The cost of ignoring it
Reactive maintenance addresses defects after they have caused damage. A defect addressed at the sealant or coating stage is remedied while the repair is still small; left in service, the same defect progresses to concrete repair and reinstatement and, for an owners corporation, to an unplanned levy.
Basis of the approach
Building elements deteriorate along predictable curves, and the economics of remediation are largely determined by the point on that curve at which intervention occurs. Renewal of sealants and protective coatings is a small fraction of the cost of the concrete repair that becomes necessary once those systems have failed and water has reached the reinforcement.
A maintenance program is the administrative mechanism by which early intervention occurs in practice: inspections on a defined cycle, identified defects tracked against a baseline, and works initiated by condition rather than by failure.
Program structure
- Baseline — full condition inspection, photographic record, and defect schedule with priority ranking
- Forecast — five to ten year expenditure plan aligned to the maintenance plan and budgeting cycle
- Cycle — scheduled inspections comparing current condition against the baseline, with minor interventions executed as programmed works
- Report — an annual condition summary prepared for the committee, setting out the changes recorded, the works undertaken, the works indicated for the following period and their estimated cost
Application
Programs are appropriate for owners corporations seeking levy predictability and documented evidence of duty of care; for facilities managers with compliance reporting obligations; and for portfolio owners standardising condition data across multiple assets.