opportunities for client requirements management in …€¦ · housing provision. low-income...

OPPORTUNITIES FOR CLIENT REQUIREMENTSMANAGEMENT IN LOW-INCOME HOUSE BUILDING

PROJECTS IN BRAZIL

Fernanda Lustosa Leite1, Luciana Inês Gomes Miron2 and Carlos Torres Formoso3

ABSTRACT

This paper describes the main results of multiple-case studies concerned with client requirementsmanagement in the product development process (PDP) of eight low-income house-building projects,carried out in the South of Brazil. These projects were developed in two different existing forms ofhousing provision in Brazil: the Residential Leasing Program (Programa de ArrendamentoResidencial—PAR) and the City Entrance Integrated Program (Programa Integrado Entrada daCidade—PIEC). Both are new forms of housing provision as far as they have created new types of cli-ent-supplier relationships that have never been experienced in Brazil before. The aim of this paper is todescribe the PDP of both forms of housing provision as well as to discuss opportunities for client re-quirements management, emphasizing the role of the state in value generation. This investigation wasbased on the analysis of design, production control and legal documents, semi-structured interviewscarried out with design and production professionals, as well as the evaluation of users’ degree of sat-isfaction. This study is part of a broader research project, which aims to propose guidelines for clientrequirements management in low-income house-building projects.

KEY WORDS

Client requirements management, Value generation, Product development process, Low-Incomehouse-building projects.

INTRODUCTION

The debate over the replacement of the mass pro-duction paradigm by the Lean Production modelhas created an opportunity to extend the theoreti-cal basis to operations management research; thisis the purpose of the TFV (transformation, flowand value) theory proposed by Koskela (2000).According this author, the value generation viewis the least understood among the views. Thus, atthe outset, the development of researches to inves-tigate methods, approaches and practices areneeded. In this paper, the client requirements

management is treated as a practice to improvevalue generation.

In the construction industry, the term most tra-ditionally used for requirements capture is brief-ing. The CIB (1997) defines briefing as theprocess through which a client informs others ofhis or her needs, aspirations and desires for a pro-ject (CIB 1997). Barrett and Stanley (1999) use abroader definition for the briefing process, assum-ing that this process should ensure that the client’srequirements are initiated, developed, adapted,maintained and communicated throughout theproject.

Product Development

333

1 M.Sc., Research Assistant at the Building Innovation Research Unit (NORIE), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul(UFRGS), Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99, 3o andar, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP: 90.035-190 Brazil. FAX:+ 55 51 3316 4054, e-mail:[email protected]

2 M.Sc., Ph.D. Candidate, Building Innovation Research Unit (NORIE), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul(UFRGS), Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99, 3o andar, Porto Alegre, RS, CEP: 90.035-190 Brazil. FAX:+ 55 51 3316 4054, e-mail:[email protected]

3 Ph.D., Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Osvaldo Aranha, 99, 3o andar,Porto Alegre, RS, CEP: 90.035-190 Brazil. FAX:+ 55 51 3316 4054, e-mail: [email protected]

Several research studies have criticized thebriefing process in practice. Although severalbriefing guides have been published, they arerarely used as a key source in the briefing process,because they are considered to be too prescriptiveor vague (Barrett and Stanley 1999; Smith andJackson 2000). Most brief-makers rely on theirown experience (Barrett and Stanley 1999), anddo not usually base their work on any type offormal procedures (Kamara et al. 2002). Theabsence of any objective or structured frameworkfor supporting the briefing process in complexprojects may lead to problems in the productdevelopment:a) (Clients’ needs are not sufficiently studied and

considered (Huovila and Serén 1998);b) (The brief is biased by the perspective of the

brief-taker (Barrett et al. 1999);c) (It may not be possible to properly balance the

perspectives from different interest groups aswell as to establish the relative importance ofrequirements (Kamara et al. 2002); and

d) (The conformity of selected technical solutionsis not managed systematically (Huovila andSerén 1998).

