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.