Check this out: Tips for Facility Condition Assessments

Facility condition assessments are an important tool for school districts and other organizations to appropriately plan for deferred maintenance or create a long-term master plan.

Remember the 4 P’s of facility condition assessments:

Proactive

One of the benefits of initiating a facility condition assessment is moving from a reactive state—where you are constantly putting out fires, tackling only the most critical facility issues as they arise—to being proactive about your facility needs. By gaining a wholistic understanding of the condition of your facilities, you can strategically plan and budget on an annual basis for the maintenance and renovation issues you know are coming down the pike. This makes any surprise problems easier to manage.

Prioritize

Sometimes, you are juggling so many balls, it’s all you can do to keep the glass ones in the air while letting the rubber ones hit the floor. By conducting a comprehensive facility condition assessment, your institution can prioritize your needs and give them each the level of attention they require at the appropriate time. When all your needs are identified in advance, you can address them based on urgency and alignment with strategic initiatives—meaning fewer balls have to get dropped along the way.

Plan

A facility condition assessment allows you to plan for strategic implementation of upgrades and improvements and create efficiency in timing and cost. Projects can be grouped by type, such as roofing or HVAC projects, to achieve some economy of scale and pricing. When you know what maintenance projects you have, you can also start to time and plan them around capital projects to help reduce redundant costs.

Partner

None of the Ps work without the fourth P—finding a good professional partner. It is crucial to select a full-service team with deep experience in assessing facility conditions, particularly in your industry. You also want a partner that has a proven process and the right tools to document a full, clear evaluation of your facilities. They can then help you seamlessly transition from the assessment and planning process to implementation.

See the step-by-step process of a facility assessment.