Development of a generic framework for collecting whole life cost data for the building industry

Abstract

Whole life costing analysis is becoming much more important as long‐term building owners and clients start to demand evidence of what their costs of ownership will be. It is also becoming more important as more private companies invest in private finance initiative (PFI), public private partnership (PPP) and prime contracting (PC) projects. One of the main barriers to the successful implementation of whole life costing (WLC), is the lack of reliable and consistent data on elements of whole life cost (capital, facilities management, and disposal) and the performance of building elements and services. The objective of this paper is to discuss the development of a consistent and flexible framework for collecting whole life cost data for buildings. A description of the taxonomy of the cost breakdown structure is given. The proposed data structure will be of value to all the project team (designer, contractor, facilities manager, supplier, etc.) who might be involved in traditional procurement or PFI, PPP, and PC projects. When the cost data structure is populated, it will provide the foundation from which the whole life costs of different alternatives can be estimated and from which the risks such as the technical and financial risks related to WLC elements, operational risks, etc. associated with, PFI, PPP and PC projects can be assessed and minimised.

Uncertainty in Through-Life Costing–-Review and Perspectives

“…Furthermore, TLC analysis can be performed at various levels depending on the information available and the type of analysis used [18]. For example, a generic framework for collecting WLC data at five levels for the building industry based on project, phase, category, element, and task is described [19]. Tools for estimating TLC ranges from bespoke spreadsheets to commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software such as SEER [20], PRICE [21], and Relex [22].…”

Public Private Partnership Benefits in Delivering Public Facilities in Malaysia

“…There is a long term consideration for whole life costing that includes capital cost, operating cost, maintenance cost, replacement cost and disposal cost [17]. The ultimate aim is to achieve value for money (VfM), which is 'the optimum combination of whole-life costs, benefit, risks, and quality (fitness for purpose) to meet the user's requirement and getting the best possible outcome at the lowest possible price' [18].…”

Benchmarking the life cycle cost management of building project

“…As an example, the majority of cleaning costs in a commercial building will be incurred in cleaning walls, floors and windows; Historical data sources of building project will produce profiles of initial costs and running costs, though they are likely to be very different even for the same type facility. We should develop a standard to collect these LCC data and information, the five level cost structure of building project LCC given by Mohamed A.EL-Haram etc may be a valuable reference [10]. These LCC historical data should be the main base data using in the construction of LCC benchmark.…”