Cladding interface management: UOB Plaza, Singapore

Problems in large scale complex buildings are more likely to occur at the interfaces between components or elements of the building. This is particularly true for elements such as high performance, bespoke designed cladding, and affects design development, construction and long term performance of the building. The key to improvements in the efficiency of building design and construction lies in the area of interface management. UOB Plaza 2 was one of 15 case projects used to study interface management. This project was funded by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This paper presents the major findings regarding interface management and compares them with the findings from the UOB Plaza case study. The major findings are: - Problems on complex construction projects become concentrated around the interfaces. - Tolerance issues at the interface, particularly with the building structure, cause major problems. - Different trades have different cultures, with different attitudes to tolerances, damage and interface responsibility. - Proper interface consideration is essential for effective management of the design development, testing and construction phases. Failure will lead to poor coordination on site, contractual conflicts and future problems with the works. - Effort invested at the early stages of the project, particularly early design development, will reduce the problems encountered later. - A positive, proactive and open attitude to interfaces from the whole project team improves constructability and productivity on site.