Rural Municipality of Buckland PSAB 3150
Infrastructure Asset Summary
The information provided is intended to support rural municipalities (RM’s) who
are striving for PS 3150 compliance. This method is outlined in six basic steps,
which include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Development and Review of PS 3150 Policy
Determining Inventory Information Source
Infrastructure Inventory Asset Types
Process Used for Inventorying Infrastructure Inventory Asset Types
Process Used for Valuing Infrastructure Inventory Asset Types
Inputting Information into the www.sasktca.ca Asset Register
Step 1 – Development and Review of PS 3150 Policy
The first step in the process of becoming PS 3150 compliant is the creation of a
PS 3150 policy. A sample policy, “TCA Policy Template” can be found on the
www.sasktca.ca/resources website. Municipalities can either use the provided
policy template or develop their own. When setting the PS 3150 policy, a
threshold that is appropriate for the particular municipality must be determined.
For the pilot project a threshold of $5,000 was used for all individual assets and a
threshold of $25,000 was used for all pooled assets in the RM. Within the policy,
asset classes owned by the municipality should also be identified and assigned
an expected useful life. The document called “TCA Reference Manual”, available
on www.sasktca.ca/resources, has a list of standard asset classes along with
useful life estimates provided in Appendix C.
Once the PS 3150 policy has been drafted it should be reviewed with both your
auditor and your council prior to continuing on to step 2.
Step 2 – Determining Inventory Information Source
Once the PS 3150 policy has been reviewed the inventory listing can be created.
The first step in creating a PS 3150 inventory is selecting the information source.
Alternatives for information sources include:



RM map
GIS based maps
Internet based maps
The RM map showing road locations and classifications is the most complete
and accessible resource for creating the road inventory. The RM map also
shows the location of the roads as well as the road classification. As well, these
maps are printed to a defined scale allowing for easy measurement of asset
length. The RM map can be used in conjunction with other information provided
by Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure as well as local
knowledge. This RM map will need to be supplemented by engineered or
municipality maps for any hamlets or resort villages present within the RM. For
inventory and valuation methods of hamlets or resort villages, refer to Village of
Denzil PSAB 3150 – Infrastructure and General Assets.
If RM maps are available they should be used, if these are unavailable, a
combination of municipal maps and the advice of experienced community
members is most likely the best option.
For the pilot, RM maps were used for the inventory of all rural roads. The village
staff identified the location and class of any additional roads not represented on
the map as well as years of construction for most roads.
Step 3 – Infrastructure Inventory Asset Types
There are many types of linear assets that need to be considered for rural
municipalities. A list of rural linear assets for RM’s is listed, in part1, below.
Linear assets that were recorded in the RM pilot are listed in bold.
Roads
 Road Structure (Land under road, Subgrade, Culverts)
 Road Surface (Gravel, Asphalt, etc.)
Curb and Gutter
 Swales
 Sidewalks and Paths (cement sidewalks, Asphalt paths)
Bridges
 Bridges
Oversize Culverts
 Oversize Culverts
Water
 Water mains (Hydrants, Valves, Reducers, etc.)
 Water services to lots
 Water source (Wells, nearby community, etc.)
 Water reservoirs
 Water treatment plant
Sewer
 Sewer mains (Manholes, Cleanouts, etc.)
 Sewer services to lots
 Sewage lagoon
 Sewage treatment
Storm Water
 Storm water mains
 Storm water services
 Storm water holding ponds
 Storm water treatment
More asset classes are listed in Appendix C of the “TCA Reference Manual” which can
be found at http://www.sasktca.ca/assets/File/TCA%20Reference%20Manual.pdf.
1
Step 4 – Process Used for Inventorying Infrastructure Assets
Road Surface and Structure
The first asset that was inventoried was roads. As shown above road assets in
the RM of Buckland include road structures and gravel surfaces. The only road
surface type in the RM of Buckland was a gravel surface. Through discussion
with accounting advisors, it was determined that roads with a gravel surface can
be considered a single asset (as opposed to separating the road structure, from
the road surface). Combining the road structure and road surface should
only be considered for gravel surfaced roads.
The inventory of the roads (structure and surface) was completed using the RM
map, provided by the RM of Buckland. The locations of all roads were
determined from these plans; the plans were reviewed by the RM for accuracy
and completeness. The road assets were inventoried using the process outlined
below:
a) The road assets were segmented based on land sections.
b) A single road asset was measured from the beginning of a section of land
to the beginning of the next section; this was done for all township roads
and range roads.
c) If the road classification or year of construction changed within the road
segment, the segment was subdivided so that all properties were unique
(years of construction, classification).
d) The length of the road segment was determined using the scale provided
on the RM map.
e) The years of construction for roads in the pilot were determined using the
“Road Year of Construction” found on the www.sasktca.ca website, “Road
Year of Construction” has a list of recorded dates of construction for some
rural roads, however the list should be reviewed for confirm accuracy.
