August 8, 2001—The US Department of Defense recently published “DoD Facilities Cost Factors Handbook,” which forecasts a large part of the agency’s facility maintenance and repair funding needs using its Facilities Sustainment Model (FSM). This approach uses detailed inventory statistics and long-term cost forecasts for individual facility types to estimate the funding necessary to sustain nearly $600 billion in real property assets comprising nearly 400 facility types.
According to the handbook, “Sustainment provides resources for maintenance and repair activities necessary to keep a typical inventory of facilities in good working order over a fifty-year service life. It includes regularly scheduled adjustments and inspections, preventive maintenance tasks, and emergency response and service calls for minor repairs. It also includes major repairs or replacement of facility components (usually accomplished by contract) that are expected to occur periodically throughout the facility life cycle. Sustainment does not include restoration, modernization, environmental compliance, or historical preservation, which are funded elsewhere. Other tasks associated with facilities operations (such as custodial services, grass cutting, landscaping, waste disposal, and the provision of central utilities) are also not included.”
The FSM factors are estimated for the Washington, DC area and must be adjusted for use in other areas.
For more information, or to download a PDF version of the handbook, contact Whitestone Research, which provided the MARS lifecycle cost engine and much of the data used by the FSM.