For this reason, from the conception of a project,the key objective should be to capture the clients’needs (either explicit or implicit), to interpretthem into requirements and to manage the confor-mity of technical solutions in different phases ofthe design and construction processes (Huovila &Séren 1998). The expression “client requirementsmanagement” used in this paper consists of theidentification, analysis, prioritization and avail-ability of information about the client’s necessi-ties and preferences. Such tasks can potentiallyresult in a better definition of possible designsolutions, consequently increasing the perceivedvalue by the client. Concurrently, a great chal-lenge for a designer is to define the best solution tomeet the client’s needs (considering all parts rep-resented by the client, specially the final client)(Kamara 1999).

The systematic management of information onclient requirements consists of finding the knowl-edge applicable to a problem situation and formu-lating it in project objectives and constraints. Thisprocess goes through several stages of refinementand iteration throughout the product developmentprocess. Moreover, it is closely related to the com-pany strategy in the market, since it starts by thedefinition of a target customer and a type of prod-uct. Such tasks may have a positive impact on thedesign solutions, avoiding what is named byKoskela (2000) as value loss, and consequentlyincreasing the perceived value by the client.

This study is focused on the identification ofbarriers and opportunities for improving valuegeneration in the product development processthrough the client requirements management,emphasizing the role of the state in two forms ofhousing provision.

LOW-INCOME HOUSING IN BRAZIL

According to the Brazilian Federal Government’sCities Ministry (Ministério das Cidades 2004), theBrazilian social debt related to the housing deficitis very large. More than 7 million families neednew homes and over 10 million homes have basicinfrastructure problems.

The social differences and the concentration ofwealth that exist in the Brazilian society, are phys-ically manifested in the segregated spaces inurban areas. In most large cities, the shortage ofdwellings is a major social problem, since 91.6%of the total Brazilian urban housing deficit is con-cerned the population that earns less than fiveminimum salaries a month (see Table 1).

According to Fundação João Pinheiro (2004),the housing needs include both the housing deficitand the inadequacy of existing dwellings. Itmeans that the deficit must be understood as theneed for the construction of new homes, becauseof both the replacement and increment of thehousing demand. The deficit also considers thatsome homes do not have adequate conditions for

Proceedings IGLC-13, July 2005, Sydney, Australia

334 Opportunities for client requirements management in low-income house building projects in Brazil

Region Urban Housing Deficit 0-3 Min. wages(%)

3-5 Min. wages(%)

5-10 Min. wages(%)

Over 10 Min.wages (%)

North 411,600 84.0 7.2 6.9 1.6

Northeast 1,729,100 91.3 5.1 2.1 0.7

Southeast 2,257,500 77.6 11.0 7.1 3.0

South 589,100 80.9 9.4 6.7 2.5

Center-west 427,600 82.9 7.8 6.5 2.0

Brasil 5,414,900 83.2 8.4 5.4 2.0

Table 1: Brazilian Urban Housing Deficit(Fundação João Pinheiro 2004)

inhabiting because of the poor quality of construc-tion or due to the deterioration of its physicalstructure, and also for the co-inhabitance of fami-lies or inhabitance in places that are meant fornon-residential activities.

The inadequacy of the housing stock affects notonly the quality of life of its inhabitants, but alsotheir self-esteem (Fundação João Pinheiro 2004).Inadequate homes are those that do not give itsinhabitants the desirable conditions of living, butit does not necessarily imply the construction ofnew dwelling units. Homes with lack of infra-structure needs (sewage system, rubbish collec-tion, etc.), with too many inhabitants, legalproblems, high degree of degradation, areclassified as inadequate.