The years of construction for all roads were completed and reviewed for
accuracy by RM staff.
a) The asset useful life was estimated in Step 1: Development and Review of
PS 3150 Policy. For the pilot, roads were assigned a useful life of 40
years.
Bridges
The locations of bridges in the RM of Buckland were recorded in the “Full Bridge
Inventory at January 2008” found on the www.sasktca.ca website, “Full Bridge
Inventory at January 2008” has a list of bridges from Saskatchewan Ministry of
Highways and Infrastructure. Bridges are listed by RM and include information
on length, type, and date of construction for the bridges. This bridge listing may
not be complete and should be reviewed for accuracy and completeness by RM
staff. The bridges were inventoried in the following steps:
a) Each bridge asset was recorded as one asset including the bridge piers,
abutments, deck etc. based on the listing in “Full Bridge Inventory at 2008”
and supplemented by RM staff.
b) The span of each of the bridges was recorded, (this is required for
valuation and is available in the “Full Bridge Inventory at 2008”).
c) The years of construction for the bridges was determined from the “Full
Bridge Inventory at 2008” and confirmed by RM staff.
d) The pilot policy assigned a useful life of 60 years to all bridges.
Oversize Culverts
The classification of an oversize or large culvert is not clearly defined and should
be indicated within the PS 3150 policy. A culvert is deemed oversized by the
Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure based on a combination
of culvert diameter and flow rate. For the pilot, the oversized culverts in the RM
had a diameter of 1600mm or larger. Culverts with diameters smaller than that
specified as oversize do not need to be inventoried as these smaller culverts
have been included in the replacement cost of the road.
The locations of oversized culverts in the RM of Buckland were recorded in the
“Full Culvert Inventory at February 2008” found on the www.sasktca.ca website,
“Full Culvert Inventory at February 2008” has a list of oversized culverts from
Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure. Oversize culverts are
listed by RM and include information on culvert length, size, type, and date of
construction for the oversize culverts. This oversize listing is a good starting
point, but is generally not a complete inventory. Local knowledge should be
employed to confirm the completeness and accuracy of information. The
oversize culverts were inventoried in the following steps:
a) Each oversize asset was recorded as one asset based on the listing in
“Full Culvert Inventory at February 2008” and supplemented by RM staff.
b) The size and length of each culvert was recorded, (this is required for
valuation and is available in the “Full Culvert Inventory at February 2008”).
c) The years of construction for the oversize culverts was determined from
the
“Full Culvert Inventory at February 2008” and confirmed by RM
staff.
d) The pilot policy assigned a useful life of 35 years to oversize culverts.
Step 5 – Process Used for Valuing Infrastructure Inventory Asset
Types
When valuing assets it is important to consider the relative importance of the
information you are searching for. PS 3150 is not intended to be a task in
recovering information from 40 years ago. To determine what level of detail is
required for the valuation the following chart can be used.
Figure 3: PS 3150 Valuation Flowchart
Is the Asset Old?
(Past its useful life)
Yes
No
Value the Asset at $1
Yes
Are Historical Costs Available?
Value using historical costs
No
Yes
No Historical Costs Available
Value using replacement costs
(Linear costing survey or other sources)
Road Surface and Structure
Valuation of the road assets was based on the framework shown above in Figure
3. According to Figure 3 the first step in valuation is to determine if the asset is
past its useful life. A large percentage of the roads in the RM of Buckland were
constructed prior to 1967. These roads are all past their useful life of 40 years
and based on
Figure 3 they were assigned a nominal value ($1).
For the remaining roads there were no historical costs available so an estimated
replacement cost was used for valuation. This was done using the rural road
costing model which has been supplied to each rural municipality. The rural road
costing model is a tool for estimating replacement cost of rural municipality roads
based on location. This tool was sent to RM administrators to assist in valuation
of roads that have an unknown historical cost. Ensure that the user manual,
included in the rural road costing model package, is reviewed prior to
using model estimates for valuation purposes. For the pilot the rural road
costing model was employed with the actual
RM of Buckland gravel costs.
The estimated replacement costs ($2002), for the
RM of Buckland are
shown below in Table 5. For more information regarding the rural road costing
model, including why a valuation year of 2002 was used, refer to the model user
guidelines forwarded with the costing model package.
