Assessing the Determinants of Maintenance Effectiveness in Aged Buildings Using Structural Equation Modelling: An Empirical Study in Vietnam

Abstract

Effective management of aging buildings presents significant economic and technical challenges, particularly in large urban centers such as Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where numerous high-rise structures were constructed prior to 1975. Because operation and maintenance can comprise nearly 80% of overall life-cycle costs, pinpointing the factors that impede maintenance effectiveness is of vital importance. The present study constructs and validates a model to examine and quantify the critical factors that hinder Building Maintenance Effectiveness (BME). The study was carried out using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with data obtained from 147 valid responses of maintenance experts in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The suggested model exhibits substantial explanatory capacity, clarifying 74.5% of the variance in BME (R² = 0.745). The analysis reveals five statistically significant negative determinants: Building Management Factors (BMF), Budget and Financial-Related Factors (BFRF), Technical-Related Factors (TRF), Technology Application-Related Factors (TARF), and Building User-Related Factors (BURF). Among these, deficiencies in technology application (TARF) emerged as the most critical barrier (f² = 0.351), followed by moderate effects from management (BMF) and financial (BFRF) constraints. The study provides a data-driven analytical framework to support facility managers and policymakers in prioritizing investment resources, while emphasizing technology adoption as the most strategic intervention for optimizing performance and ensuring sustainable development of building assets.