, during and after the conservation works. The documentation requires
a building analysis report, illustrated with drawings, photographs, and other relevant
details. The condition of the buildings, defective works, and original materials are also
recorded.
From the study, it is concluded that the preliminaries work items for conservation
works have some similarities with new building works except for some additional
items that are only applicable to a conservation project. These new items include the
preparation of a dilapidation survey or HABS report, scientific testing and report,
colour scheme testing and video recordings. It shows that most projects did strictly
follow the local authority’s guidelines in conserving a historical building. A summary
of the research and documentation works as required by the National Museum
Antiquities Department for building conservation works is shown in Table IV.
From the above analysis, the study proposes a format for cost estimates and
analysis based on an elemental form for conservation works. The proposed format is
explained in the next section.
projects. Hence, for the part of Restoration works, 12 work items are listed in accordance
with the sequence of conservation works which are work items 5A to 5L.
From the earlier analysis, temporary works are found to be common work items in
conservation works. Considering the various types of temporary works involved, all
temporary works are grouped together under one heading for ease of reference.
Demolition work is one of the major work items for conservation works and it cannot be
allocated together with other work items due to the different nature of the work, and
therefore it is listed under a separate group. Scientific testing and building recording are
listed under “Research and documentation”. Conservation works should always be
accompanied by a detailed description of the building’s condition before, during and after
restoration works, and scaled photographs are used for this purpose. Scientific testing
which is carried out by conservators or architects on defective works and remedial works
undertaken are also proposed to be listed under the “Research and documentation” work
group. The HABS documentation should contain photographs taken before, during and
after the conservation works and document the conservation works in every stage.
New building works in this proposed format are defined as additional new items
installed to a restored building. Preliminaries group items include any preliminaries
works before the restoration works, but do not include scientific testing and temporary
works, as those items are placed in another main group separately as shown in Table V.
SS
1. Preliminaries
28,5
2. Research and documentation 2A. Scientific/chemical analysis
2B. Preparation of scaled photograph
2C. Preparation of Historical Architectural Building Survey
(HABS)
2D. Colour scheme testing
418 2E. Preparation of dilapidation survey report
2F. Video recordings
3. Dismantlement works 3A. Demolition works
4. Temporary works 4A. Scaffolding
4B. Temporary roofing
4C. Other associated work
5. Restoration works 5A. Roof and rainwater goods
5B. Floor structure and finishes
5C. External wall, doors and windows
5D. Internal walls, column and finishes
5E. Ceiling and finishes
5F. Staircase and balustrade
5G. Doors and windows
5H. Structural works
5I. Fixtures and fittings
5J. Decoration element
Table V.
5K. Conservation treatment
Recommended cost
5L. Services
analysis format for
conservation works 6. New building works 6A. New additional works
Corresponding author
Lim Yoke Mui can be contacted at: limyokemui@gmail.com