Due to these complex housing needs and thelack of resources for public investment have led tosome important changes on the Brazilian Govern-ment’s role in the provision of low-income hous-ing in the last few decades. Instead of being thesole promoter (and client) of the construction oflarge housing estates, the Government has createda wide range of housing provision schemes, inwhich there is much involvement of both thepublic and private sectors, including local authori-ties. This has led to a growing financial, regula-tory, environmental, social and technicalcomplexity, which has made the construction pro-cess of low-income house buildings highly decen-tralized in Brazil. A larger number oforganisations are involved, resulting in require-ment conflicts and in the need to manage manytrade-offs.

This situation is made even more complex dueto the fact that the government has to deal withcomplete housing provision instead of simplyproviding housing. In this sense, the term housingprovision must be understood as the group of spe-cific actions developed by various governmentaland non-governmental agents, that result in one ormany types of dwelling units, while completehousing provision is concerned with supplying ofa dwelling unit in an area with urban infrastruc-ture, giving complete inhabitance conditions(Werna et al. 2001). The provision of a completedwelling unit demands the involvement of a muchlarger number of organisations and creates differ-ent forms of relationships among them.

Consequently, managing the product develop-ment process in such context has become a muchmore difficult task, especially considering con-straints in terms of resources and the need todeliver products that provide more value from theuser’s perspective.

The importance of low-income housing inBrazil has made the Federal Government torestructure its housing policy in recent years in

order to create adequate institutional conditions toface this problem. The main existing programshave been designed to bring together the FederalGovernment, and Local Authorities as partners inaction. The Brazilian Government is trying toavoid specific, isolated and disperse interven-tions, acting in an integrated form focusing invest-ments in conjoint actions that involve all threelevels of the government, the private sector, andthe community.

The Residential Leasing Program (Programade Arrendamento Residencial—PAR) and the CityEntrance Integrated Program (ProgramaIntegrado Entrada da Cidade—PIEC) illustratetwo representative forms of housing provision inBrazil. They were selected for this research pro-ject because they focus on the population that rep-resents the largest part of the Brazilian housingdeficit—lower than five minimum salaries ofmonthly income. The PIEC is a specific programcarried out in Porto Alegre, led by the City Coun-cil, and is focused on a population with a familymonthly income between zero and three mini-mum wages. The PAR program is being devel-oped in the entire country and is focused on apopulation with a family monthly incomebetween three and five minimum wages.

RESEARCH METHOD

OVERVIEW

This paper describes the main results of a multiplecase study concerned with client requirementsmanagement in the PDP of eight low-incomehouse-building projects, carried out in the Southof Brazil. This investigation was based on theanalysis of design, production control and legaldocuments, semi-structured interviews carriedout with professionals involved in the conception,design, production and financing of the PAR andPIEC programs.

It is important to point out that, in both forms ofhousing provision, process maps were devised inorder to better understand the PAR and the PIECas well as to identify the main opportunities forclient requirements management. The processmaps consisted of: the main phases (conception,design, production and use), milestones betweeneach phase (contracts and delivery), main clients(funding agencies, construction companies, CityCouncil, final clients), main activities carried outin each phase by each client and the critical activi-ties identified in the process (those that may slowthe process down or even paralyze it, demandingspecial attention). These process maps weredeveloped in previous studies in project

Product Development

Fernanda Lustosa Leite, Luciana Inês Gomes Miron and Carlos Torres Formoso 335

REQUALI and will not be presented in thepresent article.

Regarding the PAR program, seven case stud-ies were carried out. In these studies, seven house-building projects were analyzed in the cities ofPelotas, Rio Grande and Santa Maria, all in theState of Rio Grande do Sul. Besides the analysisof the development of the seven projects, 8 inter-views were carried out with professionals fromdesign and construction companies, as well asfrom public institutions, such as the BrazilianPublic Savings Bank (Caixa Econômica Federal).Based on these evidences, a process map for PARprojects was proposed. This made the identifica-tion of opportunities for improving client require-ments management in this program possible.Moreover, evaluations of user’s satisfaction infour PAR projects that have already been deliv-ered to the final users were carried out. In thisevaluation, 20% of the families were interviewed.Multiple sources of evidence were used in thisinvestigation: the critical incident technique, aquestionnaire with closed questions for measuringthe degree of satisfaction, direct observation ofthe dwelling units, documentation on the way theapartments were used (layout), and changesintroduced by users.

