Needs, values and post-occupancy evaluation of housing project customers: A pragmatic view

New management concepts focus their efforts on meeting the needs of those involved, especially the customer. Much research has been conducted on theoretical concepts of needs and value, and the purpose of this paper is to make a pragmatic proposal on how to apply these concepts to housing projects. This paper presents a compilation of customer needs that housing must meet. These needs must become the customer quality standards guiding the process. At the end of said process, once the product has been delivered and in the post-occupancy stage, this same document must serve as a tool to assess customer satisfaction and corresponding perceived value. For the development of this proposal and in order to gather the requirements that every dwelling must meet to satisfy both its residents and society, we have reviewed various rules and regulations of several Latin American countries; we have conducted extensive interviews with customers from different social backgrounds; we have reviewed the literature on this matter; and we have analysed 10 housing project claims with various construction systems and socioeconomic strata. Finally, the results of these post-occupancy evaluations will serve as a powerful feedback tool, thus promoting continuous improvement in housing projects.