Life cycle costing in construction projects – a case study of a municipal construction client organisation

Demands for sustainable and long-term decision making in the construction project management process is increasing. However, a wider use of decision support methods, such as LCC (Life Cycle Costing) seems still to be missing within project management practice. Considering that project managers in construction have key roles for a broader application of sustainable building it is interesting to investigate the interrelation between project management practice and LCC thinking. This issue is studied in a research project that goes beyond the prevailing technocratic view of LCC research by focusing on practices, praxis and social interaction as acts of organizing when developing technology, tools and concepts for sustainable building. The case study presented in this paper is a part of this project and investigates the development process of a customized LCC tool within a municipal construction client organisation. Tentative results indicate that there is a fragmented perception among project managers what LCC incorporates and which impact the use of LCC has and might have on the construction process. This, in turn, influences the actions of the construction project managers