Computers enhance residential building maintenance efforts.

For owners of multi-unit residential buildings, it can be a continuing challenge to stay up to date on the condition of the buildings and keep on top of their maintenance needs. To meet this challenge, new computerized tools are available that can prove invaluable in the assessment of current conditions and establishment of maintenance requirements and schedules.

Because of building condition assessment and computerized maintenance management programs, it is now possible to perform regular assessments and to plan maintenance programs more efficiently, thus saving time and money. The software enables an owner to identify all deficient conditions in relation to routine maintenance, deferred maintenance, capital improvement, repair, building and safety codes and plant additions.

Typical categories for documentation might include the roof, facade and interior, as well as such building systems as HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and related equipment. Owners can easily rank and prioritize renovation and remediation projects by severity and anticipated life cycle, ensuring that nothing falls between the cracks.

One such assessment program is BCATTM, a building condition assessment tool developed by WASA/TSIG to meet the maintenance requirements of clients. It is an ideal system for the assessment and maintenance of large and complex infrastructure and is currently being used at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, Columbia University and New York City's Economic Development Corporation. But it can be applied equally well to multiple occupant structures, including apartment complexes.

State-of-the-art technology allows for condition assessment data to be collected electronically on hand-held, penbased computers in the field, rather than by hand with subsequent transcription of the information into an electronic format. In the past, assessments were typically performed by individual property managers examining single projects, each in his own way and often using his own nomenclature.

The electronic method of collecting data provides consistency and control of data for all activities performed by members of assessment teams, from architects and engineers to facilities managers and technical personnel. It ensures uniformity in the data collection process and standardization of the deficiencies and the language used, regardless of the number of people involved in the assessment process or the number of sites being surveyed.

Assessment software should be designed to lead personnel through the inspection process by way of pick-lists and also allow inspectors to make comments and sketches and record digital pictures. It must contain a reference knowledge based system that provides access to thousands of potential deficiencies likely to be found in a wide range of building types and systems.

The deficiencies must be structured m a hierarchy of systems, sub-systems and components. The program must automatically offer appropriate recommendations for noted deficiencies. In addition, the program should include, among other features, search facilities within the reference knowledge base, a carry-forward feature to expedite data entry in the field, and the ability to catalogue or inventory buildings, locations and equipment, with related service life information.

Assessment programs enable inspectors to produce a building-by-building narrative that contains detailed descriptions of the infrastructure and various systems. A detailed analysis of the deficiencies encountered can easily be performed. Recommendations to remedy existing problems can be documented along with suggestions for the future, such as methods of bringing the building into compliance with regulatory codes and standards, and ways to update existing equipment conditions.

Assessing building condition and managing maintenance by electronic means resolves the problem of centralizing information. Until recently, the assessment and maintenance of different structures or systems were often handled by different offices that did not share the information. Data was usually stored somewhat randomly, if at all, making it difficult or impossible to recover and/or update.

With a computerized system, the data is automatically institutionalized, creating a living baseline to work from and build upon. The system can be queried more holistically; it will sort by deficiency, location, the aspect being evaluated, or any combination thereof, and allow for integrated reporting or the generation of custom reports. The data becomes a resource that can be easily accessed, retrieved and exchanged. Furthermore, the software makes it possible to compile condition and maintenance data over time, creating a history that can be delivered along with the system if there is a transfer of ownership.

More fluid than traditional spreadsheets, an assessment system can store and track numerical data, perform the number crunching, and accept new data at any time, making it possible to deal more efficiently with cost estimating, budgets and scheduling.

The program can facilitate the development of cost estimates for each individual item in all categories of work, calculate a replacement schedule for equipment based on estimated service life, provide related budgets for each priority ranking, and group work and plan projects, as well as generate summary reports by building, priority, system, or any combination thereof.

Overall, an electronic building assessment and maintenance system yields benefits that can enhance the value of property through consolidation of information and documentation, increased efficiency in assessment and maintenance, cost savings and greater transparency. It makes data available not only to owners faced with a variety of maintenance needs, but also to developers planning retrofits and insurance and/or investment firms involved in property transactions. Further, it enables prospective buyers to take a pro-active approach in negotiatiing the transfer of ownership.