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The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of an indicative assessment of the major technical and functional elements of performance, carried out on the main academic and research library of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

Published literature has been analyzed to review knowledge areas pertaining to the performance requirements of academic and research library facilities. A questionnaire was developed to obtain the users' feedback on their experience with the built environment. The findings of the user satisfaction survey were analyzed and reported to describe the degree of compliance with the collected performance requirements. Finally, a plan of action was developed and recommended to improve the performance of the main academic and research library of KFUPM.

The study has determined the values of the satisfaction indices obtained for the 22 elements of performance, and identified the corresponding degree of satisfaction with each of the elements. The study also developed a plan of action to improve the performance of the library.

The main purpose of conducting the assessment was to determine whether or not design decisions made by design professionals are providing the performance needed by users who use the facility. The paper provides a systematic approach to evaluating the technical and functional performance of existing academic library facilities. It is of practical value to library administrators and facility managers responsible for day‐to‐day operations of such facilities.

The increasingly improved automotive vehicle production technology has allowed consumers to purchase passenger cars and commercial vehicles at reasonably affordable prices. This has resulted in greater demands for the construction and installation of motor fuel dispensing facilities, or simply “gas stations”, in virtually all urban districts worldwide. However, unlike most consumer products, which are designed to be fire resistant, highly flammable gasoline dispensed at these facilities is intended and formulated to burn. Therefore, fire safety of motor fuel dispensing facilitates becomes a major concern since these facilities form one of the greatest fire hazards that millions of people visit everyday. This paper seeks to address this issue.

This paper reviews the current international and local legislation and requirements on fire safety in gas station facilities, and presents the findings of a case study conducted to evaluate fire prevention measures and fire protection equipment in five gas station facilities located in the growing City of Al‐Khobar, Saudi Arabia, where dispensing of motor fuel is carried out in an outside shaded area by station attendants.

The evaluation revealed that none of the five gas stations is complying with all fire safety regulations. Recommendations are made to improve fire safety at such facilities by regular inspection and evaluation.

Although the results are limited to Saudi Arabia the approach taken could be extended to other geographical areas.

The paper is of practical value to facility managers responsible for day‐to‐day operations of gas station facilities.

The paper reviews literature from North America as well as that pertaining to the legislation in the country where the case study facilities are located.

The objectives of this paper are to identify and rate the importance levels of the factors that may affect business continuity during partial renovation of office buildings while being occupied. The paper also proposes a checklist of measures to carry out in order to reduce the impact of renovation works on business continuity.

The authors have analyzed the published literature for the purpose of reviewing the reasons for renovating the workplace, and aspects of planning and scheduling renovation works in occupied facilities. A sum of 24 elements that may affect business continuity during partial renovations of open‐plan office buildings while being occupied were identified. These factors were classified under four categories, including functional, technical, behavioral, and management practice factors. The authors then developed a questionnaire to rate users' perception of importance to each of the identified 24 elements and conducted a survey to evaluate the importance of these elements on business continuity in two office buildings.

The importance levels of each of the elements were analyzed and reported. The authors also developed a checklist of measures to carry out to reduce the impact of renovation works on business continuity in office buildings.

Facilities during their life cycle may be renovated to restore or upgrade the functionality of their building elements, or to suit a new function. Renovation works could negatively affect businesses continuity and decrease levels of productivity due to their impact of the technical systems in the building, and the time spent on relocating employees to temporary facilities until the renovations are completed. However, in some cases renovation works could be performed without the need for relocating employees, or the business to be stopped. The paper provides a practical value to building owners and facility managers intending to undertake renovation works during the life cycle of their buildings.

The purpose of this paper is to present an IDEF₀ framework model for the post-occupancy evaluation of school facilities, and the findings of a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the framework.

The framework model consists of five sequential processes, namely: first, identify the performance requirements of school facilities; second, conduct a walk-through evaluation and a focussed group discussion; third, develop and administer a user satisfaction survey; fourth, analyze the collected data and report the findings; and fifth, develop a plan of remedial actions.

The case study demonstrates the applicability of the framework through presenting the findings of an indicative evaluation of the major technical and functional elements of performance carried out on a school building in city of Khobar, Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The school users were satisfied with the qualities of the thermal comfort, visual comfort, fire protection, functional spaces in the school and the interior and exterior appearance of the school. The case study also resulted in developing a plan of remedial actions to improve the performance of the school.

The framework model provides a descriptive and systematic approach for evaluating the technical and functional performance of existing school facilities. The approach followed in collecting the data, designing the user satisfaction survey, analyzing and reporting the findings can be applied to any school building, upon the needed customization, irrespective of location.

The paper is particularly beneficial for design professionals, school administrators and facilities managers responsible for the design and operation of school facilities.

This paper provides an exemplary systematic conduct of post‐occupancy evaluation (POE) on higher education facilities in Saudi Arabia.

The research study utilized several qualitative and quantitative POE techniques which were systematically comprising (1) scoping and reviewing the facilities-related documents, (2) identification of performance indicators through the review of literature, (3) development and collection of questionnaire survey responses from stakeholders, (4) collection of physical measurements and (5) assessing the facilities by walk-throughs. Then, the data were analyzed and the findings were reported to representative samples of users through focus group meetings. Then, recommendations were drawn for improving the occupational conditions of the case study facilities.

The synthesis of literature led to three main categories of performance elements that are relevant for higher education facilities. These include technical, functional and behavioral elements, in which each of the elements has specific performance indicators, 97 in total. The research study exemplifies a systematic conduct of POE. The stakeholders' perspectives on the performance elements through surveys, measurements and walk-throughs were collected. The assessment led to recommendations toward satisfactory and quality occupation of the case study facilities.

This research aims to standardize POE by introducing its methods as a tool for evaluating higher education facilities and by elaborating the most prominent performance indicators for ensuring higher education core functions, namely, teaching, research and community collaboration.