Analyzing the Long-Term Service Life of MEP Using the Probabilistic Approach in Residential Buildings

Abstract

Establishing an effective long-term maintenance plan is essential to ensure the sustainability of a building. Among the various components of a building, the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) components are complexly affected by various parameters, such as quality and user pattern, with respect to the service life. Besides, these components are replaced at different points in time, which becomes one of the main risks when establishing a maintenance plan for the building. Therefore, it is very important to consider the uncertainty in calculating the service lives of MEP components in a systematic and reasonable way. This study aims to systemize the MEP components of residential buildings and analyze their service life patterns using a probabilistic approach for long-term maintenance planning. The analysis was performed on 54,318 maintenance cases from 1998 to 2017 at 65 twenty-five-year-old rental apartment buildings in South Korea. Before performing the analysis, a service life matrix was established by classifying the MEP components into 12 types and setting the service life time at 6–25 years. Then, the service life distribution was derived for each MEP component. The probabilistic approach can provide information for rational maintenance decision-making regarding each MEP component as well as basic service life settings. Since the performance of the MEP components deteriorates due to various reasons, de facto uncertainty exists in the service life of each component; thus, the probabilistic approach can serve as an important decision-making method. If probabilistic methods are developed by acquiring the cost data in addition to the frequency of maintenance activity used in this study, a more effective long-term maintenance plan can be established.