Building Condition Assessment
and Documentation
Part II – Overview and Direction
3 Day Course Prepared for Presentation at ESRU, March 10-12, 2008
Edited for Presentation at National Facilities Meeting, April 30-May 2, 2008
Mark McDonough, PE
Assistant Station Engineer
Southern Research Station
USDA Forest Service
Randy Warbington, PE
Facilities Program Manager
Southern Region
USDA Forest Service
Standard Terminology
Common Definitions
http://fsweb.wo.fs.fed.us/eng/documents/mtcconst.htm
Maintenance
Maintenance is “the act of keeping fixed
assets in acceptable condition.” It includes
Preventive maintenance, repairs, cyclical
maintenance (component replacement) and
addressing of statutory requirements needed
to assure that the asset achieves its expected
life. Maintenance excludes upgrade activities
aimed at expanding capacity or changing
function.
Annual Maintenance
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Work performed to maintain serviceability or repair
failures in the year in which they occur. Includes
preventive and cyclic maintenance performed in the
year which it is scheduled, as well as unscheduled or
catastrophic failures of components or assets.
Typically this is the work funded by CP09, CMFC
and QMQM.
OMB allows the agency to estimate this by
multiplying 3-5% * CRV.
Preventive Maintenance
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Scheduled servicing, repairs, inspections and
replacement of parts that result in fewer breakdowns
and fewer premature replacements to help achieve
the expected life of the fixed asset.
Inspections are a critical part of preventive
maintenance as they provide the information for
scheduling maintenance and for evaluating its
effectiveness.
A component of annual maintenance.
Deferred Maintenance
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Maintenance that was not performed when it should
have been or when it was scheduled and which,
therefore was put off or delayed for a future period.
Made up of 4 parts – a) cyclic (component
replacement) b) minor repairs not done when they
should have been, c) work needed to meet laws,
regulations, etc as long as the original intent of the
asset has not been changed, and d) functional
obsolescence.
There is no current OMB requirement to report
annual maintenance, only deferred maintenance.
Example of Functional Obsolescence
Does this building need to be
evaluated for historic significance
prior to demolition?
From the Facility Master Plan:
“This building provides office
space for 7 FTE’s. It was
originally a garage, but was
converted to an office in the early
1990’s. The building was
constructed in 1955 and is 440 ft2
in size. The building is in fair
condition. Water seepage into the
interior after heavy rains (>3”) has
been a recurring problem. It is
recommended that it be
decommissioned and replaced with
a modern facility.”
Operations & Maintenance (O&M)
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The activities and resources required to
operate and maintain facilities (recreation,
administrative, etc.) at a level of quality which
meets management objectives and customer
satisfaction.
Costs associated with O&M are generally
recurrent, as opposed to capital investments,
which are generally one-time and nonrecurrent.
O&M (continued)
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O&M is like it sounds, part operations and
part maintenance
O&M is funded by CP09, CMFC, NFRW,
QMQM, and a variety of other EBLIs
Condition Assessment
Objectives
Purposes of Condition Assessments
 Primary:
 Serve as physical inventory for the asset
 Show accomplishment (elimination of previously
identified maintenance work)
 Inform its valuation by determining the deferred
maintenance deduction to be applied to the “raw”
replacement value.
 These are primarily financial upward reporting functions
to allow the agency to adequately respond to requests for
information and oversight
Purposes of Condition Assessments
(cont.)
 Secondary
 Identify future work needs, serving as a sort of periodic
“reconnaissance” of the asset. In most cases the actual
correction of deficiencies will require additional
investigation, as there may be a number of alternatives as
to how to best to address them
 Serve as an additional opportunity to note critical health
and safety, environmental degradation or other similar
conditions which need to be addressed immediately.
 These two functions are more targeted to the actual dayto-day work activities.
Purpose of a Condition Assessment
Subtracting the deferred maintenance on this building from the current
replacement value computed by I-Web based on GSF gives a truer picture of
its value. Often, deferred maintenance items discovered during condition
assessments may never actually be done. For example, this building may
not be really be worth repairing, and the building has been determined to be
of low priority.
