Al-Hajj, A and Horner, M W (1998) Modelling the running costs of buildings. Construction Management and Economics, 16(4), pp. 459-470. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
The Building Maintenance Cost Information Service (BMCIS) offers a comprehensive and rigorous framework for collecting data about the running costs of buildings. Nevertheless, it is pitched at such a level of detail that the amount of data collected and analysed may be constrained. This paper describes the development and testing of a novel technique which reduces the amount of data to be collected without any unacceptable reduction in utility. It draws on the principle of cost-significance to create a simple model of maintenance and operating costs (together called running costs) from a rare and consistent set of data for 20 buildings at York University. The model contains only 11 elements, yet can predict the total running costs of each of four categories of building to an accuracy of about 21/2%. It can also predict annual costs to about 7%, despite variations in the periodicity of costs such as painting and insurance. The model was tested using the jacknife method and on virgin data. It proved to be extremely robust, predicting the running costs of 12 new buildings to within 5%. The model offers a simple framework for collecting and analysing reliable and consistent data on running costs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | cost-significance; life cycle costs; maintenance costs; operating costs |
| Index terms: | operating cost, life cycle cost, running cost, modelling, variation, accuracy, building maintenance, insurance, level of detail, testing, maintenance cost, cost information |
| Subjects: | financial management, professional practice, economic analysis, financial and cost management, construction type, analytical methods, contractual condition, technical documentation, professional development, accounting and finance, research methods |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Contract Administration, Design Practice, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
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