Generating more revenue is a constant goal of any organization. Facility condition assessments can define how to take things to the next level by optimizing what you already have. Speed up the process with facility condition assessment software.

What is a facility condition assessment (FCA)?

A facility condition assessment is a process that details a building’s physical assets and analyzes the condition of its equipment. It can define deferred maintenance shortcomings and capital renewal needs.

An FCA also generates actionable and prioritized “to-do” lists with associated costs. Measuring the condition and functionality of a facility’s infrastructure is well worth the process as it allows you to see the entire picture of your facility’s assets and equipment.

Why perform a facility condition assessment?

There are many reasons to perform a facility condition assessment, but the top three are: 

  • To gain a better understanding of current facility conditions
  • To build a solid foundation for capital planning and spending
  • As a requirement to secure funding or transfer a property

A facility condition assessment reveals where budgets are best spent. It also makes the condition and value of everything under a facility’s roof known.

What is the flow of a typical facility condition assessment?

Facility condition assessments do not come in all shapes and sizes. They are a very specific set of complicated and sometimes lengthy questions, checklists, and inspections that mine for particular data.

Some organizations hire FCA specialist firms to conduct the assessment. Facility condition assessment software can allow teams to save outsourcing costs by performing the inspection internally; however, team members must meet engineering qualifications to complete the assessment correctly.

Whether outsourcing an FCA or performing it yourself, it follows the same flow.

1. Define assessment goals. 2. Determine the inspection methodology. 3. Determine report formats. 4. Prepare a list of the facilities and components to be assessed. 5. Review available information on facilities to be inspected. 6. Establish deadlines, availability of staff, and access to facilities. 7. Perform the assessment. 8. Finalize reporting and share with stakeholders.
The flow of facility condition assessments

1. Define assessment goals

What is your organization trying to achieve? Gathering depreciation values? A report for selling a facility? Knowing when to replace assets? Define what your goals are before you begin. 

2. Determine the inspection method

Will it be an external or internal team that will conduct the facility condition assessment? 

3. Determine report formats

What kind of reports do you need? Repair costs? Work orders performed on an asset? A complete equipment maintenance summary?  

examples of reports can include replacement cost in years, replacement cost projection, and equipment types
An example of quantifiable financial data for FCA reporting

4. Prepare a list of the facilities and components to be assessed

This is the beginning of an organization’s asset checklist. Be sure to record everything that is in the facility. Download this FCA checklist for a great start.

5. Review available information on facilities to be inspected

Reviewing maintenance histories, warranties, manuals, and lifetime values of assets begins the deep dive into useful FCA reporting. Does your organization have an interactive mapping feature? Having software that does can save time on an assessment by locating troubled pieces of equipment quickly and supporting the collection of initial FCA data.

6. Establish deadlines, availability of staff, and access to facilities

Assign a completion date for the project. Take note of staff availability to answer questions about the assets they service. Record if there are any special needs to access parts of the facility.

7. Perform the assessment

Following checklists, the FCA inspectors gather necessary data. They start inspecting:

  • Plumbing
  • HVAC
  • Electrical systems
  • Roofs
  • Indoor Areas
  • Restrooms
  • Fire and safety equipment and requirements

Depending on an organization’s requirements, this list can expand to include individual asset checklists.

8. Finalize reporting and share with stakeholders

The final step! Share the data with supervisors, directors, the board, and other stakeholders after analyzing the results.

How well is your facility operating?

Get feedback on the health of your facility’s operations by taking this short diagnostic survey.

Take the 6-point performance inspection

How can facility condition assessment software help?

Facility condition assessment software can put the power of performing an FCA in the palm of a local team’s hands. It simplifies the process by formatting everything needed in easy-to-click checklists and dashboards.

It gives an organization the ability to support decision-making whenever a question about prioritizing business objectives for high-value investments arises. The software can also define, document, and evaluate physical assets, systems, and spaces.

In the case of FMX, FMX provides turnkey facilities condition assessments for FMX customers. Experienced FMX professional engineering staff conduct the assessments capturing all FCA data in FMX software.

This data is then accessible in custom dashboards to aid in funding and asset replacement requests. FMX can determine an assets’ remaining useful life (RUI) and help optimize capital budgeting.

What are some key features and benefits of facility condition assessment software?

So, how does facility condition assessment software actually do everything we mentioned above? It’s able to provide the data through a selected feature set that should contain the following:

Data access from one centralized system

Every piece of information gathered should be available in the one system the software provides. An FCA needs complete visibility when it analyzes its reports.

Preventive maintenance scheduling and tracking

This allows the software to know and recall the preventive maintenance work performed on an asset. It defines what is being done to prolong an asset’s life and can disclose system life cycles.

Work order fulfillment and tracking

This is in the same vein as above, but can also include reactive and preventive maintenance measures. Is an asset failing frequently? Is it causing costly downtime?

Building inspection reports

An FCA system should have all building inspection reports deposited inside its database. Again, reporting can only be accurate when all data is present.

Mobile-enabled inspections

Visual inspections are required in a facility condition assessment. Inspectors need on-site mobile capabilities to perform mechanical or other line-of-sight checks.

In-app documentation and QR-code scanning

Floor maps, pictures of equipment, and the ability to QR-code scan assets are essential to the FCA process. They help provide efficiency in locating assets in the field. They also help provide a larger perspective of what’s happening inside a facility and aid in reporting.

These are the base feature necessities for the best facility condition assessment software. Organizations usually find that they will want to add to this list for their own goals and needs.

Summary

Organizations should use facility condition assessment software to better understand current facility conditions, build a solid foundation for capital planning and spending, and cut costs that come with outsourcing an FCA.

The “to-do” lists it generates help maintain, extend the life of, or show when it’s best to replace an asset. It provides defensible data to justify exploring funding for asset replacement and where to invest maintenance budgets.

Acquiring a complete view of your facilities and assets is possible. FMX facilities management software can help with facility condition assessment needs. Book a demo now and find out how.


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