INDICATORS FOR MEASURING SATISFACTION TOWARDS DESIGN QUALITY OF BUILDINGS

Abstract

: Design quality is an important component in measuring satisfaction towards total product
quality (TPQ) of buildings, the product of construction projects. Design Quality Indicator (DQI), developed
by the Construction Industry Council (CIC) in the UK looking at three quality fields, i.e. functionality, build
quality, and impact of building in measuring the quality of design embodied in the buildings through
feedback and perceptions of all stakeholders involved in the production and use of buildings. Design quality
is always a major concern in the Malaysian construction industry. With inspiration from this DQI, this study
was carried out to identify indicators for measuring the satisfaction towards design quality of buildings and to
evaluate the suitability of the indicators for application in the context of Malaysian construction industry.
Through literature survey, 32 indicators of design quality were identified and grouped into the three design
quality fields. A questionnaire survey was carried out among Malaysian construction professionals (architects,
engineers, quantity surveyors, contractors and developers) to assess the identified design quality indicators in
terms of their relevance and significance in the context of construction industry in Malaysia. The survey
reveals that access, natural lighting, access and use, structure element, landscape, finishes, location, external
environment, urban and social integration and noise are among the design quality indicators that were
perceived as the most important to be looked at. In overall, all the indicators are relevant for adoption in the
Malaysian construction industry to measure the satisfaction towards design quality of buildings.