For the comprehension of the PIEC, a casestudy was carried out, analyzing it as a whole. Inthis case study, the three housing allotments thatwere concluded in the first phase of the programwere analyzed. A process map was also outlined,based on 16 interviews carried out with profes-sionals from various disciplines and organisa-tions, such as the Brazilian Public Savings Bank,Fonplata (Fund for the Financial Development of

the River Plate Basin), all the eight secretariatsthat form the Municipal Executive Unit, part ofPorto Alegre’s City Council. Other sources of evi-dence included designs and reports supplied bythe City Council for the Brazilian Public SavingsBank, participation in seminars and workshops,and direct observation of the informal settlementsand new allotments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE RESIDENTIALLEASING PROGRAM

The Residential Leasing Program (Programa deArrendamento Residencial—PAR) started in 2001and is targeted to families with a total monthlyincome of two to six minimum wages. The pro-gram provides resources for the development ofconstruction or refurbishment housing projects inmetropolitan areas, state capitals and urban cen-ters, with a population of, at least, 100,000 inhab-itants. This program is managed by the CitiesMinistry of the Federal Government of Brazil andis operated by the Brazilian Public Savings Bank.Construction companies’ role is to develop andconstruct these projects.

The Residential Leasing Program (PAR) is cur-rently one of the most important programs forlow-cost housing provision in Brazil, havingdelivered over 170,000 dwelling units from 2001to 2005 in the whole country. It is a new form ofhousing provision and requires innovative rolesfor both public and private organizations in prod-uct development, and a new form of relationshipwith the final user, which has never been experi-enced in Brazil before.



Figure 1: PAR in downtown Porto Alegre Figure 2: PAR in Pelotas—countrysite of Rio Grande do Sul

Table 2 presents the main clients involved inthe Residential Leasing Program along with theirresponsibilities. It is important to point out thatthe main client is the Bank, since it plays a majorrole in the conception of projects and owns thebuildings for a minimum period of 15 years. Itstechnical staff is responsible for establishing themain parameters for the product (cost yardstick,design parameters, criteria for choosing technolo-gies, etc.), design evaluation, and final userselection.

The users have a fairly late participation in theprocess, being selected only during the productionphase, when the design has already been con-cluded. This is a potential source of value loss andmay cause future conflicts during the 15-yearleasing period, since the Bank does not allow anyirreversible change to be made in the dwellingunit. In this sense, it would be very important to

identify the users’ requirements in order to mini-mize these conflicts and increase the product’svalue, since they can become the owners after theleasing period.

In the state of Rio Grande do Sul, 58 PAR pro-jects are either already in the use phase or in theproduction phase. Only in 2004, 3.4 thousanddwellings were built in 11 different urban areas:Bagé, Cachoeirinha, Novo Hamburgo, Parobé,Passo Fundo, Pelotas, Portão, Porto Alegre, RioGrande, Santa Maria e Sapiranga.

Of these 11 towns, two of them stand out:Pelotas (with 12 projects) and Porto Alegre (with9 projects, including 4 refurbishments). Due to theimportance of these two cities for the PAR Pro-gram, they were chosen as a focus for the develop-ment of this research. The four projects selectedfor the evaluation of users’ degree of satisfactionwere located in those towns, three in Pelotas andone in Porto Alegre.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY ENTRANCEINTEGRATED PROGRAM

The City Entrance Integrated Program (ProgramaIntegrado Entrada da Cidade—PIEC), started in2002 in Porto Alegre. The PIEC will benefit 3,775families, who live precariously in 22 informal set-tlements. In the first phase of PIEC, that hasalready been concluded, 413 families receivednew dwellings. The first phase of PIEC wasfinanced by Habitar Brasil IDB4 (HBB). One ofthe most important requirements of HBB is thecreation of a Municipal Executive Unit, whichwas composed by eight City Council secretariats:planning cabinet, department of housing, mayor’scabinet, regional administrative center, roadsystem, industry and commerce, environmentaland urban planning. The PIEC is can be describedas an integrated approach to housing provision

