Facilities management: the development of a model for building condition assessment surveys conducted at Fort Riley, Kansas

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to document the research and design of a condition assessment system for buildings by utilizing case study methods for the facilities located at Fort Riley, Kansas, an Army military installation. The design of the assessment or auditing system incorporates the following procedures: (1) identification of building components, (2) identification of building sub-components, (3) utilization of decision-tree logic diagrams to manage the information, and (4) production of inspection condition criteria and scoring for each sub-component (by visual inspection techniques) . The system was used by multiple inspectors to assess the buildings at Fort Riley. The inspectors received training in the system scoring and methodology. To verify the system's accuracy, ten percent (10%) of the buildings were re-inspected by the developers of the system (quality control) . The analysis of the system included a random sample of 20 buildings from the data collected. The data were analyzed for accuracy and consistency on the component and sub-component recognition and the inspection condition score (as compared to the quality control results) The actual inspection time was monitored to record the inspection efficiency. Statistical testing was conducted which did the following: (1) analyzed the data pair means for any significant differences, and (2) analyzed the strength of the pair relationships. From the data analysis the following was found: (1) the components and sub-components were recognized accurately and consistently, (2) the actual scores seemed to be accurate and consistent (after conducting the statistical test (T-Test) some of the means did indicate that there were some significant differences, while others indicated there were no significant differences) , (3) the data indicated that there was correlation between the data pairs. Also, it was found that this system provides reasonable inspection time and cost restraints. The building assessments are incorporated into an information system that assists the user in establishing priorities. The cost factors for each sub-component are based on building models that relate the quantities of the different sub-components to the actual floor area of the buildings. From these building models conceptual estimates can be generated and used as a tool to budget, justify, and anticipate maintenance and repair costs.