Value Engineering Strategies To Obtain Cost Efficiencies Or Net Benefits In Hospital Construction Projects

The construction of hospital buildings in Indonesia has a high level of complexity because it must meet the aspects of safety, health, comfort, ease of access, and resource efficiency in accordance with the provisions Regulation of the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing No.22 of (2018) and Regulation of the Minister of Health No. 24 of (2022). However, in practice, there are still frequent design inefficiencies and cost wastage that have an impact on declining building functional performance. This research aims to develop an integrated Value Engineering (VE) framework based on Building Technical Standards in Indonesia to obtain the design with the lowest cost and the highest net benefit throughout the project life cycle. The research uses a descriptive-quantitative approach with a combination of surveys and case studies on the Detail Engineering Design (DED) project of hospitals in Indonesia for the period 2023–2024. Data was obtained through a Focus Group Discussion (FGD) involving experts from government elements, academics, professional associations, and hospital managers to validate the research variables and ensure their suitability with the context of the hospital project. The analysis was carried out on two main groups of variables, namely: (1) cost reduction variables (modular design, material selection, machinery/tools, work methods), and (2) benefit improvement variables (function analysis, benchmarking, function improvement, team communication and performance, and innovation). All variables were assessed using the Likert scale (1–5) and analyzed using the ratio of benefits to costs (Σ Benefits – Σ Costs). The results of the study show that the implementation of Value Engineering, with an example simulation in the DED of the hospital building construction resulted in a cost reduction of 5.22% of the total DED Cost Budget Plan, from IDR 262.78 billion to IDR 249.06 billion, without reducing the quality or function of the building. The value of the benefit-to-cost ratio (B–A) ≥ 1 indicates that the benefits obtained are greater than the costs incurred. These findings prove that the implementation of VE integrated with technical standards is able to increase economic efficiency while optimizing building functions. The proposed framework provides a value-based decision support mechanism that supports the implementation of sustainable construction management in health infrastructure in Indonesia.