Coordination with Other Required Surveys
See FSM 7309 44.1 Exhibit 01
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Condition Assessment – Every 5 years
Physical Inventory – Every 5 Years
Health and Safety – Annual, except ML 1
Quarters – Annual, prior to each occupancy
Facility Performance (Master Plan) – Every 10 years
Accessibility - Every 3 Years
Vulnerability – Every 5 Years
Friable Asbestos Materials – Annual
Energy Conservation – As Needed
Pre-Occupancy – Prior to Leasing
ECAP Audits (Internal) – Annual
EACP Audits (External) – Every 5 Years
EMS – Annual/Every 3 Years
EMS Second Party – Every 5 Years
Integrated Assessments
 Efforts are underway to try to integrate the some or all of the
following:
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Facility Condition Assessments – 5 Year Cycle
ECAP Audits (Internal) – 1 Year Cycle
Health and Safety Inspection – 1 Year Cycle
 It may make more sense to integrate preventive maintenance
(PM) and repair assessments with health and safety
inspections and ECAP audits, rather than facility condition
assessments, which primarily target cyclic replacement and
deferred maintenance
 Although there is no manual requirement for preventive
maintenance and repair assessments, they are still needed in
order to responsibly operate and maintain facilities to the
desired standard and provide customer satisfaction
Facility Condition Assessment
Scheduling
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Buildings, Water Systems, Wastewater
Systems, Developed Recreation Sites – All of
these require real property inventory and
condition Assessment on a 5 year cycle
Efficiency then suggests that assets located
near each other geographically should be
scheduled for inspection concurrently in order
to save travel time and costs
Example of Spreadsheet that Can be
Used to Schedule and Balance Workload
ftp://sv1.r8.fs.fed.us/pub/Facility%20Condition%20Assessment%20Training/
I-Web vs. MMS
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It has been recognized that INFRA may not be the most useful
way to handle scheduling of the multitude of day to day
activities (Preventive maintenance, minor repairs,) that are
often needed on a facility.
Instead a more specialized maintenance management
software (MMS) might in some cases be more appropriate.
We will likely investigate the acquisition of such a system in
the near future.
Regardless, however, most items which would be expected to
be collected during a condition assessment would not
normally cost less than $2,000 (individually), the minor
purchase limit for construction, but instead would consist of
major component repair and replacement, which really has the
most effect on asset value.
Minor vs. Major Items
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As an example, one unit found that approximately
85% of the maintenance work items which had been
recorded in I-Web during past assessments were
estimated to cost less than $2,000 each, but this only
added up to about 6% in value of the total
maintenance work recorded for that Forest.
Therefore it is probably more productive to focus on
major items when doing condition assessments, and
keep up with the small stuff on a much more regular
basis.
There are Always Exceptions
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The major exception would be noting critical items
(health and safety, environmental degradation or
mission delivery) which absolutely must be
addressed immediately.
Example: Non-functioning smoke detector in a
sleeping quarters.
Minor Items Left Undone Lead to DM
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It should be recognized that usually it is relatively
minor items left unaddressed that lead to deferred
maintenance.
Therefore as a matter of practice these items should
not be left to be discovered during a condition
assessment which occurs only on a 5-year interval.
Previously we discussed funds available to do
operations and maintenance work with.
Correction of small recurring items such as replacing
a filter, a burned out light bulb or fixing a broken
lock should be addressed as ongoing “operations”
using these fund types.
Preventive Maintenance Tips
Replacing furnace
filters on a regular
basis will prevent
compressor freezeup, dirty ductwork,
fan failures, etc.
Non-functional exit signs, emergency
lighting, smoke detectors need to be
replaced immediately to prevent loss
of life in case of a fire.
Putting off repairing
a roof leak or a
waterproofing
project may result in
mold infestations
that are extremely
expensive to restore
to useable condition.
You sure don’t want to wait
long before you address this
maintenance item!
Foremost Objective
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Perhaps the most important objective for
facility condition assessments beyond those
stated above relate to the need to have
standardized inspections across the agency,
standardized “acceptable” care, and to
develop cost estimates that are consistent,
repeatable and defendable.
This is probably even more important than
developing detailed construction cost
estimates.
Consistent Standard of Care
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Standard work items shown on the inspection
form are “representative” of a consistent
standard of repair and/or replacement quality
across the agency, and should be used
whenever possible, otherwise custom work
items and minor improvement needs are
available in the system.
