What you don’t know…CAN HURT YOU (and your facility)

Posted on Sep 10, 2011

FACILITY POP QUIZ

1. What is the effective life expectancy of the roof(s) at your facility?

2. How many more years will your HVAC systems last and how much will they cost to replace?

3. Do you have any mold, asbestos or other environmental issues?

4. What kind of “First Impression” will your facilities make to a guest?

5. How do your operational costs compare to industry benchmarking?

6. Are your facilities safe?

7. Do your facilities meet code(s)?

8. Do you have any “Life Safety” issues that could be a hazard to your members and guests?

9. Is your property still insurable for its replacement cost?

10. Are your facilities as energy efficient as possible and are you keeping up with the changes in technology and laws?

My guess is that the majority of you either could not answer these questions or answered them in the negative instead of affirmative….thus the statement – what you don’t know can hurt you.

So, how do you “know” the answer to these questions? What we recommend is a Facility Assessment. I have been very encouraged lately to see more and more churches investing in the “knowing” what condition their facility is in and then taking steps to address the current and long term issues associated with any/every/all facilities.

So…what can you do to get in the know?

We strongly encourage churches to perform or hire someone to perform various levels of Facility Assessments. There are a variety of complexities and methods that can be considered…and each has their place. Here are some of the most common assessments that our team has been asked to perform:

1. FRESH EYES – How many times do you look at the same weeds in the parking lot or the same stained ceiling tiles? The more we become “familiar” with our facilities, the less we notice things…thus the need for FRESH EYES.

2. Facility Physical Assessment – This type assessment is much more in depth than a “Fresh Eyes” review. This should include a more detailed approach to reviewing the major systems, building components, Life Cycle projections (including potential replacement costs), preventive maintenance applications, obvious deferred maintenance issues and the like. It should also review the operational costs associated with the facility and use benchmarking criteria as well as a review of the facility staff methodology for in-sourcing and outsourcing to determine operational effectiveness.

3. Energy Audit – This can take on several levels of complexity, but the end result should be the identification of conditions that are energy consumers/wasters and develop a plan to address them

4. Ministry/Discovery Assessment – Far too often churches fail to include this aspect in a physical facility assessment. However…this can be the real heart of a campus assessment that is growing and expanding…it is the “contextualization” review of WHO the church is…WHAT is the vision, mission, wants and desires…HOW do you accommodate the WHAT, whether with facilities or not.

5. Facility Stewardship Initiatives - How do you address your immediate facility related issues as well as facility stewardship going forward? Do you know what needs to be done today and how it will be accomplished? Do you have a deferred maintenance plan, preventive maintenance plan and a GREEN Initiatives plan?

6. Implementation Plan - It is great to be “in the know” about your facilities conditions and utilization…but it is really a waste of money to accomplish these assessments and develop the studies if there is not going to be some call to action. Frankly, I would rather see you not hire someone to perform these studies if you are not prepared to have a paradigm shift and do something about it.