Product Development


Clients Responsibilities

Cities Ministry Establishes directives andmanages the program

Brazilian Public SavingsBank (Caixa EconômicaFederal—CEF)

Operates the program

Public partners (CityCouncils, community)

Help CEF Identify land plotsand help in the process ofselecting families

Construction Companies Design and build PAR projects

Estate agents Facilities management

Users—families that fulfillthe minimum requirements,capable of living in a PARbuilding

Pay the leasing andmaintenance taxes, as well asmaintain the dwelling unit

Table 2: The main clients involved theResidential Leasing Program

Figure 4: New dwellings, part of PIECFigure 3: Informal settlement in Porto Alegre

4 This is a housing program that is partially financed by the Inter-american Development Bank (IDB)

because it merges five projects for the sameneighborhood: road infrastructure, environmentalrecovery, housing (including special houses forthe handicapped), social work (includingcommunity participation) and planning.

The program’s conception was a very complexprocess that lasted around 6 years. The interven-tion area involved three neighborhoods in the cityof Porto Alegre (Humaitá, Farrapos andNavegantes). The selection of this area was madeaccording to indicators concerned with the qualityof life in that area, that were among the lowest inthe country.

Moreover, the evolution of the PIEC Program isalso a consequence of the Participatory Budget(Orçamento Participativo—OP), which was initi-ated in the beginning of the 1990s in Porto Alegre.According to Fruet (2003), the need to solve urbanproblems (lack of urban services, secure tenure,transportation, education and health services) hasmotivated people to organize and adhere to thisnew space of participation: “The OP facilitates theparticipation of citizens and organizations in thediscussion and on the elaboration of the city’sannual Plan of Investments. The aim of the OP isto better redistribute public revenue towards themore under-privileged regions of the city and alsoto democratize the relationship between state andcivil society. The transparency embedded in theprocess helps to combat clientelism and patron-age. Its three basic principles are: (1) universalparticipation rules in regular and institutionalbodies; (2) objective methodology for the defini-tion of resources for investment; and (3) decen-tralized decision-making process based on thedivision of the city into 16 budgetary regions(Fruet 2003)”.

The OP established among several priorities thedevelopment of integrated housing provision pro-jects in Special Social Interest Areas. This alliedto the demands of international financing institu-tions, and to the previous experience of the CityCouncil in housing provision, created the condi-tions for conceiving this fairly innovative low-income housing Program in Porto Alegre. This isthe largest housing provision scheme in Brazil atthe moment.

The size of the project demanded much effortfor integrating the work of the professionals formthe various City Council secretariats involved,and also from the funding agencies and from theFederal Government. Moreover, a supportingsocial work project is being developed, focused

on the implementation of new mechanisms forenabling the future community’s participationpossible, such as community organization andmobilization, environmental and sanitaryeducation, as well as job creation and income gen-eration.

PIEC is different than PAR because there is aclear definition of the community to be served.The aim is to improve the living conditions ofthose families living in the existing irregular set-tlements. The social work project included,among other actions, the collection of fairlydetailed data on the families that will benefit fromthe project. Another important client in the PIECProgram is the City Hall itself, because of itsinvolvement in the conception and developmentof the entire program and in the futuremanagement of the settlements.

