By Adam Adkin and Andrew Van Meel
Many of the issues facility teams deal with in living-sector assets are set years earlier during the design, value management and procurement stages. Getting operational input into those decisions early is much simpler than fixing the results later.
Six months after a new build-to-rent building opens, a pump fails on Level 12. The facility manager needs to know which model it is, whether it is still under warranty and whether its planned maintenance has been carried out since commissioning. They also need to know whether there is a spare and how to replace the pump without closing a corridor.
These sound like operational questions, but most of the answers were settled long before handover through decisions about specification, plant access, value management and procurement.
Across build-to-rent, purpose-built student accommodation, retirement living and social and affordable housing, more assets are being held and operated for decades. Their owners live with those early decisions for a long time.
Test options while they are still open
Life cycle costing is most useful while design options are still being compared. Produced at the end of design, once the façade system and plant have been selected, it can only record what has already been decided. Done earlier, it can change which option goes ahead.
Value management benefits from the same discipline. If a tender saving pushes up maintenance, energy or replacement costs, the cost has simply shifted to the operator.
Plan for replacement during design
Plant and building systems are installed once but serviced and replaced many times over the life of a building. Equipment that is built in without thought for its eventual removal can create long-term problems for operators. Access, clearances and replacement routes can all be checked in the design model before construction starts. It is far easier to move a riser or widen a plant room door on screen than in an occupied building and people with operational experience are often the first to spot these issues.
Specify with the portfolio in mind
For owners with several assets, standardising products and systems makes spares easier to manage, simplifies maintenance and makes each round of procurement more straightforward. Performance data from buildings already in operation should feed back into what gets specified on the next project.
The role of better information
All of this requires reliable information while design is still moving. A well-governed Building Information Modeling (BIM) environment lets the team review maintainability in the model and extract equipment quantities earlier, which gives more time to procure long-lead and client-supplied items. Dashboards that bring capital, maintenance and replacement costs together make it easier to compare options on whole-of-life value, rather than on tender price alone. The decisions still sit with the project team, but they are made with a clearer view of what each choice will cost to run.
Good records support asset value
Living-sector assets can change hands during their operating life through portfolio sales, recapitalisation or a shift in investment strategy. A buyer’s due diligence will look closely at the servicing, condition and warranty history the owner can demonstrate. Gaps in that history are likely to be reflected in the price.
Questions worth asking early
Three questions are worth asking while decisions can still change:
- Has the operating model influenced the brief and design reviews?
- Are design options and value management savings compared on whole-of-life value?
- Where could standardised specifications simplify maintenance across the portfolio?
The assets being delivered today may still be operating in 2056. Decisions made on Day 1 will shape how they perform in Year 30, and the best time to test those decisions is before the building exists.
Explore more Living Sectors insights.
Adam Adkin is the national director and national asset and facilities management lead at WT. Andrew Van Meel is the national director and national digital solutions lead at WT.
Image: Supplied.
