Critical review of building handover-related research in construction and facility management journals

Abstract

Purpose

Although the handover stage is the key transition stage between the construction and operation, there is no critical overview of issues and research at the handover stage, hindering the achievement of sustainable development of buildings. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to review the building handover-related issues and research in construction and facility management (FM) journals. The specific objectives of this study include: analyze the research trends and overview the handover-related publications; identify the major research topics on the handover of buildings; identify research gaps and propose future research directions.

Design/methodology/approach

This study opted for a four-step systematic review of papers from the well-known academic journals in the construction and FM respects.

Findings

The results first revealed the increasing research interest in the handover of buildings from the researchers. Moreover, the post-construction defects, poor information fidelity, poor interoperability between building information modeling (BIM) and FM technologies, and insufficient consideration of end users were identified as the most concerned challenges for a building handover. Furthermore, identifying and formalizing information requirements for handover, improving the handover process, and improving the interoperability between BIM and FM were solutions mostly emphasized by researchers.

Research limitations/implications

As the first systematic review of building handover-related issues and research, this study is the building block for future research on this topic. The findings provide guidance for researchers in the construction and FM research community, and help them form useful collaboration for future research opportunities and find future research directions.

Practical implications

The identified significant challenges and potential solutions for a building handover could assist practitioners in making rational decisions on developing or adopting relevant technologies, and reshaping their management patterns and working processes. Moreover, the findings could be severed as evidence for policymakers to initiate policies, such as documents e-submission and timely updating BIMs, to achieve the vision of model-based project delivery.

Originality/value

This study contributed to the body of knowledge of sustainable development by providing a new insight to tackle the hindrance to the smooth transition from the construction to the operation.

Citation

Zhu, L., Shan, M. and Xu, Z. (2021), "Critical review of building handover-related research in construction and facility management journals", Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 154-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-10-2018-0442