A practical cost break down structure for effective whole-life costing of built assets

Abstract

To undertake a whole-life costing (WLC) exercise, it is necessary to breakdown a built asset into its constituent elements whose costs can be distinctly defined and estimated. Motivated by the lack of a standard WLC data collection and analysis procedure, the framework of a novel cost breakdown structure (CBS) suitable for collection, recording and analysis of whole-life data of built assets is proposed. The development of the framework was designed on the basis of an in-depth analysis of the requirements of various WLC processes during various stages of built assets’ life cycle. This has involved three main steps. First, a number of published CBSs are critically reviewed to identify their desirable features and limitations. Secondly, other crucial requirements for effective whole-life costing are identified. Thirdly, the framework is outlined and a practical implementation mechanism is proposed. The development of this framework would encourage systematic data collection and recording and consequently tackling a major barrier to the application of WLC in the industry.

Keywords: Cost Breakdown Structures, Cost Databases, whole-life Costing