Budgeting for Facility Maintenance and Repair. I: Methods and Models

Abstract

Whether in the public or private sector, facility maintenance and repair is less tangible, less glamorous, and less immediate than many other uses of an organization's limited resources. The engineers who manage and operate large physical plants must be vigilant as they compete in the annual budget allocation process. This paper, the first of two in a series, reports on the variety and relative acceptance of methodologies for estimating facility maintenance and repair funding requirements. Four bases are outlined for budget-level estimating: (1) The physical plant's initial cost or replacement value; (2) formulas grounded in other quantifiable attributes of the plant, (3) life-cycle analysis of each facility's systems and components; and (4) assessment of the facility's current or projected physical condition. Most importantly, a description and comparison of 18 available maintenance and repair budgeting models is provided. Each description includes an explanation of the mechanisms through which the model functions, the degree to which each estimating basis is applied within the model's construct, and any limitations to the model's implementation by a prospective user.