Table 5: RM of Buckland Rural Road Costing Model (2002)
RM of Buckland
Primary Grid
$ 40,573/km
Grid Gravel
$ 32,537/km
Main Farm Access
$ 27,352/km
Trail
Dirt Road
If Trails or dirt roads are
unconstructed they can be applied a
nominal value ($1)
The rural road costing model provides estimates for the three common
classifications of roads. Roads that are not included in the estimates can be
valued using an equivalent class or a portion of one of the replacement cost
estimates, for example a municipal road may be determined to have an
equivalent replacement cost as the Main Farm Access road, or it may be
estimated that the replacement cost is, for example, 50% or 75% of the cost of
one of the classifications listed above. For the pilot the only road type not
included in the Rural Road Costing Model was the classification of Municipal
Road. It was determined by RM staff that municipal roads would have a
replacement cost similar to that of the Main Farm Access.
Bridges
Valuation of the bridge assets was also based on the framework shown above in
Figure 3. Only two of the 16 bridges in the RM of Buckland inventory were past
their designated useful life of 60 years and were applied a nominal value of $1.
The majority of bridges in the RM of Buckland were still within their designated
useful lives. These bridges were valued using a few different resources including
the North Central Transportation Planning Committee (NCTPC) Municipal Bridge
Analysis provided by the RM as well as “Estimated Bridge Replacement Costs”
found on the www.sasktca.ca website; “Estimated Bridge Replacement Costs”
provides replacement estimates for bridges of standard span lengths, provided
by Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure.
The Municipal Bridge Analysis included a listing of all bridges within the RM
along with estimated replacement costs for 2009, due to the availability of the
NCTPC report; this was used for the valuation of the bridges. In the absence of
a similar document the “Estimated Bridge Replacement Costs” provides
estimates for replacement of common bridge spans. Ensure that the year that
the replacement cost is estimated for is recorded as this needs to be included on
the asset register.
Oversize Culverts
Like the other assets, valuation of the oversize culvert assets was completed
using the framework shown above in Figure 3. None of the oversize bridges
within the municipality were past their designated useful life of 35 years,
therefore all oversize culverts required either a historical cost or an estimated
replacement cost. The oversize culverts were valued using the “Large Culvert
Replacement Cost Estimates” found on the www.sasktca.ca website, “Large
Culvert Replacement Cost Estimates” estimate the average provincial
replacement cost for oversize culverts. These estimates should only be used in
the absence of historical costs or regionalized data.
The “Large Culvert Replacement Cost Estimates” estimate the replacement for
culverts based on the pipe diameter. The replacement cost estimates are for the
year of 2008.
Step 6 – Inputting Information into the www.sasktca.ca Asset
Register
Once the information had been assembled for Steps 1- 5, all information required
to achieve PS 3150 compliance has been established. To complete the PS 3150
process for linear assets the acquired information needs to be transferred into
the Asset Register provided on www.sasktca.ca.
The first step is to download the Asset Register from the www.sasktca.ca
website, ensure that you have downloaded the correct version (asset register for
excel97, or asset register for more recent versions of excel). Every time that you
open the Asset Register it is necessary to enable macros (please refer to the
asset register guide for details on use of the register).
When using the Asset Register all information is input under the Asset Listing
tab. At the top of the Asset Listing page is a cell showing the current year. All
assets acquired prior to 2007 should be added to the register with the current
year set to 2007. For assets acquired after 2007 the current year should be set
to the appropriate year prior to adding the Asset Id. The columns on the Asset
Listing tab are described in Table 6 below.
Table 6: Asset Register - Asset Listing Columns
Column
Description
Asset ID
The name you associate with a particular asset
(e.g. Sidewalk-1)
Asset Description
Allows users to identify an asset
(e.g. street name, or asset details)
Location
Asset Class
Allows users to further identify an asset by location
(e.g. land location, street name)
Users choose the class from a drop down menu
(e.g. linear assets for roads, water mains, sanitary
mains)
Functional Area
The department or division responsible for the asset
Acquired/Donated/Contributed
The source of the asset
Asset Account
General ledger associated with the asset
Accumulated Amortization
Account
General ledger associated with the accumulated
amortization of the asset
Amortization Expense Account
General ledger associated with the expenses in
regards to amortization of the asset
General Ledger In Service Year
The year an asset enters into service
Useful Life
The estimated useful life (with regards to
accounting) of the asset, defined in the policy
Actual Historical Cost
If known, the cost of the asset at the time of
installation or purchase
Reproduction/Replacement Cost
Valuation Year
Residual Value
Year Added
The current replacement/reproduction/appraised
cost of the asset – not required if actual historical
cost is known
The year of the reproduction/replacement/appraisal
value assigned to the asset – not required if
historical cost is known
The estimated net realizable value of a tangible
capital asset at the end of its useful life (ex.
Salvage)
The year in which the asset was added to the
inventory (added automatically based on what is set
as the current year)
Once the Asset Listing table has been completed, the Asset Register will
automatically calculate amortization, net book value, etc. These values can be
reviewed under the Continuity Schedule tab. If there are any disposals or write
downs of assets these are added under the Continuity Schedule tab.