PRELIMINARY RESULTS

These studies are part of the Requirements Man-agement and Quality Improvement in SocialHousing (REQUALI)5 Project, which is still in itsearly stages. The main results so far are concern-ing the description of the PDP in both types ofprojects, including the identification of opportuni-



Clients Responsibilities

Cities MinistryEstablishes directivesaccording to HBB (HabitarBrasil IDB)

Brazilian Public SavingsBank (Caixa EconômicaFederal – CEF)

Manages the first and secondphases of the program – HBBfinancing

City Council

Develops the PIEC(conception, design, planning,budget, building inspection,post occupancy supervision,maintenance)

Private partners, communityassociations, publicinstitutions, universities andNGOs (non-governmentalorganizations)

Help City Council in the socialwork project

Construction companiesBuild allotment projects,infrastructure, equipment,squares, road system

Users - families frominformal settlements whoearn between 0 and 3minimum wages

Participate of PIECdevelopment, sign theadhesion term, pay theoccupancy expense

Table 3: The main clients involved in the first phase ofPIEC and their responsibilities

5 The REQUALI Project started in 2003 and its conclusion is previewed for 2006. It is being carried out by anetwork of six Brazilian universities in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (Federal University of Rio Grande doSul, Federal University of Pelotas), Ceará (Federal University of Ceará, Ceará State University), Paraná(Londrina State University) and Bahia (Feira de Santana State University). The main objective of the REQUALI

ties for improving client requirements manage-ment.

THE RESIDENTIAL LEASING PROGRAM’SPRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Three main phases were identified in the PDP ofPAR projects. In the conception and design phase,the construction company developed the design,look for a land plot and proposes a design that issubmitted to the National Savings Bank, andsometimes also to the municipal housing depart-ment or secretariat. It is also in this first phasewhere the registration of the prospective dwellersis carried out. Once the project is approved, theBank signs a contract with the construction com-pany, buying out the project. In the productionphase, the construction company builds the pro-ject and the Bank inspects the production. In thissecond phase, the social work project and theselection of the users are done. The last phase isthe use and operation phase, which starts when theproject is delivered to the Bank and, finally, to thefinal users.

Four main opportunities for client requirementscapture were identified: during the registration ofthe prospective users, the selection process, thesocial work project, and the evaluation of user’ssatisfaction. Even though no substantial change ismade in the PDP, these four activities can poten-tially be changed in order to create conditions forincreasing the value of the product for the finaluser and also for the Bank, since it will be theowner of the dwellings for at least 15 years. Ofthese four opportunities, the evaluation of users’satisfaction was initially chosen to be developed.For that reason, four post-occupancy evaluationswere carried out in four PAR projects, three inPelotas and one in Porto Alegre. From the evalua-tions, several important sources of dissatisfactionwere identified, such as the integration of thekitchen and the living room, and the reduced sizeof the laundry room. Such critical points should begiven special attention during the conception ofnew projects. Also, a k-means cluster analysiswas done using seven variables collected in theevaluations: age, educational level, number ofinhabitants in the dwelling unit, number of chil-dren in the dwelling unit, previous home (house orapartment), degree of satisfaction with thecommon areas and degree of satisfaction with thedwelling unit. Four different clusters were identi-fied, each one with different characteristics,

which indicates a fairly broad diversity of peopleliving in PAR projects.

THE CITY ENTRANCE INTEGRATEDPROGRAM’S PRODUCT DEVELOPMENTPROCESS

Compared to the PAR Program, the PDP in thePIEC Program is much broader, since it involvesfive different types of projects. Besides being con-cerned with housing provision, that program alsoinvolves restructuring a very large urban area,especially due to changes in the road system andenvironmental recovery. In order to make thisthorough intervention feasible, there is a need tointegrate the work of several departments of theCity Council, and different design disciplines thattake part in the PDP. In search of integration, amultidisciplinary approach was used among sec-retariats and, especially, inside the MunicipalDepartment of Housing (DEMHAB). In fact, thisprogram demands a new form of working thatbreaks the traditional organizational structure ofthe City Council that results in the fragmentationof the process view by professionals involved.

