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

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. 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.

Automated summary

This study reviews the issues and research related to building handover in construction and facility management journals, analyzing research trends, major challenges, and proposed solutions. The results show increasing research interest in building handover, with key challenges including post-construction defects, poor information fidelity, and interoperability issues between BIM and FM technologies. Researchers emphasize the importance of identifying information requirements, improving the handover process, and enhancing interoperability between BIM and FM for successful building handover.