Standardizing housing defects: classification, validation and benefits

Abstract

Defects produce economic and temporal deviations in construction projects. Although learning from past experiences can help reduce defects and their consequences, usually data is not easily available, or is poorly structured and difficult to analyze. Several structured classification systems for defects exist, but regionally specific construction activities make the data unviable for research use. This paper presents the development and the validation of a defects' classification system for the Spanish housing sector. From the analysis of the existing defect classification systems, a first draft was developed to be discussed and improved in a series of workshops done by a panel of experts. Afterwards, the final classification was validated by experts' interviews. The experts evaluated the epistemological adequacy and reusability of the proposed classification system. The results demonstrate the suitability of the classification system. In addition the validation revealed that the classification can be implemented in tracking systems, and it can be used to analyze defects in the Spanish housing sector. Finally, the classification was used in a case study to analyze the real use and it demonstrated the potential uses of the classification.