Scope of design for production of wall partitions

Abstract

Purpose

The design for production of wall partitions (DPWP) offers high potential for improving the design process of building in Brazil. However, one of the problems worth mentioning is the lack of accurate definition of scope which leads to doubts about what, when and how it should be prepared, developed and delivered by the designers. The purpose of this paper is to assess the application of the Brazilian Association of Design Managers and Coordinators (AGESC) handbook scopes of DPWP in building construction.

Design/methodology/approach

A case study involving a field investigation of eight construction organisations and DPWP designers in the cities of Recife and Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Findings

The results obtained have shown that conformity (with specification) – the reference scope adopted AGESC handbook DPWP – was not entirely fulfilled by the companies, while the agreement (personal opinion on the appropriateness of the specification) with the scope was even lower among them. The major difference was found between conformity and agreement among the construction companies.

Originality/value

Guidelines concerning how to use the AGESC handbook for DPWP, description of potential uses and amplifying of the contributions to greater integration between expectations and resulting products, call for rational design and execution of non-loadbearing masonry in the Brazilian construction industry.

Citation

Casado Lordsleem Jr, A. and Burrattino Melhado, S. (2014), "Scope of design for production of wall partitions", Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 12 No. 2, pp. 263-279. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-06-2011-0035