Building refurbishment, which includes repair, conversion, renovation,
restoration, conservation, retrofi t and new-build extension, is an important sector in
the construction industry of most developed countries. Planning for refurbishment
projects is demanding because of their inherent complexity and uncertainty. It has
been argued that in order to manage the uncertainty and improve performance,
planning for refurbishment projects needs a more fl exible and participative
approach. This article measures the degree of involvement of the key participants
in the production of project plans of refurbishment projects. It also establishes the
relationship between the involvement of the key participants in the production of
project plans and planning performance. The data were obtained from literature
review, semi-structured interviews and a postal questionnaire survey that
involves 67 Planning Engineers and Contract Managers. This article concludes
that specialisation of tasks predominates in the planning process of refurbishment
projects and the involvement of the clients in the production of master programme
helps to improve planning performance.

• The involvement of the key participants in the production of project plans and the planning performance of refurbishment projects