Introduction to Built Asset Management

Anthony Higham, Jason Challender, Greg Watts

• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781119106586
• eBook ISBN: 9781119106562
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Construction & Architectural Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Introduction to Built Asset Management

Provides a multidisciplinary introduction to building maintenance management and execution, covering a wide range of current technical and management issues

The maintenance and upgrading of existing buildings is no longer viewed as separate from the operational phase of the completed building. Maintenance and management are now regarded as fundamental parts of a building's life cycle, forming a significant percentage of the construction industry's total output. As higher education programmes in the UK and elsewhere continue to place greater emphasis on the longer-term view of construction projects, students and instructors require a thorough and up-to-date textbook that emphasises the comprehensive nature of building maintenance.

Introduction to Built Asset Management is a systematic introduction to both the technology and management issues central to building maintenance and refurbishment. Covering the entire life cycle of built assets, the textbook reviews the role of framework agreements, describes key performance indicators, discusses recent advancements in the procurement of maintenance activities and more. Detailed yet accessible chapters include illustrative examples, seminar questions and self-assessment tasks that enable students to measure their progress as they work through the material. Designed to meet the needs of today's learners, this much-needed textbook:

• Addresses a variety of both environmental and commercial concerns
• Evaluates important concepts of sustainability, sustainable maintenance and carbon resilience
• Discusses the growing retrofit market in the wider context of asset management and maintenance
• Describes information management tools such as building information modelling (BIM) and geographic information systems (GIS)

Introduction to Built Asset Management is ideally suited for courses in construction, construction management, building surveying and facilities management with modules in built asset management and maintenance.

1
Introduction

1.1 Introduction to the Book

Undertaking responsible and practical repairs and maintenance policies and strategies are becoming an ever-important factor in life cycle management of property assets from owner occupiers to large property portfolios. In this sense, building maintenance practices are needed in every development and is therein a very crucial part in every life of every building. This may be predicated on buildings requiring to be well maintained in order to retain the value of the property itself. Furthermore, the buildings will also continue to fulfil their functions if properly maintained and will give the convenience to the tenant and occupants in the buildings.

With the technological advancement in buildings over many years and the advent of more complex building elements and services, the area of building management is becoming a ‘hot topic’ and one that is worthy of a more profound and professional approach and address. There has become a need for more prescriptive and perhaps regimented maintenance programmes and procedures to ensure statutory compliance is maintained as legislation becomes more convoluted, and to ensure buildings do not develop defects and deteriorate.

Some earlier publications have successfully considered aspects of maintenance, including its dimensions, planning, organisation, procurement and post-contract management and finally the role of knowledge management within maintenance organisations. Despite the comprehensive coverage of the fundamental issues, most of these previous works have not considered the increasingly important areas of carbon resilience and information management, which the present book will address. This is an important and topical aspect, as it is now essential that clients need to consider the viability of retrofitting microgeneration and renewable technologies to existing structures during major maintenance activities. This book will seek to readdress the balance and will provide readers with a depth of knowledge around such areas in an attempt to improve best practice in maintenance management.

1.2 The Main Areas and Themes Covered in the Book

As an introduction to the book and to provide context for readers, an overview is provided below of all the main areas and themes covered alongside related discussion points.

1.2.1 Chapter 2 Surveying Existing Buildings

This chapter will outline the background to conducting building surveys and identify the skills, steps and requirements for them to be completed successfully. It will describe the methodology by which defects are correctly diagnosed through collection of evidence and observing telltale signs. Notwithstanding this premise, it will provide instances when this can sometimes be challenging, and misdiagnosis may remain a real factor. To assist readers, it will describe circumstances and practical examples where there may be more than one force of nature at play and how these can lead to different forms of building deterioration. Furthermore, it will provide examples where certain defects have been misdiagnosed for others and where symptoms are similar, e.g., alternative forms of structural cracking and dampness.

The chapter will also highlight the importance of client engagement both before and after building surveys and will describe the type and form of background information that may be useful to them. In this regard the usefulness of desktop studies and reviewing previous technical reports will be discussed. Following on from this, the importance of understanding the clients’ requirements in the type and nature of information to be captured in the survey will be articulated and explained.

The different types of building survey, ranging from full structural surveys to valuation surveys, will be outlined in the chapter together with the respective benefits and possible limitations of each. In addition, the range of different surveying equipment and tools will be identified. The use and application of each piece of equipment to assist surveyors in their inspections will be covered, especially where access and visibility difficulties are experienced. Photographs of different building surveying equipment and apparatus will be provided.

The modus operandi by which surveyors will conduct their inspections will be discussed, alongside factors such as health and safety and limitations which will need to be considered. In addition, the challenges and obstacles which sometimes confront building surveyors in the course of their inspection will be identified, especially where disruption to normal building operations remains an important factor. Examples of such factors will be given and an understanding of the difficulties that these constraints can impose on the building surveying process.

Following on from this, the importance of further investigation work will be outlined in circumstances that require opening up works or more specialist input. Finally, the various stages of managing the remedial work process will be described, alongside the importance of client consultation of the different options and preferred solutions. Examples of different scenarios leading up to the agreement of the agreed remedial works will be provided.

1.2.2 Chapter 3 Common Maintenance Issues and Managing Defects

This chapter of the book is focused on the pathology of buildings with particular emphasis on building degradation and will describe the ways and means of identifying and addressing potential defective elements and defects within buildings. In this pursuit, it will examine the different methodologies for diagnosis of defects and their root cause (rather than just the symptoms of defects) to assist in identifying the most appropriate type of repair.

