Investigation in to the impacts of refurbishment projects on business operations of office buildings in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Building refurbishment is the performance of re-styling or modifying an existing building. Buildings will not necessarily need a full refurbishment very often, but it is beneficial to carry out some work often, either to the interior or exterior. Nowadays refurbishments are common due to many reasons. Discontinuing business operations for the reason of refurbishment is not a good proposal. Hence, business owners tend to start new refurbishment projects while normal operation is continuing. Nevertheless, it should be with the minimal effect to the current operation. Thus, this study was aimed at investigating the impacts of refurbishment projects on business operations of Sri Lankan office buildings. This research problem was approached through case studies of two organisations, which have undertaken refurbishment projects while the business operations are in process. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten participants which included managers and occupants for data collection. The data was analysed using manual content analysis and cross-case analysis. The findings revealed that refurbishment projects have a significant impact on business operations such as separate accesses, noise, dust, reduced facilities, loss of productivity, risk of health and safety, additional financial requirements etc. Business operations could be categorized according to various business processes such as Marketing, Customer services, Logistics, Operations, Financial planning, Human Resources etc. Moreover, the results disclosed that Managers in selected cases have taken actions like health and safety measures, rescheduling, backup services, temporary workstations etc. to minimize those impacts. Based on those findings, a set of strategies were developed. The proposed strategies indicate the effective practices that could be used to minimize the impacts of refurbishment projects on business operations. The findings of this research will be useful for the industry practitioners for better management of business operations during refurbishment projects.