Incorporating Maintainability in Constructability Review Process

Abstract

Life cycle cost or total cost analysis of a facility begins with the initial design concept and ends with the decommissioning of the facility. Decisions made during the design and construction phases routinely consider only the construction costs when analyzing the constructability of the project. Often the impacts of such decisions on the maintenance requirements for the facility are not fully appreciated and are therefore not formally addressed. The concept of “maintainability” addresses this concern and is a logical extension of the constructability concept. As such, maintainability may be incorporated as a part of the formal constructability review process (CRP). This article describes a model format for incorporating the best practices for maintainability into the CRP. The added life cycle value of incorporating maintainability into the CRP can only be assessed by analysis of accurate and complete maintenance cost data. Insights from such an analysis may facilitate more accurate estimates of the total costs of facilities.