I recently attended an APPA conference in Nashville and sat in on a presentation by another consultant that provided Facility Condition Assessments (FCAs).  During the session the presenter said that a single assessor conducted detailed FCAs of an entire higher education campus consisting of millions of square feet of educational and research facilities.  This really surprised me, given the complexity of these facilities. 

I have also heard from several clients that when our competitors are doing work they often send only a single assessor to site no matter the size or complexity of the FCA.  This would explain why some bid responses we have seen in the past, when we are responding to public RFPs,  have been so inexpensive.

The purpose of this post is not to argue with the approach.  In fact our standard approach for small and/or simple assets require us to utilize an experienced generalist-level assessor.  These small, simple structures can be assessed effectively, typically by an architectural/structural assessor that has been trained to assess mechanical and electrical systems.  Typically the M&E elements in these small buildings are relatively rudimentary.

The main reason for my writing this post is to suggest that when requesting an FCA, especially through public RFP, that you understand what you are getting in a response, particularly if you have a portfolio of complex buildings, such as a hospital or university campus.  Having trained and worked with some of the best facility assessment professionals in the business over the last nearly 30 years, there certainly are a some “uber assessors” that can effectively assess all disciplines within a large complex building, however they are the exception, not the rule.

The main issue is the quality of the assessment and the defensibility of the data that you are going to get.  Having a generalist-level assessment vs. a specialist-level assessment will almost always give you a lower quality dataset for the assessors secondary/tertiary discipline.  

If you have a portfolio of complex buildings, I recommend that you specifically ask about the composition of the assessments teams being proposed in your RFPs.  I would say maybe 20% of the RFPs that we see ask for this specifically.  I wish it would be much higher.  This way you will know how many people to expect to complete the work and can compare different bidder’s responses based on their proposed on-site teams.  

Additionally, if you are getting single assessors, I highly recommend that you scrutinize their individual experience, not just the corporate experience.  The best case scenario is that you would be able to speak with a reference client, where the named staff did generalist-level assessment, to get the client’s feedback on the quality and consistency of the data.  That way you can make an informed decision and an apples-to-apples comparison when evaluating bids.  

Although it will take a single assessor longer than a two or three-person team to assess a facility and write a report it likely won’t be a straight line multiplier.  If for no other reason than mobilization.  The time it takes one person to get to a site is the same as two or three so adding more people automatically adds more cost, even if there is no time savings on-site or writing the reports.

As with anything, there will always be a trade-off between quality and cost.  When it comes to the staff that will be conducting your FCAs, all we recommend is that you understand what each proponent is providing so you can make an informed decision and understand the trade off that you are making.