When up to 30% of the average organization’s annual capital outlay is spent on facilities and related infrastructure, how can an organization ensure it is leveraging this investment to support operations today and meet the needs of the future? How can an organization identify the extent and condition of its buildings? How can an organization identify its future facility related capital needs and make credible requests for increased funding?

 

The answer is through Facility Condition Assessment. Completed by ARIS for owners of existing facilities, Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) is the process of assessing the extent and construction of a facility, evaluating the condition of all major systems (site, structure, roofing, exterior, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire, conveyance, interiors, disabled access, code etc.), and based upon conditions observed making a determination of the type, cost and timing of capital repair and replacement items over a capital term (typically 10 or 20 years).

 

Although each member of an owner’s organization will use different parts of a Facility Condition Assessment, arguably the most important part of the product is the capital plan. Detailing the cost, timing and priority of expenditures the capital plan allows an owner to identify the extent of capital required for each system on a per year basis, identifies the consequence on the building and building use if those expenditures are not completed, identify risk, recognize the priority of expenditures and build a strong and consequence case for funding.

 

In working with clients of all types each year, the team at ARIS constantly ask “what are the key questions the Facility Condition Assessment must answer?” Following the completion of our assessments, we revisit those questions to determine they have been answered. The most common questions that our clients wish the Facility Condition Assessment to answer are listed below:

 

Answers Key Questions

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• How much funding do we need in order to maintain or improve the current conditions?

• When do we need to complete recommended capital projects?

• How do we prioritize recommended capital projects?

• What needs to be done to bring these assets into acceptable condition/compliance?

• What will the condition be as a result of a given funding level?

• What are my highest priority needs that can be funded by my current budget and that truly reflects my organizational strategies?

• How can we reduce our capital spend without impacting our core business and increasing risk?

• How can I develop budget strategies in response to energy, compliance, cost savings, or other directives?

• What assets do we have?

• What are the quantities of those assets?

• Where are they?

• What condition are they in?

• Are those assets being used to their full potential?

• Are they compliant with applicable legislation and/or standards?

• How do we better manage those assets?

• Where can we achieve cost savings?

• What building improvements can I defer while keeping my assets in good operational and functional condition?

 

The need to understand the extent, condition and financial requirements of one’s facilities is a fundamental requirement of any owner. In addition to providing this core information, our clients typically receive the following levels of Return on Investment from our services:

 

Return on Investment

 

• Avoid emergency repairs and catastrophic incidents – 20 to 60% saving

• Promote competitive bid contracting – 15% savings

• Bulk purchasing – 10% savings

• Avoid construction cost increases – 10% savings

• Reduce labor costs – time saved in budget preparation and reduction in lost productivity

• Ensure business continuity

• Brand consistency

• Unnecessary project cost avoidance

• Replace when most effective

• Reduce liability

• Reduced Waste In Capital Projects (Due to more accurate buying/planning, project bundling) 

• Avoided New Construction/Repair Costs (Due to portfolio visibility and better planning) 

• Reduction in Annual Material Costs (Due to bulk buying, avoidance of price increases) 

• Savings From Reduced Emergency Repairs (Avoided premiums in materials and labor) 

• Reduction in Overall Average Project Costs (More frequent competitive bidding ) 

• Increased Ability to Acquire Funding (More credible budgets supported by data) 

• Avoided Costs from Unnecessary Relocations (Due to portfolio visibility and planning) 

• Avoided Loss of Employee Productivity  (Cash Impact) 

• Avoided Additional Hires/Staff Reduction

• Other Client-Specific Reduced/Avoided Cost ($)

• Savings From Elimination of Redundant IT Infrastructure 

• Greater Amount of Revenue Generating Sq Ft 

• Increased Revenues per Sq Ft 

• Avoided Revenue Loss From Shut Downs 

• Increased Asset Value of the Portfolio (Due to better condition of buildings)

• Increased Productivity (Due to faster assessments, data access, project planning, budget preparation