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Whole Life Costs
CRISP* define whole life costing as “The systematic consideration of all relevant costs and revenues associated with the acquisition and ownership of an asset”, with “all relevant costs” covering all quantifiable costs directly attributed to the acquisition and use of the asset under review during its life.
Principally, whole life costing can be characterised as a systematic approach of balancing capital costs with revenue costs, to achieve an optimum solution over a building’s whole life.
This technique, whilst not in itself new, has over recent years become best practice in construction procurement, driven by:
- Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public Private Partnership (PPP) contracting
- Acceptance that the lowest installed capital cost can lead to higher costs of servicing, maintenance and repairs, resulting in the actual cost of ownership increasing
- Sustainability targets
- Current and future environmental legislation
- HM Treasury Guidance
These industry drivers, and a belief that whole life costing was an effective method of demonstrating the cost effectiveness and sustainability of the company’s single ply roofing systems, lead to Sarnafil becoming a Founder Member of the Whole Life Cost Forum – a pan industry organisation established in 1999, to create a standard methodology for calculating whole life costs.
Underpinning the company’s beliefs and helping to demonstrate the low whole life cost of Sarnafil roofing systems are:
- BBA Certified life expectancy of “in excess of 30 years” (for Sarnafil G and S)
- 40-year-old roofs still in service
- Zero maintenance requirement of the roofing system unless mastic seals are used (average 10 years replacement cycle), minimising ongoing costs of ownership
- Annual good roof husbandry (annual clearing of the gutters and a visual inspection)
- ‘Churn’ friendly
‘Churn’ or ‘fashion’ is the term given to the process whereby the actual use of the building changes over its life. Typical examples of this are supermarkets and shopping malls, where the use of a section of the building may change from a retail store to a fast food restaurant, which requires additional new penetrations through the roof for extraction equipment. The ease of modification and extension of Sarnafil roofing systems throughout their life makes them an ideal choice for applications of this nature.
* Construction Research and Innovation Strategy Panel.
© 2006 Sarnafil Ltd. Legal Disclaimer
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