WEC Associates Consulting Inc. News Feed

Asset Management Solution

Author: WEC Consulting
Date: 2012-01-09

ASSET MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

Strata Requirement to Comply with Order In Council Number 623

New regulations that take effect 1 March 2012 for Strata Corporations are the Depreciation Report and the revised form B. Under the guidence of the Order in Council, a strata will have to set out a program to regulate common property assets by 1 January 2014. By this time physical inventories and evaluations should be completed as detailed in section 94 of the Act, Depreciation Report 6.2(2)(b), (i) through (x) and (c). The following are the highlights of the new regulations:

Depreciation Report

Depreciation reports help strata corporations plan for future repairs and maintenance costs. Under the new regulations, the report will contain:

▲ An inventory of common property items including facility systems.

▲ Anticipated maintenance, repair and replacement costs for common expenses projected over a 30-year period.

▲ A financial forecasting section that contains at least three cash flow funding models for the CRF.

Contingency Reserve Fund (CRF)

Strata corporations have a contingency reserve fund to help pay expenses that usually occur less often than once a year, such as maintenance and repairs on common property. Effective immediately, a strata can, by a simple majority vote at an annual general meeting make an additional 25% contribution to the annual operating expenses of their CRF. With this ruling, it will make it easier for strata corporations to choose how they contribute additional funds to their CRF.

Form B

The information certificate (form B) discloses information to owners and purchasers about the strata corporation and the strata lot. Under the new regulation, the revised form B must be completed by 1 March 2012. The absolute due date for the new form B is 1 January 2014. A Strata may choose to use the revised form before that date. The form B will better identify how parking and storage lockers are to be allotted within a strata lot.

Finally, a typical strata is made up of many different types of assets that will be reported on the depreciation report, including elements such as roofs, windows, doors, boilers, light fixtures, pumps, fans, floor finishes, fire extinguishers, emergency exit signs, elevators, smoke detectors etc. Most inventory items will have a life-cycle replacement date that will be assessed for the strata during the inventory audit

if your strata requires an inventory audit prior to the Depreciation Report submission date, contact WEC Consulting Inc for a quote. With competitive rates and easy to read reports, we will design the quote to suit your strata needs. We will organize schedules for preventative maintenance inspections and we will ensure the maintenance staff are able to correctly monitor the assets following our initial review - because unplanned maintenance issues can easily become emergencies. Avoid these events by anticipating areas of greatest need – take a proactive approach to preventative maintenance and call WEC for a free consultation.

DON’T WAIT!

Call 604 819-6201 or visit our web site www.wec-consulting.com for more information.

Building Envelope Maintenance

Author: WEC Consulting
Date: 2011-05-14

What is Maintenance?

Author: WEC Consulting
Date: 2011-05-14

The following is an extract from the CHOA Journal dated March 2011. It is a very important part of developing a maintenance strategy for all assets, commercial or privately owned.

Maintenance Definition

Maintenance is work that is carried out to preserve an asset (such as a roof or a heating boiler), in order to enable its continued use and function, above a minimum acceptable level of performance, over its design service life, without unforeseen renewal or major activities.

Reasons for Maintenance

Maintenance serves to protect the owners' real estate investment in a number of ways:

Physical Integrity, To keep the assets in good working order so as to minimize disruptions and downtimes.

Risk Management, To keep the assets in a state of god repair for the owner' health and safety.

Aesthetic Preservation, To keep the assets from deteriorating in apearance and becoming unsightly.

Responsible Stewardship, To ensure that the assets achieve their full potential service life.

Fiscal Responsibility, To leverage efficiencies that can be reflected on the owners' balance sheet.

Duty of Care, To satisfy a legislated duty that is owed to owners, occupants and guest on the property.

Duty to Mitigate, To prevent unnecessary damage to assets that may result in their premature failure.

Three Types of Maintenance

In the maintenance literature it is generally recognized that maintenance philosophies can be grouped into three broad categories:

1. Corrective Maintenance (CM) - Description - Maintenance tasks are intensionally withheld until an asset stops working or starts failing. Maintenance is then performed as necessitated - Example - Lubricate motors when they become noisy or vibrations occur.

2. Preventative Maintenance (PM) - Description - Maintenance tasks are performed at regular intervals, based on industry expected equipment life spans and failure patterns - Example - Lubricate pumps every 2,000 hours.

3. Predictive Maintenance (PdM) - Description - Maintenance is conducted only when it is confirmed necessary through the use of non-distructive tests that detect potential failure conditions before their occurrence - Example - Conduct scans on pumps and panels to determine if and when work is required.

For more information regarding "Finding the Right Maintenance Mix", please don't hesitate to visit our web site at www.wec-consulting.com or send an email to info@wec-consulting.com or call 1 604 819-3620.

7 Steps to successful Facility Inspections

Author: WEC Consulting
Date: 2011-03-23

7 Steps to Successful Facility Inspections

WECotterall Associates Consulting Inc – www.wec-consulting.com

A regular routine for inspecting equipment improves preventative maintenance and reduces expenses. Over the years WEC have used the following seven-step process on a variety of facilities:

Step 1 Create an Equipment List

The first step is assembling a basic list of all the equipment types that you are likely to encounter. The frequency of certain types of equipment popping up is very predictable, so you know your list will have pumps of various types (centrifugal pumps, reciprocating pumps), air handling units, rooftop units and so forth. The list should have the parameters that you will use to inspect each individual device. The parameters for some devices might be just a simple on/off, whereas a boiler would have a variety of inspection parameters. As you encounter a new piece of equipment or go to a new piece of equipment or go to a new location, add to this basic list. Once you do an initial walkthrough of a facility, you can add and delete equipment as appropriate for that particular facility.

