Questions and Answers from Condition Assessment Training Sessions

Responses from the Condition Assessment Team are in blue Arial font

• In Part II – Overview & Direction PPT, Slide 29, what is meant by “Tempering of Means data with corporate experience as captured in the Standard Work Items shown on the standard forms”?
  
  The team that created the new Facility Condition Assessment process relied upon its substantial agency experience to select work items from the Means database which could be used to define an appropriate and consistent standard of care for facilities across the agency. The result is a standard list which could serve as “representative” work items for general use by all employees and contractors involved in performing condition assessments. For life expectancy (frequency), the team pulled most numbers directly from the “Means Maintenance and Repair Cost Data”; however in some cases we modified the frequency slightly due to corporate experience.
  
  
• What costs are included in work item 01001 Building Replacement, Complete? The cost for this work item equals the CRV value x the 4 cost factors. Could there be more detailed information in the Data Dictionary? Will add additional information in the next version of DD.
  
  
• Because Custom Items are not available this year, what should we be doing to capture costs for custom items? First, inspector should try to match custom item to a standard item if possible. Second, write down custom item and enter it after custom work item screen in developed in FY09. Are we using the RS Unit$ tab to create custom work items? This tab may eventually be used to create custom work items, but this has not yet been developed. For the time being the focus should be on standard work items.
  
  
• The group evaluated a building at the Chittenden Nursery Site, Huron Manistee NF. The building was constructed in 1934 and the historic status has not been evaluated yet. The building was originally a seedling cooler. The building is no longer used as a cooler, but is used for storage. The main electrical service line to the building has been removed. The building still contains components of a complex building (sink, sub-panel and wiring and light fixtures, unit heater, etc.)
  
  
  • Is the building considered basic or complex? If plumbing is still operative, it would be a complex building.
    
    
  • How do you correctly do an assessment on this structure to assess its “value”? If the building has a unit heater, but there is no electric service to the building and the heater has exceeded its typical life cycle, do you enter this as a deferred maintenance work item? Depends on FMP status. If FMP is “Retain for Existing Use” (which is storage), then heater, light fixtures, etc. are not planned to be made functional and would not be recorded. If FMP shows “Develop for Alternate Use”, and the planned use requires MEP systems, then MEP components would be recorded.
    
    
  • Are you supposed to change a building’s category and subcategory based on the function of the building? Yes, the forest facility engineer/Infra data steward should change the Cat/Subcat any time the building occupancy/use changes. Is this also true of historic structures or are the category and subcategory to be based on the original function of the building? Yes, change the category even for historic buildings that are facilities (not just heritage structures).
    
    
• Will the direction of Recreation and Engineering facilities eventually match up? We are moving in that direction. What is the latest status? Recreation has endorsed the new assessment process for identifying deferred maintenance. Facilities wants less detailed cost information, condition assessments are for appraisal; Recreation wants more cost detail information for the purposes of actually doing the work for their RSI projects. After having had additional discussion with the Recreation staffs nationally it is felt that there is a difference in facility condition assessment data and project data. The more detailed information is project data, and therefore should be input into I-Web’s Project module whenever actual project work is anticipated, not in the condition assessment section.
  
  
• These questions are about the Condition Assessments Form:
  
  
  • For parking lot repair and resurfacing, do you resurface just a small section or do you resurface the entire parking lot? Entire area. A very small area should be considered O&M.
    
    
  • For exterior doors, does the screen door count as part of the door or do we count it as another door? I recommend counting the screen door separately.
    
    
  • Concrete ramps are common; do we include this under the wood decks standard work item? Should use WI# 03001 – Concrete Slab or Stem Wall for a concrete ramp. Measure and enter the square footage of the ramp.
    
    
  • Wood flooring is common; do we include this under the repair/replace ceramic tile standard work item? (If yes, should include information in the data dictionary) To refurbish wood floor, use WI# 09004 – Flooring, Wood, Sand and Refinish. If you need to replace the entire wood floor, the tile work item should be a good match.
    
    
  • How do you measure wall cabinets? Total linear feet of cabinets. Are the lower cabinets and upper hanging cabinets along the same wall measured separately or together? They are measured together. The slides and data dictionary say the linear foot cost includes countertop, base and wall cabinets.
    
    
  • Need a clearer definition of a “building”? We use the standard GSA definition that has been accepted by the Federal Facilities Council.
    
    
    • Is the definition “AND” or “OR”? Does the building have to have a foundation “OR” permanent roof? “AND”
      
      
    • If building has foundation and permanent roof and is less than 8’ high, is it a building? This will always requires a judgement call by the inspector. We are going to take another look at the definition and we will be pulling out the 8’ high requirement.
      
      
• Are air compressors required to have monthly checks? Yes, an air compressor is a pressure vessel. Is this an OSHA requirement? Yes
  
  
• If we have a standard work item that covers multiple areas on the building site, do we lump all the information into one work item or do we separate work item for each area (example: concrete sidewalks; one sidewalk in front, one in back, etc.)? Lump total quantities.
  