Consistent Costing Method
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Costing is automated in the I-web module,
requiring only limited interaction by the user;
work item costs are based on R S Means, with
appropriate multipliers applied to capture
conditions of the Forest Service business
environment in a consistent fashion.
Note about costs
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All costs are assumed to be based on
contracting, with overhead and profit as
described in R S Means
Costs may not be indicative of what would be
encountered using force account, local jacksof-all-trades, brother-in-laws, etc.
Consistent Replacement Schedule
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Replacement will be based upon condition as
well as age and “typical expected life”.
Sources of Building Component Data:
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R S Means
Agency Experience
Available Sources for Component Life
Expectancy
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Tempering of Means data with corporate
experience as captured in the Standard Work
Items shown on the standard forms
ASHRAE (Association of Heating,
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers
National Association of Home Builders
Building Cost Information Service (British)
Typical Life Expectancy of Building
Components – Appliances (NAHB)
Typical Life Expectancy of Building
Components – Bathrooms
Footings
Typical Life Expectancy of Building
Components – HVAC
Paint
Typical Life Expectancy of Building
Components – Plumbing Windows
Progressive Levels of Inspection
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All inspections must look at each of the standard
work items as an agency minimum, as applicable
(comparable to the concept of using “standard” specs
in construction)
Additional work items shown in Means but not in
the standard list may be also be considered – these
are one type of “custom work items” (comparable to
“approved supplemental specs” in construction)
Custom work items not included in Means may be
needed for specialized assets – (comparable to
“special project specs” in construction).
Tailoring the level of Assessment Detail to the
Building’s Expected Use
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Buildings such as a barn might only need the
“standard” work items collected on them.
Buildings that are used on an everyday basis
might need more detailed work items to be
collected.
Specialized buildings might require “custom”
work items to be collected; these items may
not be found in the MEANS database.
Example of an asset for which “custom” work
items that may be found in “Means” might apply
Example of a specialized asset requiring
“custom” work items not found in “Means”
Replacement of “chinking” for a log building. This work
would not typically be covered by RS Means Cost Data.
Performing Building
Condition Assessments
Overview of Tasks
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Obtain a Basic or Complex Condition Assessment Form from
I-Web for each building, as applicable
Verify header info and/or fill out blanks for each building
User input will be required for inspector name, inspection date
and remote travel time
Consider each standard work item for each building and
determine if it applies, based upon typical life and existing
condition. See the Work Items Data Dictionary
Obtain applicable quantities for each item
Consider whether non-standard or custom items should be
included as well
Note any other significant or critical maintenance or operation
items in the blanks provided on the form
Header Information to be Verified
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Unit, Site Name, Bldg ID, Bldg Name, Size, Bldg
Category, Sub-Category, Maintenance Level,
Historic Status and Real Property tie, as well as date
of last Assessment will all come out of the I-Web
database
Confirm whether the form is appropriate for the
actual building – basic or complex, and if not make a
note; if required schedule for alternate inspection
Verify the accuracy and make changes on the form
where needed; recall that CRV cannot be changed, it
is computed by INFRA, and is based upon GSF,
category and sub-category
Additional Tasks
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Print out I-Web Report BLDWK03L:Building
Work Item Details for the building to be
inspected
Note work items that have been accomplished
since last condition assessment
Recording date and cost for accomplishment
will no longer be mandatory
Header Information to be Input
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Inspector Name – Initials are not OK, need full name
Inspection Date
Remote Travel Time – Record to the nearest hour
based on the average number of hours it normally
takes to travel to the site from a populated area, such
as a small community, where materials for repair or
restoration may be obtained
Base travel time on the most likely method that will
be used to transport labor and materials to the jobsite
(one-way trip time)
Travel Time will be used by INFRA to compute the
“remoteness” factor, which affects work item cost
Travel Modes
Work Item Input (for all items)
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Input the quantity needed for the appropriate
standard or custom work item
Input the year the work is needed (planned year), or
the fact that it has been deferred
As input requires mm-dd-yyyy use last day of FY
Realize the work will be recorded in I-web as annual
or deferred maintenance not depending upon the
nature of the item, but instead based on the year the
work is needed, with DM as the default
Input reason and priority – H&S, mission or
resource, critical and non-critical – with mission
non-critical as default
Lunch – 12:00 to 1:00