Proposal for the integration of Target Costing into the design management of construction projects

• Grant number: 13/16747-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): September 19, 2013
• Effective date (End): November 18, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Applied Social Sciences - Architecture and Town Planning - Architecture and Urbanism Project
• Principal Investigator: Ariovaldo Denis Granja
• Grantee: Carolina Asensio Oliva
• Supervisor: Zofia K. Rybkowski
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo (FEC). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Texas A&M University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 12/21633-9 - Proposal for the Incorporation of Taget Costing into the Design Management of Construction Projects, BP.MS

Abstract

Government programs for housing funding have boosted a large number of opportunities, often representing a challenge for builders, developers and project offices. The quality of these new products can be impacted for cost constraints that most often characterize social housing projects (SHP), such as those destined for the Brazilian Government´s program (My House, My Life -MHML). SHP could benefit from Post-Occupancy Evaluation. However, when users' expectations are low, these may indicate bias of satisfaction, even though we know that conditions are unsuitable. Anecdotal evidences show that previous experiences these users had often represented a more precarious situation than the current one with SHP. Therefore, some researchers have incorporated the concept of value as a way to improve the functional requirements and quality of this type of product. A product delivered with higher quality often faces the expectation of tangible results established by the investors, mainly economics. Moreover, there are obstacles imposed by a highly fragmented and non-collaborative environment for product development process, jeopardizing the possibility of mutual collaboration. The Target Costing (TC) approach is envisioned as a strategy for greater integration between the parties, safeguarding specific interests, many times of conflicting nature. The application of TC in the building sector still presents challenges and is still a subject to be explored. As its main theme, this research aims to develop a proposal to implement the TC into the design management process for My House, My Life products. (AU)