Maintenance Programming

Background

The database generated from a comprehensive survey identifies many thousands of individual remedial or upgrading actions required over the next 10 or more years. Each of these 'action records' identifies the address of the property, a description of the element and action involved, the cost and the relative priority of the work (as assessed at the time of the survey).

A planned programme of repair and upgrading action is then normally developed, to run over a period of ten-years. In essence, this implies allocating a 'year for implementation' against each of the actions given on the database The process of appraisal, assessment, selection of priorities, balancing of annual resource requirements, co-ordination with existing programmes and with cyclical repair and painting sequences, etc. are complex. Consequently, the notes below attempt to summarise the reasoning and process of Programme Design

The Objectives

Programmes should be designed to allocate works to specific years and identify a Decent Homes Delivery Programme within a fully comprehensive and co-ordinated maintenance strategy, reflecting the priority assessments made at the time of the survey, but also designed to satisfy a full range of priority criteria, and often competing, practical and budgetary objectives and constraints.

The Priorities

Priorities can be identified at different levels, for example:-

	Properties : the priority of one property over another - might be reflected by the total volume of work required to the properties, the urgency of that work, or, for example, the relative energy inefficiency of the properties or their Decent Homes standing.
	Maintenance Category: different priority weightings might be attached, for example, to works that effect the properties Condition, Amenity or Design
	Elements: different priorities might be attached to different individual elements of the dwelling, from a 'condition' point of view or to achieve targets identified by the stock owner with regard to benchmark standards
	Assessed Condition Priority: There is also the priority of works assessed by the surveyor out on site.

Within and reflected by the 'levels of priority' given above, more 'global' priorities need to be addressed:-

	Public Safety
	Public Health: e.g. dampness
	Deterioration of Structure: e.g. defective rain-water goods and overflows which, left unattended, will soon lead to deterioration of the fabric beneath
	Methodical Sequence and Operational Logic: e.g. roofs should not be repaired before chimney stacks are made good; new windows should not be inserted immediately after a painting programme or treatment/decoration of render, and so on.
	Preventative Maintenance
	Energy Efficiency & Conservation
	Internal Amenity
	General Amenity

Other Criteria, Objectives and Constraints

In addition, the programme needs to be designed with reference to a number of other planned maintenance priority criteria, objectives and constraints:-

	To achieve a logical relationship with the painting cycle:- This, in itself, helps to satisfy operational logic (above), and the need to restrict the numbers of visits to properties (below).
	To avoid unnecessary repeat visits to individual properties:-
	To provide reasonable 'production runs' in each locality:-
	To give a reasonable balance of trade inputs year by year.
	To achieve reasonable overall uniformity of annual expenditure.

Elemental, Cyclical or 'One-Stage' Planned Maintenance programmes?

You can find 'urgent work' or 'priority work' on almost all properties. The arguments for cyclical or elemental maintenance, against 'one-stage refurbishment' obviously depends upon the character of the property, and the scope of works required to improve it. In reality, a Planned Maintenance Programme should allow for a combination of:-

	One-stage Major Repairs/Improvements : i.e. full refurbishment of selected dwellings - where the scope and volume is appropriate
	Cyclical Elemental maintenance - targeting resources to the highest priority, most urgent work on an elemental basis - thus spreading activity across the stock, with relatively small expenditures for each dwelling. This elemental maintenance is best implemented through a defined 'cycle' framework, whereby 1/5th of the stock is targeted each year, some of these properties may require Major Repairs, while others may require re-dec's and minor works. This approach will ensure that no dwellings are ignored for over 5-years - and will also ensure that the backlog of basic fabric repairs is cleared within the initial 5 years.
	Major Repairs: Elemental Renewals - e.g. Window &/or roof replacements, Central Heating installations, etc. - which may not, necessarily, be associated with the above.
	Effective Response : to cater for tenant reported urgent works prior to first 'cyclical' visit.

Benchmark Standards & Improvements

The programme must aim to achieve the optimum economic life for each dwelling and its component elements. In addition, actions must be included that are designed to improve the standards of accommodation, amenity or service to a defined 'Benchmark Standard'

Such ‘improvement’ actions cannot legitimately be 'lifed', or allocated a ‘priority’ by the surveyor on-site. Action priority will depend on targets set (below) or such criteria as:- functional obsolescence, fashion and desired standards of fittings and fixtures - all are value judgements

Targets

There are many thousands of actions required for implementation, in order to rationalise the programme, one needs to have a framework of targets and objectives on which to base the sequence of works: particularly with regard to improvement works. The programme may be developed to achieve targets such as:-

	All windows renewed by year????
	All dwellings to have full house CH by year????
	All dwellings to achieve a SAP of 55 by year????
	All dwellings to be fully insulated by ????
	All dwellings to be supplied with smoke detectors by ????
	Etc

Methods

It is clear from the above that selecting the exact sequence of works to be embodied within the programme (i.e. allocating a year to each of the actions) will depend on the various weights attached to (often conflicting) priorities, targets, constraints, etc.

Reflecting our normal practices, the process of programme design includes:-

	Extrapolation: Data from individual surveys are extrapolated to provide records against each property on the housing register.
	Assessment & Interpretation of Data: Data is then summarised and assessed to establish and quantify general patterns of failure.
	Setting Standards & Targets: In consultation with the stock owner a defined set of ‘Benchmark Standards’ are formalised. All improvement works required to raise individual dwellings to these standards are identified and incorporated in the programme. Improvement works are then costs and target options evaluated.
	Costings: Average unit costs and standards of specification are formulated (for each element/attribute/action combination)
	Existing Information and data: The existing painting and other maintenance cycles are appraised, entered to computer - these provide the framework for the development of the planned maintenance programme.
	The Maintenance Cycles: In order to achieve a balanced programme over the next 10-years it is essential to achieve an approximate balance of properties to be maintained within each year of the maintenance cycle adopted - i.e. , where a 5-year cycle is adopted, addressing approximately 1/5th of the stock per annum Inter-relationships between elements are then reviewed and adjustments to the grouping and timing of remedial work provisionally determined. A trial programme is then evolved - applying simple quantification of priorities provisionally identified during the survey.
	The Priorities: Next, the analysis is subjected to further appraisal - by reference to a sequence of priorities discussed above
	Additional Criteria, Objectives & Constraints This 'first attempt' programme is then subject to several further stages of manipulation to satisfy a the full range of important (and often competing) practical and budgetary objectives

Representation

The programme finally recommended is presented in a database format. That is, each of the thousands of specific element defects documented in the database has a year allocated to it for programmed implementation.

The programme allocations can, of course, be modified, adjusted or completely re-cast with ease, within the facilities provided by the software.