First life cycle costing ISO standard will bolster QS confidence

An upcoming new standard for lifecycle costing has been hailed as a breakthrough for the industry and could save QSs from offering inaccurate information on the lifespan of buildings.

A final draft of the new ISO standard had been agreed and is due to be published in April. The team behind the new document claims it will provide a common basis for life cycle costs so as to make accurate targets during design and construction. It will also be compatible with other international cost codes, the team argued.

The new standard follows over two years of work carried out by Faithful+Gould with RICS cost body BCIS, Constructing Excellence, Building Research Establishment, the CIBSE life cycle cost forum and fellow QS firm Cyril Sweett.

Andy Green, director of whole life costing at F+G, described the standard as an "enormous breakthrough". He said it would provide clarity and eliminate the current confusion that threatened the accuracy of a QS' predictions.

"Whole life costing is still regarded as something of a black art, with only a small number of specialists actually capable of doing it properly. Hence decision makers' lack of confidence in the assessments, which is putting QSs at risk of ultimately being sued. Having a standard approach is essential if the cost management profession is to get a grip of life cycle costs. The emperor needs new clothes before QSs can raise LCC standards."

Joe Martin, director of the BCIS, added his backing to the new standard: "The standard should help reduce mistakes in scoping and underlying assumptions, and facilitate the means to capture robust life cycle cost analysis information. This gives investment decision makers and project design teams much more confidence and transparency in the basis of the costing, not just for PFI projects."

The aims of the standard are:

The emperor needs new clothes before QSs can raise LCC standards

Andy Green, F+G

• Setting out guiding principles, instructions and definitions for forms of LCC analysis

• Providing the framework for consistent life cycle cost predictions and performance assessment

• Providing a common basis for setting life cycle cost targets during design and construction

• Clarifying the differences between whole life costing (WLC) and life cycle costing (LCC)

For a full version of Andy Green's document describing the new ISO standard, click on the link at the top of the page