  
• Will there eventually be some uniformity/consistency across the different modules (example: Buildings are now done as an assessment for the purposes of obtaining the value of the building)? Is water and wastewater completed the same way? Not yet. Are we looking at water and wastewater systems from an appraisal perspective to assess their value or what actually needs to be fixed?. What about dams and bridges? They are looking at creating consistency throughout the modules from a technical standpoint. At this time, they are looking to integrate RS Means into the other programs. They have already integrated RS Means into Water and Wastewater. There has been no information on the direction that the programs will take in terms of data collection. All modules with the exceptions of buildings will need to be surveyed and completed the same way as previous years.
  Future Development: There is development of a mobile unit for buildings. It is unclear when the mobile unit will be fully developed, but the hope is sometime in the next few years.
  
  
• Why are the numbers in I-Web for the standard work items numbered differently than the RS Means Format (Construction Standards Institute format)? Why are the numbers for the work items different between the basic/complex tabs and the RS Unit tab? The RS Unit$ tab is in the CSI format which is directly pulled from RS Means. The basic and complex tabs are numbered in order based on the items identified as “standard work items” for the purposes of the assessment. Numbering the basic and complex tabs different from the RS Unit$ tab also alleviated some programming problems by removing overlap so the program could distinguish between different items. Different items that had the same number created problems.
  
  
• Why are “planned start date” and “actual finish date” bold if they are not required fields? They ARE required fields. You do not have to fill-in the fields because they are auto-populated by the program. “Planned start date” auto-populates with the date of the condition assessment for deferred maintenance items. “Actual finish date” auto-populates with the date the item is marked complete. The fields can still be manually changed if needed. Example: For any future maintenance needs (a boiler needs replaced in 2 years), the item would be entered as an Annual Maintenance item with a projected planned start date.
  Note: Annual maintenance items with a “Planned Start Date” should roll over to deferred maintenance once the item has not been completed and the planned start date has been exceeded. This feature does not currently work, but it should be working soon.
  
  
• What is the RS Unit$ tab for? And is the Custom Item tab ready for use? The RS Unit$ tab is from the Facility Cost Construction Guide and includes cost for re-construction. The Custom Items tab will not be available until FY09.
  Future development: There will soon be a tab with RS Means Maintenance and Repair Costs for use.
  
  
• What if we need to do some major work but it's something that's not among the standard work items? If you can't use an equivalent standard item, you'll need to create a custom work item.
  
  
• When generating costs for custom work items, should you use the RS Means cost guide or use an actual cost generated by a local contractor? Use RS Means to generate costs for custom work items. You can use an actual contractor cost to supplement your Means costs.
  
  
• For deferred maintenance items such as an accessible ramp into a building, should we put this item under “Wood Deck” or a custom cost item under “ABA Mitigation”? All work for accessibility items should be under ABA Mitigation so that the forest can receive credit for documenting and eventually completing accessibility-related deferred maintenance. If an ABA item should be consistent with a standard work item, simply enter the item under ABA Mitigation and use the unit cost numbers from the standard work item making sure to identify the work in the remarks and how the cost was generated (RS Means or borrowed from a standard work item).
  
  
• Most of the standard work items are remove/replace, what if we have a standard work item that is just an install or just a remove? Use the standard work item to cover items that are just “remove” or just “install”. The remove/replace standard work item will cover either cost.
  
  
• Are we required to enter Annual Maintenance items? Annual maintenance is for items that you know will need replacement in the future. Example: A water heater will exceed its typical life cycle in 3 years. You would enter this item as annual maintenance with a planned start date 3 years from the assessment. You are NOT required to enter annual maintenance items. Operation and maintenance items are NOT annual maintenance items and therefore NOT required to be entered. There currently is no system to identify and capture costs for O&M items.
  
  
• What are we doing with work items from the old infra system (Legacy Items)? Legacy items are work items brought over from the old infra system. These items can be easily identified because they have a cost factor of 1. Legacy items should be cleaned up as you complete your annual condition assessments. Legacy items that are erroneous (don’t make sense) should be deleted. Legacy items that have been completed should be marked completed. Legacy items that are valid and have not been complete should be re-entered under the new system and the original legacy task deleted.
  
  
• If you complete the Complex Building Assessment Training, do you still have to do the Basic Building Assessment Training on-line or does the Complex supersede the Basic? If you complete the Complex Training you are NOT required to complete the Basics Training.
  
  
• What are we supposed to show for work items for buildings that need to be disposed? For now, use "whole building replacement" for buildings that are scheduled for disposal, whether or not they will actually be replaced.
  
  
• Is there a way I can record information I'm going to need when we actually fix something without keeping a separate set of notes? The "Remarks" column can be used to record information you may need to use later to define a project.
  
  
• We have a frame cabin with no electricity or mechanical that has interior stairs to the second floor that need to be replaced. What do we use for a work item? Feel free to substitute similar items with similar costs - such as using the "exterior stair" item for basic buildings with interior stairs (no interior stair item in basic buildings).
  
  
• Do we record items that need to be replaced on potable water control buildings in the buildings module or in the water module? Pumphouses are evaluated as buildings, but the plumbing should be recorded in the INFRA water module.