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Today’s facilities are facing a myriad of challenges—aging infrastructure, rising utility costs, increased deferred maintenance, air quality issues, occupant discomfort, ongoing regulatory changes, limited resources, and shrinking budgets. Consequently, understanding how well your facilities are performing and identifying areas for optimizations is vital for today’s building owners, investors, and facilities managers.
One of the most valuable tools for doing this is the facility condition assessment (FCA). An FCA gives you a comprehensive picture of where your facility is at in terms of its useful operating life. This information helps you make smart, data-driven decisions to maximize your building’s longevity and anticipate future needs. Without it, expensive repairs and headaches may be hiding right in front of you.
In this guide, we cover the following topics:
A facility condition assessment (FCA) is a comprehensive analysis of the physical condition of a facility and its infrastructure or assets in terms of age, design, construction methods, and materials used. It aims to give an accurate picture of where your facility is in terms of its useful operating life, and provides a necessary foundation for capital planning. This enables you to anticipate future needs and make educated, more cost-effective decisions to improve your facilities, such as:
Did you know? A facility condition assessment is also sometimes called a capital needs assessment, deferred maintenance study or building condition assessment. Regardless of its name, FCA is a process that analyzes the physical condition of a facility and its assets.
Whether you are a building owner, investor, prospective buyer, facility manager, or government entity, it is crucial to have an accurate and thorough understanding of the condition of your properties in order to maximize your investment. More specifically, common uses and benefits of FCAs include:
Did you know? Today’s facilities aren’t getting any younger. According to SMR Research, at the end of 2021, the average U.S commercial building was about 53 years old.
No. A facility condition assessment is different from a property condition assessment (PCA). A PCA is performed prior to selling a property, in order to give the new owner an idea of any potential repair costs. It is a breakdown of the condition of the property at that exact point in time, performed so that both the buyer and seller know what to expect.
The assessment is typically performed via a customized scope that includes:
If you’re considering having an FCA performed, one aspect that should not be overlooked is the method of data delivery. Traditionally, facility condition assessments have been performed via paper delivery methods—namely spreadsheets, report binders, and PDFs. Despite advancements in technology, many FCA firms today still use these delivery methods.
The problem? These legacy methods of delivery are static and challenging for end-users to navigate. Imagine trying to sort through a 20,000+ page report in order to find information on one of your assets. It’s an overwhelming and downright daunting task. More often than not, these reports are shelved and opportunities to maximize your building’s longevity are missed—simply because they are buried somewhere within the report.
Moreover, this delivery method is static and becomes outdated quickly. In fact, it’s outdated as soon as the report is issued. This method cannot evolve with your facility or account for future changes.
Fortunately, thanks to better technology, facility condition assessments are evolving into interactive, “living” digital software platforms that can be continuously updated over time, resulting in greater accuracy, enhanced usability, and better capital planning and decision making. Rather than re-doing your assessment every 5 years in a static format, digital FCA software is revolutionizing the entire FCA process.
Now, your facility condition assessment is proactive and can support predictive facilities management. Future updates can be performed in accordance with a working capital improvement plan, so your FCA can change in real time as your building conditions evolve. FCA software also makes it easier for end users to use, apply, and navigate, equating to higher-quality decision making and better capital planning.
The cost of a facility condition assessment is typically structured as a price per square foot. Although it varies significantly depending on the level of assessment you require and the type of facility, a cost of 25-35 cents per square foot is standard in the industry.
Facility condition assessments are typically performed by engineers, architects, construction managers, certified energy managers, LEED-certified professionals and skilled-trade technicians.
It’s important to seek out an experienced FCA firm with a proven track record of documenting facilities needs and defining project priorities, as well as a thorough understanding of facility management, mathematical modeling, energy management and sustainability planning, and construction methods, equipment, materials, and costs.
When evaluating potential vendors, some questions to ask include:
At The Concord Group, we have a proven track record documenting facilities needs and defining project priorities. Our unique approach includes numerous factors that differentiate us from other firms that provide FCAs, including:
A facility condition assessment is an incredibly valuable tool to help you optimize and maintain the physical condition and value of your assets, develop capital budgets, prioritize resources, and ultimately maximize your investment. It’s important to seek out a digital delivery platform so your FCA can change in real time as the conditions of your building(s) evolve.
For more information on how an FCA can help you make smart, data-driven decisions to maximize your building’s longevity and anticipate future needs, contact The Concord Group.
The Concord Group is a development + construction consulting firm providing a comprehensive and fully integrated suite of project management controls that mitigate risk throughout the lifecycle of a project or capital program. We specialize in the fields of Owner’s Representation, Cost Estimating, Technical Services (including Energy Modeling, Commissioning, and Facility Condition Assessments), ESG and Sustainability Management, and Real Estate Advisory Services (including Cost Segregation and Loan Monitoring).
Since 1996, our team of highly skilled construction cost consultants, project managers, owner representatives, cost estimators and engineers have successfully completed over 4,000 projects throughout the United States. We have built a reputation for delivering high quality, accurate and timely work for governmental agencies, healthcare organizations, institutional clients and architectural/engineering firms along with retail, residential and property development companies.
Guiding you through the complexities of construction projects, one decision at a time.
Concord is a group of skilled engineers, owner’s representatives, project managers, cost estimators and technical construction advisors.
We offer a fully integrated suite of project management controls that mitigate risk throughout the lifecycle of a project or program, giving you the tools to make informed decisions to reduce risk, drive collaboration and streamline efficiencies across the entire project team.
From concept to creation, our development and construction consultants leverage technology and experience to deliver exceptional results on the most complex of projects.
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Concord is a team of development and construction consultants in the fields of Owner’s Representation, Program Management, Cost Estimating, Infrastructure Project Management, Real Estate Advisory Services, ESG & Sustainability Management, and Construction Technical Services (including Energy Modeling, Commissioning, and FCAs).
Headquartered in Chicago and with offices in Milwaukee, WI, Grand Rapids, MI, Columbus, OH, Atlanta, GA, Melbourne, FL, and Las Vegas, NV, we have successfully completed over 5,000 projects throughout the United States. We’d love to add you to that list.
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