How do you integrate FCA cost information into your facility management strategy and budget planning?

1 Understand your FCA scope and objectives

Before you conduct an FCA, you need to define the scope and objectives of the assessment. What are the goals and priorities of your facility management? What are the standards and criteria for evaluating the condition and performance of your facility? What are the data sources and methods for collecting and analyzing the FCA information? How will you report and communicate the FCA results? By clarifying these questions, you can align your FCA with your facility management strategy and ensure that you collect relevant and reliable cost information.

2 Analyze your FCA cost information

Once you have the FCA cost information, you need to analyze it to identify the current and future needs, risks, and opportunities of your facility. To do so, you can use various tools and techniques such as the condition index, facility performance index, life cycle cost analysis, and risk assessment. The condition index is a ratio of the current replacement value to the deferred maintenance cost of a facility or component and indicates its relative condition. The facility performance index is a ratio of the annual operating cost to the current replacement value of a facility and reflects its efficiency and effectiveness. Life cycle cost analysis is a method of estimating the total cost of owning, operating, maintaining, and disposing of a facility or component over its useful life, which can help compare alternative solutions and optimize investment decisions. Lastly, risk assessment is a process of identifying potential hazards and impacts of a facility or component failure in order to support risk management and mitigation strategies.

3 Prioritize your FCA cost information

After analyzing your FCA cost information, you need to prioritize it according to your facility management goals and resources. To do this, you can consider various criteria and methods, such as urgency, impact, feasibility, and alignment. Urgency is the degree of importance and immediacy of addressing a facility or a component need or risk; impact is the magnitude and scope of the consequences and benefits; feasibility is the availability and suitability of resources and options; and alignment is the consistency with the strategic vision, mission, and objectives of facility management.

4 Integrate your FCA cost information into your budget planning

Once you have prioritized your FCA cost information, you need to integrate it into your budget planning process. To do this, you can employ various approaches and models, such as a capital improvement plan, a maintenance management plan, or an asset management plan. The capital improvement plan is a long-term strategy that identifies and schedules major capital projects and expenditures for a facility. The maintenance management plan is a short-term plan that outlines and coordinates routine and preventive maintenance activities and costs. The asset management plan integrates the capital improvement plan, the maintenance management plan, and other aspects of facility management such as operation, performance, risk, sustainability, and stakeholder engagement.

5 Monitor and update your FCA cost information

Finally, you need to monitor and update your FCA cost information regularly to keep up with changing conditions and needs of your facility. To do this, you can use a facility condition audit for verification and validation of the FCA cost information. Additionally, facility management software can collect, store, analyze, and report the FCA cost information, while a facility management dashboard provides a graphical display with key FCA cost information and other indicators for a quick overview of the facility status.