Retrofitting in the Middle of Project Execution: Case Study of a Public Hospital Building

Since the publication of the Conseil International du Bâtiment or CIB's Agenda 21, local government has become an agent of change to achieve sustainability in development policy-making, including implementation of building standards. The Indonesian Earthquake-Resistant Building Standard was recently revised after considering sustainability and earthquake damage reduction methods by drawing on lessons learnt from past earthquakes. However, the willingness of building practitioners and local authorities to deal with those changes, particularly on the budget implications of project execution and appropriate procurement mechanisms, has raised a number of issues. Several of these stem from the lack of awareness and consistency in educating practitioners and officials. As a consequence, the implementation of the new standard has been slow and problematic. This paper presents a case study the impact of implementing and retrofitting a new earthquake resistance standard in a public hospital building in the middle of project execution. The research undertook structural simulation and field observation on an eight-storey public hospital building in Indonesia. The research found that the capabilities of contractors and awareness of local authorities of dynamical changes of policy implementation affected the project success. The analysis suggests that empirical guidance by the local authority is required for practical adjustments in governing retrofitting procedures in public building management.