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with the detailed life cycle costing of the project. This process often
pays little attention to the real maintenance needs because the
annualised sums are relatively low compared to the prime costs of
acquisition and operations (eg fuel for a power station). However, the
accumulated maintenance costs taken over the life of the pro j e c t
become significant, sometimes more than the acquisition cost. A minor
t reatment of maintenance re q u i rements at this stage will usually lead
to major shortcomings in the future. Financiers, designers and many
Engineers are not well versed in recognising and pre s c r i b i n g
maintenance needs in a holistic approach and often revert to flawed
historical data rather than derivations from first principles.
Following the identification of maintenance costs there needs to
be a serious commitment to allocating and applying the funds. This
re q u i res not only better informed sponsors and recipients but some
f o rmal agreements or commitments that protect the interests of the
p a rties by ensuring that maintenance funding is adequate and cannot
be easily dispersed for other more immediate or unrelated uses. One
of the best methods of ensuring on-going maintenance funding for a
p roject is to incorporate it into firm budgetary policy that cannot be
diluted or diverted by a few zealous managers or politicians without
a larger consensus, including incorporation into Law.
Funding for maintenance should be seen as a vital element in any
i n f r a s t ru c t u re project and as such its importance re q u i res gre a t e r
magnification and recognition than it currently receives. It is
analogous to looking at the maintenance re q u i rements through the
w rong end of binoculars when viewing a project proposal - it is visible
but appears inconsequential.
F i n a l l y, much can be done at the design stage to optimise the
maintenance needs by designing out maintenance, say with
galvanised rather than painted surfaces, and designing in feature s
that support greater maintenance efficiency and effectiveness, such
as signage, walkways, platforms and accessibility. While this may
i n c rease the initial acquisition of the project it should lead to an overall
reduction in life cycle costs and avoidance or reduction of some of
the main issues that have been highlighted - securing on-going
maintenance funding, shortage of skilled maintenance personnel and
proper care of the asset.
Recommendations
Infrastructure Projects
Funding for infrastru c t u re projects should have conditions that
relate to post-construction care and maintenance.
Those providing the infrastructure, or funding, should ensure that
t h e re are re s o u rces dedicated to adequately care for the asset for its
design or ‘economic’ life. This should form part of a technology
transfer agreement for all major infrastructure acquisition projects.
Those receiving the project should insist that appropriate funding
for care is factored into the acquisition deal.
Designers need to have a familiarity with the construction and
labour capabilities at the operational site and an awareness of the
a f t e r- c o n s t ruction care likely to be available. Maintenance strategies
should be considered at the design phase.
Operations and maintenance documentation should cover the
design life of the project and detail the re q u i rements for adequate
c a re and repair for all significant elements, not just key M&E
equipment.
Financiers, politicians, economists need to appreciate the
engineering (and financial) re q u i rements for proper post-constru c t i o n
c a re of infrastru c t u re and factor those re q u i rements into the
acquisition processes.
Experienced, professional Facility Managers should be engaged
during the design, acquisition and operational phases of infrastru c t u re
p rojects to ensure that asset care is fully documented and optimised.
johnwilson@bintai.com.my www.bintai.com.my
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