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Whole Lifecycle Costs – simple, straightforward and clear.

Driven by economic demands, the construction industry has for some years been using various forecasting tools to evaluate the full ‘cradle to grave' costs of the products used.

The process make total sense for clients who obviously want to make the best use of tight budgets and have been caught out by the long term maintenance costs of seemingly “cheap” capital cost products. The process is deceptively simple. You have a capital cost for the item and a cost for repair and maintenance and a cost for disposal and replacement over a specified concession period. Add them together and there you are. However, for anyone who has tried to create an accurate whole lifecycle cost forecast the reality is very different. For any one construction product, there are at least five ways of assessing the costs and comparison on a like-for-like basis can become like trying to find a needle in a haystack. The Contract Marketing Manager at Gerflor, explains why they have developed their Open Book Model to help specifiers make the best choice for their clients.
Gerflor uses the whole lifecycle costing principles developed by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors to provide a simple and transparent methodology. Their Open Book Model compares difference in costs to be expected in high, medium and low traffic areas in various different types of building eg. a hospital, school or college. Independently verified by Patrick Michael Associates, a leading lifecycle consultancy, the model can be used to provide a forecast for any of Gerflor's huge range of products or provide simple summary information based on the surface treatment. The data shows quite clearly the benefit of selecting one of Gerflor's “no polish” for life solutions over a non-treated product with the added capital cost being paid off in just two years. This makes a huge contribution to the reduction of the maintenance budget over a 25-year contract.
The raw data for the cost of installation, cleaning and maintenance costs were cross checked by Steve Donellan, Director of PMA, with reference to industry standard published costs as well as real PFI and other projects across the country. It is this attention to detail that makes the forecasts so accurate and therefore valuable to our clients and their customers. “Too many manufacturers, keen to show their products in a good light, fail to make key adjustments to their forecasts to take account of the everyday realities. Some are so simplified that they bear no relationship at all to the real world thereby adding to the confusion.” She said. “Our aim was to offer clients straightforward answers to straightforward questions while showing the clear reasoning behind the data.”

For further information on Gerflor, specialist in vinyl flooring, please call 0870 2647 581