In search for a Systems Engineering application for Real Estate Procurement

Abstract

There is a growing acknowledgement that the requirements management process in the definition-phase of real estate projects is a crucial factor which significantly influences the total performance and problems in realized buildings can often be traced back to the management of this process. Many initiatives are conducted to analyse and improve the current practice but the process performed is still perceived as ‘inadequate’ or with numerous limitations. This knowledge is mainly based on experiences gained in context of traditional procurement projects and no studies are focused on critical factors related to the requirements management process performed in DBFMO-projects. We present the findings of a qualitative case study research which evaluated the process performed in the context of DBFMO-projects in the Dutch real estate sector to increase the knowledge on how the requirements management is performed; which variables influence the performance of this process and if the knowledge from traditional procurement is relevant for this context. On the practical performance of the process, the research presents the formulation of a normative SE model for the requirements management process which identified the relevant SE elements which can be used by the Rijksgebouwendienst for the definition of the DBFMO real estate projects. The study learned that the knowledge derived from the context of traditional procurement is relevant for the PPP-context, in addition to the enrichment of the available knowledge-base on the performance of the requirements management process performed in real estate projects.