Another difference from that program to PARis the stronger emphasis on the social work pro-ject, which aims to promote the inclusion of thosepeople in the formal city by means of job creationand income generation, besides community par-ticipation in some phases of the development ofhouse building projects. The social work projecthas deserved a special emphasis in this studybecause it represents an important opportunity forclient requirements management. Besides, it is aninitiative that tries to promote the effective socialinclusion of the communities involved. PIEC wasthe first program with specific resources for thesocial work project in the city of Porto Alegre.This has resulted in the first application of a thor-ough client requirements capture effort through asocial and economic survey, which allowed muchdata from the community to be collected, such asincome, educational level, jobs, relationship withanimals, existing handicapped people). Amongothers, through the register, it was possible todefine the replacement of communities in nearareas in order to guarantee that similar conditionswere given related to income generation activitiesas well as social relations (leisure, support,safety).

Besides, the interface with the participatorybudget demands (OP) and the creation of threeinitiatives (community organization and mobili-

Product Development


project consists of establishing criteria and directives for client requirements management in low-income housebuilding projects, aiming at the improvement of these projects’ quality. The studies are focuses on existingprograms in Brazil, such as PAR and PIEC.

zation, environmental and sanitary education, andjob creation and income generation) has incre-mented the community participation mechanismsin the process. It is important to point out that theinvolvement of the City Council professionalswith the community through the regional commit-tee of project follow-up, which is part of the com-munity organization and mobilization initiative,made the design and production of the project fea-sible. Nevertheless, the integration between thecommunity participation mechanisms and theCity Council teams has not been fully developedyet.

Since PIEC is more advanced in client require-ments capture, when compare to PAR, the analy-sis of the PIEC Program pointed out three mainopportunities for improving client requirementsmanagement: qualify the professionals involvedto perceive the whole program development pro-cess; improve the multidisciplinary approaches towork; and improve the integration among themechanisms of community participation. Allopportunities are related to improve the valuegeneration through the understanding the programas a whole and the integration among its parts,allowing the interests of the main clients to drivethe improvement of citizenship.

CONCLUSIONS

The study for both forms of housing provisionindicated that there is much potential for improv-ing client requirements management from the ini-tial phases of building projects. In the PIECProgram there is much effort to capture clientrequirements early in the project but it seems thatthese requirements are not well processed duringthe PDP. By contrast, in the PAR projects, there isno client requirements capture in the beginning ofthe process, leading to a design that follows, to alarge extent, the logic of mass production, since itdoes not consider specific requirements of thefinal clients. The developers of PAR projectsbelieve that, by following the logic of mass pro-duction, they can reduce overall costs. But thereare other effective means of cost reduction that arenot currently used in the PAR, such as continuousflow of construction, reduction of productiondeadlines and reduction of the design approvalperiod, which varies from nine to twelve months.In this sense, there is a potential for the introduc-tion of the logic of mass customization in PARprojects. The register of the families, carried outduring the social project in the PIEC, is an exam-ple of client requirements capture that could beadapted to for the PAR projects, identifying theclient’s needs before the design phase. Neverthe-

less, the requirement processing must beimproved in both programs.

Also, a need for a more thorough view of thePDP as well as collaboration between the organi-zations and professionals that develop the prod-ucts and those that inspect them for both forms ofhousing provision is needed. For the PIEC pro-jects, there should be a more intense collaborationbetween the Bank and the City Council. More-over, for the PAR projects, there should be a moreintense information flow between the Bank andthe construction companies that develop theproducts, avoiding re-work.

Among the agents that conceive the programs(the Bank for the PAR projects and the City Coun-cil for the PIEC projects), an improvement oppor-tunity was identified when it comes to theintegration among the various sectors in theseinstitutions. In both institutions, because of thetraditional fragmented structure, the technicianshave difficulty in viewing the entire PDP becausethey only work in parts of it. The development ofan organizational structure that permits andenables conjoint actions can be reached throughthe use of training and approaches that can helpthese professionals to view the process as a whole.This integrated view of the processes is a pre-req-uisite for client requirements management.Besides this, the use of approaches to managetrade-offs and establish communication inter-faces, as well as specific training for collaborativework, is needed for client requirements manage-ment and, consequently, value generation for themain clients involved in the processes. Moreover,the PIEC indicate a new trend in Brazilian hous-ing interventions, being more complete and thor-ough when compared to the more traditionalpunctual and fragmented interventions, such asPAR.

