Life Cycle Costing For Design Professionals

Economics; Life cycle estimating procedures; Formats; Design methodology; Case studies; Other uses.

This comprehensive resource provides expert guidance on how Life Cycle Costing (LCC) can optimize decision-making and enhance long-term profit. Sixteen case studies show how to apply LCC to particular facility types and building components, in a new construction and remodeling.

Whole life-cycle costing (WLCC) is rapidly becoming the standard method for the long-term cost appraisal of buildings and civil infrastructure projects. With clients now demanding buildings that demonstrate value for money over the long term, WLCC has become an essential tool for those involved in the design, construction, operation and risk analysis of construction projects. Whole-life costing: risk and risk responses offers a thorough grounding in both the theory and practical application of WLCC. Part I deals with the fundamentals, providing the general background to appreciate WLCC concepts and whole life risk management techniques at the key decision-making milestones through a project’s life. Part II covers the design stage, including service life forecasting and environmental life-cycle assessment techniques in WLCC. Practical frameworks both for assessing whole life risks and risk responses, as well as guidance on developing WLCC budget estimates are also developed. In Part III, the authors consider WLCC during the construction and operations stages, with a strong emphasis upon risk analysis methods and dynamic WLCC assessment. With its mixture of established theory, best practice and innovative approaches, this book will help you make more accurate assessments of the long-term cost effectiveness of projects by: providing a thorough grounding in the theory of WLCC demonstrating how decision-making uncertainty can be reduced by basing choices on sound risk management principles identifying a systematic approach to planning the post-occupancy costs.

In the mid-1960s geotechnical engineers paid the highest liability insurance of any profession and by 1969 were virtually uninsurable. As a result, the ASFE was founded and helped these engineers not only lower their insurance rates, but get to the point where, by 1980, they were the least liability-prone members of the design profession. Now, John Bachner and the ASFE tell all other design professionals how to accomplish the same task. This book, which incorporates the ASFE's Introduction to Professional Practice program for advancing architects' and engineers' knowledge of professional practice issues, addresses almost every aspect of the design professionals' practice as they relate to liability, from procedures for verifying the accuracy of technical output to steps for improving client and project selection, workscope development, personnel training and dispute resolution.

Although technology and productivity has changed much of engineering, many topics are still taught in very similarly to how they were taught in the 70s. Using a new approach to engineering economics, Systems Life Cycle Costing: Economic Analysis, Estimation, and Management presents the material that a modern engineer must understand to work as a practicing engineer conducting economic analysis. Organized around a product development process that provides a framework for the material, the book presents techniques such as engineering economics and simulation-based costing (SBC), with a focus on total life cycle understanding and perspective and introduces techniques for detailed analysis of modern complex systems. The author includes rules of thumb for estimation grouped with the methods, processes, and tools (MPTs) for conducting a detailed engineering buildup for costing. He presents the estimating costing of complex systems and software and then explores concepts such as design to cost (DTC), cost as an independent variable (CAIV), the role of commercial off-the-shelf technology, cost of quality, and the role of project management in LCC management. No product or services are immune from cost, performance, schedule, quality, risks, and tradeoffs. Yet engineers spend most of their formal education focused on performance and most of their professional careers worrying about resources and schedule. Too often, the design stage becomes about the technical performance without considering the downstream costs that contribute to the tota1 life cycle costs (LCC) of a system. This text presents the methods, processes, and tools needed for the economic analysis, estimation, and management that bring these costs in line with the goals of pleasing the customer and staying within budget.

The construction industry is becoming increasingly aware of the need to adopt a holistic approach to the design, building, and disposal of structures. With 60 per cent of the total construction budget in most developed countries being spent on repair and maintenance, there is an obvious need to design for reliability and durability, with more carefully planned maintenance and repair schedules. One important facet is to look at how costs are distributed and spent during the lifetime of a structure: an approach known as life cycle costing, which has the ultimate aim of minimising total lifetime expenditure. As an example, choosing an inexpensive coating for steelwork may require maintenance every three years, whereas a coating which is more expensive may require repairing only once per decade. It is a question of balance - taking the lifetime costs of the structure into consideration. This new book provides an insight into how whole life costing is affecting our approach to designing, building, maintaining and disposing of structures. The book is written for consulting engineers in the fields of civil and structural engineering, building designers, architects, quantity surveyors, refurbishing specialists, as well as practising civil and structural engineers engaged in planning, design, construction, repair and refurbishment of structures.

The construction industry is becoming increasingly aware of the need to adopt a holistic approach to the design, building, and disposal of structures. With 60 per cent of the total construction budget in most developed countries being spent on repair and maintenance, there is an obvious need to design for reliability and durability, with more carefully planned maintenance and repair schedules. One important facet is to look at how costs are distributed and spent during the lifetime of a structure: an approach known as life cycle costing, which has the ultimate aim of minimising total lifetime expenditure. As an example, choosing an inexpensive coating for steelwork may require maintenance every three years, whereas a coating which is more expensive may require repairing only once per decade. It is a question of balance - taking the lifetime costs of the structure into consideration. This new book provides an insight into how whole life costing is affecting our approach to designing, building, maintaining and disposing of structures. The book is written for consulting engineers in the fields of civil and structural engineering, building designers, architects, quantity surveyors, refurbishing specialists, as well as practising civil and structural engineers engaged in planning, design, construction, repair and refurbishment of structures.

Economics; Life cycle estimating procedures; Formats; Design methodology; Case studies; Other uses.