The technical state or condition of the building in question is determined by inspection; to this end, the defects and their characteristics are identified and listed. The description of the structural elements and related defects make up part of the inspection data processing procedure. Each defect ascertained during the inspection is documented by means of a fixed system: the state of structural elements (and groups of structural elements and buildings) is indicated on a six-point scale.

The most concise form of this scale uses descriptions that are presented in Table 1.

This method is known as condition assessment. The result of condition assessment is a condition score, which is determined by the extent and magnitude of the defects. The related records of defects and their characteristics provide insight into the current condition. The measurement results are useful in drawing up long-term maintenance plans. They can, furthermore, be used to substantiate maintenance budgets – and also to demonstrate the consequences of not maintaining buildings at the right time.

This is why condition assessment is such an important instrument for property management and policy. The required technical quality is central, and it is particularly important that clear, uniform, unambiguous agreements are made. Maintenance recommendations are often given on the basis of personal assessment. The implementation of a condition assessment however, makes this unnecessary and the problems in the maintenance of premises become clearly visible as a result. Technical inspectors assess the state of repair of structural and system components in buildings and on the related sites. The parties responsible for the quality of the accommodation rely on the data delivered by these inspectors as being objective and reliable.

The Effect of Maintenance on Condition Assessment

Buildings suffer continually from wear and become damaged during use and on exposure to all kinds of weather. The result is that the technical quality of all the components of the building deteriorate and the function that the building or system is designed to fulfil (e.g. living, working, etc) is at risk. Maintenance focuses on keeping a system in such technical condition that the designated function of the system is maintained, or that it is returned it to that condition. 

The Dutch Maintenance Society (NVDO) Maintenance Compass (Onderhoudskompas), and the Property Vision Document in particular, give a more detailed picture of the future of ‘maintenance within the property sector in 2017’ using the scenario planning method. The vision document also discusses the possible consequences for the maintenance companies and departments active in this market.

The vision document describes four possible future maintenance scenarios in the property sector in 2017 on the basis of key uncertainties, that is ‘the attention Dutch politicians pay to the energy efficiency of buildings’ (a lot of attention versus little attention) and ‘the future focus of asset owners and investors within the property sector’ (a longterm versus a short-term focus). By placing these developments on an x and a y-axis, and combining the extreme variants of these two key uncertainties, we arrived at four combinations, which form the basis of the scenarios.

Maintenance is, by definition, directed at the entire or partial restoration of the state of an object or structural component at the beginning of, and throughout a period of use. Renovation activities (also known as operating activities) in which the building is adapted for new requirements (e.g. due to changes in working methods or technological developments) are not therefore considered maintenance. In order to make it clear that maintenance is not related to functional adaptations in a building, the term ”technical maintenance” is often used instead of “renovation”.

In technical maintenance we distinguish between daily maintenance and systematic maintenance. Daily maintenance refers to activities that slow down the deterioration in quality of building and system components. Systematic maintenance refers to activities that are intended to restore the state of building and system components to an acceptable level when their technical condition has gradually deteriorated. Systematic maintenance is the way to restore quality losses.

In the case of historic buildings, systematic maintenance also focuses on slowing down the ravages of time and thus preserving historic values. All the relevant definitions are laid down in the Government Building Agency (RGD)’s Handbook of maintenance inspections (Handboek Onderhoudsinspecties).

Table 1. The six-point scale of state of structural elements.

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The Need for a Common Frame of Reference

Maintenance is very beneficial, but costs a lot of money. It is therefore vital for property managers to have reliable, objectively-collected data about the state of maintenance of the most significant cost-determining structural and system components of the buildings under their management. To this end, inspectors must have a common frame of reference when determining and describing the condition of a building.

In response to this need, the NVDO, in Houten, has trained hundreds of condition assessment inspectors during the last few years. The Energy (scan) and Fire safety were added two years ago. The general objective is to have the inspector include the relevant information about fire safety and energy, as well as maintenance aspects, for the architectural, mechanical and electrical disciplines. The nuisance to the user of a building is then limited to a minimum and the information collected can be incorporated in a maintenance plan which also includes the measures, restoration costs for fire safety and the improvement of the energy quality of the building.

Fire safety: in this subject, inspectors learn to assess a building in accordance with a fire scan, such as that developed by RGD/Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO). The fire scan is used to test the fire safety of a building against the provisions of the Buildings Decree and Health and Safety requirements. All shortcomings are identified and listed and the most important shortcomings are subsequently included in the maintenance plan along with the appropriate measures. 

All of the participants of the 2011 autumn NVDO course on Condition assessment/BOEI passed. From left to right: 1 Janneke Veldboer – Strukton WorkSphere, 2 Remko Kogelman – Croon Elektrotechniek, 3 Eric de Borst – the Municipality of Breda, 4 Henrie Segboer – Nellissen ingenieursbureau b.v., 5 Bernie van Harn – BAM Techniek, 6 Raymond van Bergenhenegouwen – VH Engineering BV, 7 Mark Westgeest – Strukton WorkSphere, 8 Marcel Beer – Sweegers en de Bruijn BV, 9 Gert Grolleman – Wageningen UR Vastgoed en Bouwzaken, 10 Jelle Tigelaar – AAG adviesgroep, 11 Kees Mimpen – DHV BV, 12 Tom Arts – Akzo Nobel Technology & Engineering B.V. Not present: Freddy Botter – Cofely Nederland NV, Nando de Weert – Croon Elektrotechniek BV.

Energy: in this subject, inspectors learn to assess a building on the basis of the information required for the tailor-made Energy Performance Advice for Utilities (EPA-U), as described in ISSO publication no. 75. Some of the necessary information has already been included in the maintenance inspections in accordance with the Condition assessment. This module examines the additional aspects that are needed to make an EPA-U calculation and the measures that can be included in the maintenance plan to arrive at a better energy label for the building.

Certification

Now that increasing numbers of clients are outsourcing the management and maintenance of their property, in-house know-how is decreasing and external parties are, one after the other, presenting themselves as experts; a cry for a quality mark is being heard. In the Netherlands, the NVDO has responded by cooperating with the independent Comog Foundation for Real Estate Examinations (Stichting Comog Examens Vastgoed, SCEV).

The SCEV comprises a group of real estate experts from the business sector, all of whom have won their spurs in the field of management and maintenance. The greatest common factor of these ‘all-round specialists’ is a ceaseless drive to attract attention for, and expertise about, the integrated maintenance and conservation of buildings and improving the systems in these buildings. By drawing up stringent examination requirements and, at the same time, sharing their knowledge of current practical developments in this field with the education sector, the foundation has actively contributed to the setting up of various good courses, which are geared to what the market wants.

Diplomas were awarded during the recent festive conclusion of the 2011 autumn course. The level of know-how and skills of the participants was exceptionally high; for the first time in the history of the course on Condition assessment/Fire, maintenance, energy and insight in legislation and regulations (Brand, onderhoud, energie inzicht in wet- en regelgeving, BOEI) all the participants passed!