Step 2 Do an Initial Walkthrough and Plan the Route

On an initial walkthrough, you will determine what equipment needs to be inspected and plan the routine route through the facility. Many of the equipment points are already in the building automation system control package (WEC use FAME Software Suite), and the walkthrough complements the control system by visiting the corresponding equipment. With that information and the sample equipment list, you should be able to create the route. Determine a logical route-for example, from the boiler room to the roof. The route should be direct as possible. It shouldn’t take more than one hour. If it takes too long, it won’t get done regularly.

Step 3 Create the Log

Now you should be able to take the basic equipment list and coy/paste the parameters for those individual pieces of equipment. Go into the mechanical room. Look at the equipment and say, “here are two centrifugal pumps, and over there is an air handling unit”. Note them in the sequence that you find them. Bring up the equipment list and copy/paste each of the individual generic units over to the log sheet. Then give it a specific name on the log sheet. One of the best naming conventions is to call the equipment exactly what it’s called in the building automation system.

Step 4 Walk the Route

You need to walk through each mechanical room and know the feel of the room, the sounds that it makes and if anything has changed since the last walkthrough. It is recommended to do a monthly walkthrough for school districts. By providing a documented monthly inspection of a piece of equipment, if you are looking to replace it down the road, you have a great tracking document – every month it was inspected using these specific parameter.

Step 5 Use a Second Pair of Eyes

When you bring your log back to the central location, have a second person look through the readings to see what potential trouble may be brewing. In such instances the log identifies the job that a mechanic needs to do, exactly where to go, what piece of equipment to examine and what parameters on the equipment are important.

Step 6 Create the Work List

The walkthrough should be charged as a building charge: the walkthrough gets a work order charge to the building and a building charge number. Then any discrepancies discovered during the walkthrough result in a work order against a piece of equipment. A history is started on that piece of equipment as soon as you start using the walkthrough and follow up on it.

Step 7 Preparing for Ongoing Optimization

You want to become increasingly familiar with the facility and always be thinking ahead because so many buildings lose enormous efficiency as time passes. Newly commissioned buildings and retro-commissioned buildings may work just as designed for a while, but over time they become de-optimized. It can be difficult to chart a loss of efficiency based on the age of equipment. Most frequently, de-optimization is event driven. Regular inspections and working steadily through event driven situations will inevitably reduce the energy consumption and the carbon footprint of the facility.

For more information, please contact WEC at info@wec-consulting.com for a free demonstration of the FAME Asset Management Software Suite, or visit our website www.wec-consulting.com to learn more.

Understanding the Basics of Construction and Project Cost Estimating

Author: WEC Consulting
Date: 2011-01-07

Construction and Project Cost Estimating

Estimating of construction work may be defined as the process of calculating the quantities and costs of the various items entering into the work. As the estimate is made before the work is done, the estimated cost is only the probable cost and is never the actual cost. The agreement of the estimated cost with the actual cost will depend upon the skill and judgment of the estimator. Skill implies the accurate use of good estimating methods, and judgment implies the correct visualization of the work as it will be done.

Kinds of Estimates

An estimate of the cost of a construction project is the probable cost of that job as computed from the plans and specifications. Some of the kinds of estimates more commonly used are the following:

A detailed estimate is one which includes the quantities and costs of everything that a contractor is required to provide and do for the satisfactory completion of the work. This estimate is the best and most reliable form of estimate that can be made, and depending upon the project takes considerable time to complete. Costs calculated are derived from unit-quantities of materials, labour and plant required to complete the work and current unit-costs for each.

An approximate estimate is used to provide a quick approximate cost of a project or to check roughly the costs found by more accurate methods. Such an estimate is not very reliable. Examples are the square-meter and the cubic-meter methods of estimating construction costs.

A complete estimate is one which includes all costs relating to the work in addition to the detailed estimate. For example this estimate would include land costs, legal fees, architect’s and engineering fees, extras, financing, interest, taxes, and insurance required for the work.

A quantity survey or a material take-off is a complete estimate of the quantities of all the materials required for the work. Contractors can use this list of quantities to prepare their project costs by applying their unit-prices for labour, material, and plant to each of the items.

A progress estimate is an estimate of the work at periodic intervals during the progress of the work for determining the amounts of partial payments to be made to the contractor. This type of estimate is important to a financial institution and owners to verify the accuracy of construction payment draws from the contractor.

For more information, contact WEC at 1 604 858-8818 or 604 819-6320 or e-mail us at info@wec-consulting.com or visit our web site at www.wec-consulting.com .

Making the Strategic Shift in the Creation of the Project Plan

Author: PixelGems/WEC
Date: 2011-01-06

WECotterall Associates Consulting Inc. (WEC) is a British Columbia Company, located in the Lower Fraser, in the City of Chilliwack. WEC serves the greater Vancouver area and Districts, and as well, has completed work in Faro, Yukon, Ottawa, Ontario, and the B.C. Sunshine Coast District. As such, WEC has the mobility to engage in work outside of B.C.

WEC has strengths in all areas of Facilities Operations and Maintenance, Building Condition Audits, Construction Estimating, and Project Development and Management. WEC also use Fame Asset Management software for clear actionable business knowledge.

WEC’s mission is to assist building owners and managers to develop and provide efficient, economical, safe, healthy, and environmentally sensitive facilities.

Our team brings over ninety years of combined experience in the fields of commercial and institutional construction, operations and maintenance management of facilities, and project management in both the public and private sectors.

For more information, contact us at 1 604 858-8818 or 1 604 819-3620 or e-mail us at info@wec-consulting.com or visit our web site at www.wec-consulting.com .