The effects of inadequate component inspection on facility repair projects

Abstract

Component inspection is an important part of the facilities management process, especially as repair projects play an increasing role in the life of public facilities management organizations. The decisions facility owners make with regard to component inspection effect the eventual success of their major facility repair projects. This thesis uses a total cost approach to evaluate the effect component inspection methods have on facility repair projects. This problem is examined by comparing the penalty cost of inadequate component inspection to the costs of alternate component inspection methods that could have minimized the penalty cost. A general framework is developed to classify the errors that occur in component inspection and predict the penalty costs. Six major facility repair projects in which inadequate component inspection led to penalty coasts are presented and analyzed. The evidence from these cases shows that owners should pursue more costly and more accurate component inspection methods. The reduction in penalty costs due to increased accuracy outweighs the added cost so that the total cost is less. These cases also point to the usefulness of automated non-contract component inspection strategy by facility owners that considers alternate component inspection methods as part of the design of facility repair projects. An understanding of the penalty cost concepts presented here will be useful to owners in the design of a component inspection strategy. Keywords: Theses; Case studies; Contract administration; Defect analysis; Concrete bridge decks; Airfield pavements. (kr)