Asset management for buildings
Many public organisations have addressed ‘roads’ as their first priority in asset management planning. There are also significant investments in buildings.
Not only does a typical Local Government have particular purpose buildings such as community halls, libraries and administration centres, State Government organisations also have education facilities, police stations, courts, hospitals and prisons.
Last year, the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia launched a new Practice Note to assist practitioners in applying best practice for condition assessment of building assets.
The aim is to foster a national approach with consistency of data and outputs, with the main outcomes being:
- establishing a register of buildings and their components
- condition assessment to rate each component
and estimate remaining useful life - current (or Capital) Replacement Cost (CRC)
and Depreciated Replacement Cost (DRC) - risk analysis to predict future renewals and
replacements - work schedules (maintenance, renewals and
new works) and long term financial planning
data.
The guidelines include a Toolkit section, which provides access to a downloadable set of spreadsheets and proformas for data collection and condition scoring. There is also a renewal analysis spreadsheet that can produce an expenditure profile up to 100 years. The guidelines are designed for a basic approach through to advanced levels.
Building Component Guidelines are also included for the Australian building industry and cover 90 per cent of the most common components.
A comprehensive sample document is available for free download at www.ipwea.org.au/practicenotes.
