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Introduction to FCA Program:

Unless organizations periodically renew and upgrade their assets, their ability to provide services declines. The underlying forces driving this need for renewal and improvement include:

  • Building Component and Equipment Obsolescence. The average age of a square foot of general fund campus floor space is now 50 years. While proper maintenance minimizes the rate of deterio-ration, sooner or later everything wears out, and deteriorated assets must be renewed or replaced.
  • A Changing World. There is a continuing need to adapt buildings to properly support new social norms, programs, standards of living, and technologies.
  • New Fire Safety and Health Codes. Over the past few decades, a number of regulatory requirements have been promulgated to reduce or eliminate risk hazards and safeguard the public welfare. The most recent example is the State of Michigan's Fire Safety Act, which became effective in late 1999 and aims at improving fire safety levels in campus residence halls.

To better manage this increasingly complex puzzle, the University has implemented a Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) Program, the objective of which is to compile a comprehensive database on the physical condition of the building portfolio. The survey and database address the condition of most major building components and systems, including architectural, structural, civil, mechanical, electrical, life safety and fire protection, environmental health, and building accessibility. In addition to these standard items, the university is working towards the inclusion of elevators and IT (information technology) systems. Deficiencies and anticipated needs are listed in the database as independent projects and assigned a priority, budget, and classification. Hidden costs related to the presence of environmental hazards (asbestos and lead-based paint) are not included. While the university has attempted to make the FCA Program as comprehensive as possible, it is a policy-neutral, technical assessment of existing conditions. It does not include costs related to programs and/or the reconfiguration of building spaces.

The FCA building condition and cost data are intended to serve the community by: (1) identifying near-term needs to maintain standards and assure the service integrity of aging systems and building components, and (2) providing an information base to support the institution's process for shaping the future of its campus. The FCA Program, therefore, is not a comprehensive capital plan for building renewal. Developing such a plan will require addressing several major institutional policy issues.

We implemented a Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) program to identify our deferred maintenance backlog and develop tools for prioritization. We conducted surveys of our buildings and built a database to compile projects that address every identified deficiency. Our program has grown to become a powerful tool utilized by hundreds across campus. Our applications include tools for:

  • Maintenance and operations decisions regarding repairs & replacements,
  • Prioritizing our deferred maintenance backlog & setting short & long term goals,
  • Long term planning of major building component replacements,
  • Capital planning of major renovations,
  • Five-year budget models to match funding levels with established goals.

Users of these tools includes operations & maintenance staff, architects, engineers & planners, safety, health & risk management departments, and university administrators. The program provides us with maps showing us the road that we’re on.

We’ve developed and implemented several practices, processes, procedures and policies which make our FCA program stand out as leader. These include our:

  • Multi-level team approach for validating, estimating and prioritizing,
  • Processes for keeping database up-to-date,
  • Prioritization process,
  • Reporting & modeling tools for planning & budgeting.

Each contributes to the overall success of our FCA program.

FCA Database Access:

All University of Michigan staff can access the database as a guest. CLICK HERE to download the FCA User Guide (pdf 2007/12/03).

CLICK HERE to launch the FCA Database.

Adding a project to the FCA Database

If you are aware of a need on campus and wish to have a project added to the FCA database to correct this need please complete the "FCA New Project Form" and submit it to Utilities and Plant Engineering (UPE) Department, attention Mike Bowen, email Mike Bowen (get address) (38.107.191.116).

An engineer from UPE will contact you to discuss scope of the project, develop a project budget estimate, assign a classification and validate the project. The appropriate FCA Team will then review the need and prioritize it with the other needs on campus.

Closing an FCA project

Upon completion of an FCA project please complete and submit the "FCA Project Closeout Form" to the Utilities and Engineering (UPE) Department, attention Mike Bowen, email Mike Bowen (get address) (38.107.191.116).

Infrastructure Program:

Facilities and Operations Department manages an infrastructure program to identify, prioritize and budget all deferred maintenance needs on our General Fund campus. Project lists with details on high priority needs are developed and maintained by our in-house teams. These needs are submitted to our Resource team for review and funding approval. Approved lists can be downloaded for your reference.
Click to download FY07 PROJECT LIST (xls 2007/10/26)
Click to download FY08 PROJECT LIST (xls 2007/10/26)
Click to download FY09 PROJECT LIST (xls 2008/09/25)

We are currently developing the project list for fiscal year 2010. Click to download FY10 PROJECT LIST (xls 06/20/2009). Please keep in mind this is a work in progress and does not guarantee approval of any of the projects for FY10 funding. We encourage your input into the prioritization process. If you’re aware of a need that you feel is a high priority please send the details to Mike Bowen at Mike Bowen (get address) (38.107.191.116). We will review this item with you and consideration will be given to it’s inclusion on the final list.

Replacement models:

We have created replacement models for long term planning of some of our major building components. Current models include Roof replacements and Elevator replacements. We are working to develop a model for Electrical Substation replacements. We’ve made these models available for download by University of Michigan employees.

Click here to download Roof Model (xls 2008/09/30)
Click here to download Elevator Model (xls 2008/09/25)


Content modified: June, 2009

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