An Application of Life Cycle Costing Technique to the Construction Industry in Kenya With Particular Reference to Roof Covering Materials. A Case Study of Nairobi Railways Buildings
Abstract
There is evidence that large numbers of buildings do not achieve
the level of performance intended by designers and the client. In
many cases short-comings appear as defects of either design, materials
or workmanship or a combination of these proportions the relative of
which are difficult to determine. Some instances are spectacular and
involve large expenditures on remedial work or in the very extreme
cases the demolition of recently completed buildings. Amongst the
building elements with greatest short-comings are the roofs. Roofs
are the most exposed to the severe environment and apparently
contribute between 12% and 16% of the total initial cost of
.construction. Any designer dealing with buildings would be failing
in his function as an adviser if he did not understand the problems
involved in maintenance and running costs of buildings and apply
this knowledge at the design stage.
The user costs plus the initial costs constitute the total
building costs. The initial costs are those which arise directly out
of the erection of the building and management of its contract, and
cost of and any construction itself, including the cost of raising capital and other expenditure necessary to change the state of having an
empty site to one of having a site with a building on. Comparatively
capital cost is often the major component for decision making. Many
organizations concentrate on this to the exclusion of most other
facets, prefering to consider asset lives in terms of capital cost
related to profitability and payback. Yet it may be the smallest
component of cost. For many purposes this results into many inadequate
decisions regarding poductive assets, but it may well mean the purchase
of an asset with a worse performance over its whole life.
Citation
M.ASponsorhip
University of NairobiPublisher
University of Nairobi Department of Land Development