Current Aspects of Construction Rehabilitation

Rehabilitation work suffers from wasteful attitudes, social conditions, and regulatory barriers that prevent it from reaching its potential. There are four primary ways in which rehabilitation projects are adversely affected by codes which are intended for use in new construction. Such codes tend to increase project costs 10-20%, add unnecessary project approval time, discourage feasible rehabilitation projects, and encourage payoffs to building officials. The Federal Government however, has issued draft rehabilitation guidelines designed to alleviate the negative impact building codes have on rehabilitation projects. The study conducted for this presentation shows that the management of rehab work is difficult and that many construction companies tend to shun rehabilitation. The investigation also indicates that producing plans and specifications is more time consuming, and that rehabilitation projects require more inspection and change orders compared with that of new construction. In addition, there may be a productivity decrease in rehabilitation that could possibly affect cost estimates and decrease profitability. Rehabilitation's positive aspects, however, include conservation of resources, providing contractors with interim work during slack periods, and helping to alleviate the current housing shortage.