Finally, another important point in value gener-ation is the participation of the final client in thedevelopment process. For the PIEC, there is anintense participation of the final client in the pro-cess, from the conception phase, through the iden-tification of their demands by the participatorybudget. This participation goes through the devel-opment of the design, production, until the useand operation of these projects. By contrast, in thePAR Program, the final clients have no effectiveparticipation in the process and the families areonly selected at the end of the production phase,when the design has already been completed.Therefore, their requirements are not properlycaptured at the beginning of the process. Theassessment of both forms housing provision fromthe point of view of value generation could beused in order to improve them both, especiallyrelated to client requirements management.



The studies carried out were mainly focused ofclient requirements capture, which is the firstphase of client requirements management. Futurestudies, also in project REQUALI, will be carriedout in order to consider the information on users inthe PDP, which has already been developed inprevious studies, using tools for analyzing, estab-lishing priorities and controlling the flow of clientrequirements, such as: tree of objectives, designbrief, multidisciplinary-team meetings, the PDPlog, web site and project extranet as well as indi-cators of design and production planning (Miron,2003).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to FINEP—Programa Habitare, CNPqand CAPES for the financial support and to publicand private organizations that have been partnersin the REQUALI research project (RequirementsManagement and Quality Improvement in SocialHousing).

REFERENCES

Barrett, P.S.; Hudson, J.; and Stanley, C. (1999).Good practice in briefing: the limits of ratio-nality. Automation in Construction, 8, 633–642.

Barrett, P.S. and Stanley, C. (1999). Better Con-struction Briefing. Blackwell Science,Oxford.

CIB (1997). Building the Team, Working Group1. Thomas Telford, UK.

Fruet, G. (2003). “The low-income housing coop-eratives in Porto Alegre, Brazil: a state/com-munity partnership”. Habitat International,Elsevier, Oxford, UK, 2(29), 303–324.

Fundação João Pinheiro (2004). DéficitHabitacional no Brasil: MunicípiosSelecionados em Microrregiões Geográficas(Brazilian Housing Deficit: Selected cities ingeographical micro-regions). Fundação JoãoPinheiro, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. 99 pp. (inPortuguese).

Huovila, Pekka; Serén, K.J. (1998). “Customer-oriented design for construction projects”.Journal of Engineering Design, 9(3).

Kamara, J.M. et al. (2002). Capturing clientrequirements in construction projects.Thomas Telford, London.

Kamara, J.M. et al. (1999). “Client requirementsprocessing in construction: a new approachusing QFD”. Journal of architectural engi-neering, ASCE, New York, 5(1) 8–15.

Koskela, L. (2000). “An exploration towards aproduction theory and its application to con-struction. 296 f. Thesis. (Doctor of Technol-ogy). Technical Research Centre of Finland—VTT. Helsinki.

Ministério das Cidades (2004). Política Nacionalde Habitação (National Housing Policy).Ministério das Cidades, Brasília, Brazil. 103pp. (in Portuguese)

Miron, L.I.G.; Formoso, C.T. (2003). “ClientRequirement Management in Building Pro-jects”. International Group For Lean Con-struction Conference, 11, Blacksburg:Virginia.

Smith, J. and Jackson, N. (2000). “Strategic needsanalysis: its role in brief development”. Facil-ities, 18(13/14). 502–512.

Werna et al. (2001). Pluralismo na Habitação(Housing Pluralism). Annablume, São Paulo,Brazil. 299 pp. (in Portuguese)

Product Development


opportunities for client requirements management in …€¦ · housing provision. low-income...

Documents