An analysis of the underlying conditions and mechanisms that lead to defects and building failures resulting from poor design and quality of build during the construction stage or refurbishment will be covered, from dampness to structural movement, corrosion and timber decay. Furthermore, the role of maintenance across the life cycles of buildings will then be discussed and the influence that this has on their preservation and deterioration. The debate around this important area will then extend into the examination of planned and reactive policies for maintenance management of buildings estates.

The challenges associated with identifying the underlying causes of building failures will be presented where one or more possible different diagnoses may be initially debated. In this context the requirements for further investigation will be examined in correctly determining the underlying root cause of problems more accurately and confidently. The different categories of building failures which lead to the emergence of defects will then be discussed and the mitigation measures that should be undertaken to reduce the risk of such failures. In addition, the individual forces at work leading to different types of defects and how these can vary depending on climate and the geographical locations around the world will be articulated. Furthermore, the difficulties and challenges of correctly identifying faults and defects to building services such as heating, lighting, fire alarms, cooling and other forms of gas and electrical installation will be explained, and practical examples provided.

The importance of understanding the nature and effect of agents that can lead to building defects will be examined in detail, including human misuse of buildings and deliberate vandalism, coupled with electromagnetic, mechanical, chemical, building user, thermal and biological related forces and effects at work. The wrong use of materials and components and design defects will be discussed and how these can develop into latent construction defects in the future, therein introducing maintenance liabilities for building owners. Thereafter, the magnitude of managing remedial works and the associated disruption that this can bring for building users will then be investigated with reference to different examples in practice. Dilemmas associated with repair or renewal decisions will be introduced and debated in detail and the overall effects that decision making can have on future maintenance and lifecycle costings analysis. This will entail a discussion around capital cost (CAPEX) versus operational cost (OPEX) perspectives. Following on from this, the various influences of different factors on the repair or renewal decision making will be covered, including capital funding, building longevity and potential disruption from proposed remedial works.

Managing the remedial works processes to address maintenance issues and defects will be examined, with a focus on best practice and achieving the correct level of supervision and quality control throughout the contract period. This will introduce quality control and best practices in selecting the right design, a team and contractors from the perspective of attaining the necessary skills, experience and competency levels required to undertake projects successfully. Finally, measures to mitigate and prevent defects will be covered and the importance of allowing access provisions in building to enable and carry out regular maintenance inspections as part of planned preventative maintenance programmes.

1.2.3 Chapter 4 Maintenance Management and Performance Measurement as Part of Private Financing Initiative (PFI) Schemes

The chapter will start with a background to the discussion on performance measurement (PM) of maintenance and other facilities management services in the healthcare sector. In this sense it will articulate some of the problems that PM initiatives have experienced in the past. Furthermore, it will also provide justification for highlighting the issue of performance measurement linked to PFI initiatives and explain the reasons why it is widely regarded as a ‘hot topic’. Thereafter it will explore the definitions and concepts of facilities management, the application of performance measurement in a healthcare PFI setting and the impact of performance measurement on service and quality improvements. The significance, importance and challenges for PM around facilities management on a PFI scheme will then be discussed. This will include such issues as financial dilemmas facing the healthcare sector in the UK and how it has been tasked to achieve more with less, and targets to improve the quality of the health service whilst reducing cost. Other challenges for maintenance and facilities management will be covered, including the need to increase accountability, drive up quality, meet increasing demands on maintenance and facilities outcomes, make efficient savings and re-energise value-for-money approaches. In the context of such challenges further explanation will be presented on why these factors have all led to renewed interest in the direction of performance measurement. In addition, it will also explore payment mechanisms as one of the underlying reasons for measuring performance in a PFI healthcare project as a gain share/pain share initiative. In this sense, it will explain the issues around deduction of payments for poor performance and conversely financial incentives for exceeding targets. Various performance measurements for improving maintenance and facility management outcomes tools are then explored alongside the role of key performance indicators (KPIs). The benefits of performance measurement will be articulated from a position of presenting a clear picture of where improvements are actually happening.

Justification for introducing measure performance measures on PFI schemes and the need to assess progress against predetermined objectives will be covered. This will include measures to identify areas of strength and weakness and the need to align future initiatives with the aim of helping to improve the organisational performance. The chapter will then extend into performance measurement as applied to quality improvements in maintenance and facilities management practices. Financial and non-financial measurements, being the primary variables that can be used to research the construct of performance measurement in most organisations, will then be examined. The various forms of performance monitoring tools will be identified and analysed and how these relate to benchmarking and key performance indictors. Finally, key issues arising for performance management as part of a facilities management (FM) tool on PFI schemes will be articulated and discussed, alongside reflections for the future.

1.2.4 Chapter 5 Procurement and Contracting for Maintenance and Refurbishment Works

This chapter will look at the processes associated with the procurement and contracting of refurbishment and maintenance works. It will emphasise the importance of the way we buy from the construction industry and how this will ultimately decide the success or failure of projects. Furthermore, it will introduce strategic procurement as a tool to elicit project performance requirements and will make the case for businesslike approaches to procurement strategies. The chapter will then introduce the various procurement routes which can be adopted for refurbishment and maintenance projects before providing an overview of procurement governance requireme...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title page
• Copyright
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Foreword
• Acknowledgement
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Surveying Existing Buildings
• 3 Common Maintenance Issues and Managing Defects
• 4 Maintenance Management and Performance Measurement as Part of Private Financing Initiative (PFI) Schemes
• 5 Procurement and Contracting for Maintenance and Refurbishment Works
• 6 Financial Management: Capital Costs
• 7 Financial Management: Life Cycle Costing
• 8 Sustainable Maintenance Management
• 9 Risk Management
• 10 Managing the Maintenance Process
• 11 Conclusion
• About the Authors
• Index
• End User License Agreement