Delivering quality interior design through effective project management in the Maltese construction industry

Abstract

As management and design play an important role in a project, it is pertinent to investigate the notion of quality from local developers` perspective, together with the functions of project management and interior design to investigate if and how these two professional services are being engaged or combined to effectively manage and deliver a quality project. International literature suggests that the successful quality outcome of a construction project is contingent upon several aspects of project management. Amongst them, "Integration Management" is crucial, since effective project management begins with the integration of all processes and stakeholders involved. Within the project life cycle, two particular stakeholders play an integral part in the successful completion of a project and its end quality. These are the "Project Manager" entrusted with managing the whole project and the other being the "Interior Designer" who is responsible for the design of internal components of a building project. There is limited local and international literature pertaining to the integration of project management and interior design services, thus an extensive literature review is presented to gain a comprehensive overview of the two bodies of knowledge independently to achieve quality in construction projects. On this basis, quantitative research methodology was employed to gather primary data through a questionnaire survey distributed to various local developers. It resulted that an integrative approach to projects is lacking in the local construction industry, and the literature likewise falls short in addressing this critical problem. This study revealed that, developers prioritize cost, time, communication management and quality management as the most important project management functions in a project. Developers consider these functions as adequate for their operations. This research study highlighted that project managers and interior designers are engaged only for specific portions of the project, and for small to medium scale projects, it is the developer that mostly adopts these roles. Due to lack of knowledge or due to a conservative approach to project management, developers are not properly integrating project management functions to the detriment of quality in construction projects. The research study`s results and conclusions are then combined to identify topics for further research to substantiate the local knowledge base.