A cost data management framework proposal to help accelerate whole life costing in Tanzania building construction industry

Manege, Sylvester L.; Kennedy, Craig; Aloyce, Deogratias

Abstract

Despite a widespread understanding of whole life costing within the Tanzanian building construction industry, practical implementation remains limited. A significant hindrance to the adoption of this approach is the absence of dependable cost data. To address the challenge, this paper introduces a robust cost data management framework designed to facilitate the integration of whole life costing practices in the industry. The framework, evaluated by 34 building construction professionals in Tanzania through a mixed-method research approach embracing a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews with 11 participants, is recognised for its clarity, comprehensiveness, and relevance to the industry. It provides a strategic roadmap for leveraging technology to establish a readily accessible and efficient system for managing cost data. Despite positive feedback, challenges to the proposed framework include reluctance to change, technological limitations, and financial constraints. Nevertheless, the potential benefits of the framework, such as the provision of reliable cost data, expedited access to information, and overall improvement in cost data management, are acknowledged. This research underscores the critical role of overcoming the lack of dependable cost data as a pivotal step towards promoting the adoption of whole life costing practices in the Tanzanian building construction sector, emphasising the need for a technologically driven approach to enhance the accessibility and reliability of cost data.

• Online Publication Date: Oct 18, 2024
• Publication Date: 2025
• Deposit Date: Oct 25, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 19, 2025
• Publisher: Springer (part of Springer Nature)
• Pages: 1115-1130
• Series Title: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
• Book Title: Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction
• ISBN: 9789819749874
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-4988-1_62
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/13319738
• Additional Information: First Online: 18 October 2024; Conference Acronym: ICTAC; Conference Name: International Conference on Trends in Architecture and Construction; Conference City: Chandigarh; Conference Country: India; Conference Year: 2024; Conference Start Date: 8 April 2024; Conference End Date: 8 April 2024; Conference Number: 2; Conference ID: ictac-12024; Conference URL: https://www.cuchd.in/ictac2024/