By Will Dorahy, National Advisory Manager, SyntricConsult
The built environment is made up of critical building services and infrastructure, which are major capital
investments for any business. The use of comprehensive auditing services across buildings increases
asset visibility and enhances risk management. By appropriately capturing all relevant data, building
owners and occupants can develop a unique and strategic asset management/maintenance plan. The
implementation of an audit plan, will enable the business to better manage assets, compliance, safety,
risk and reliability. It will allow the identification of any potential failure points, which is an essential part of
the life cycle assessment of each asset and associated infrastructure.
Audit plans assist in five key areas:
Understanding your assets
A building services audit provides base line data to identify the current state of all building assets and
services. It is also an essential starting point in both the short and long-term budgeting for maintenance
and capital expenditure. Building owners are then equipped with the ability to project viable economic
solutions.
Risk profiling assets
A detailed audit enables an asset risk profile to be established. Comprehensively interpreting data can
highlight possible failure points, identify where opportunities may exist to improve productivity and
decrease costs such as maintenance, energy and insurance. Risk profiling an asset decreases asset
failure. If risk profiling is not undertaken in a timely manner there could be significant interruption to
building occupants and associated infrastructure when a problem occurs.
Building safety
As part of any audit in the built environment, existing building safety issues should be identified in the
audit process. With duty of care obligations, clearly identifying current hazards/risks early will reduce
potential impact on the health, safety and welfare of building occupants and maintenance staff.
Building compliance
It’s imperative that a building is compliant for insurance, liability and safety reasons. If it is not, the
building owner will be exposed to a high degree of potential future risk, which can have a major impact
on productivity and profitability. A comprehensive building audit should allow for a full review of the
regulatory compliance across services such as fire, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and building
services.
Potential energy savings
Building owners and tenants are constantly looking for financial strategies and solutions to reduce
expenses. A significant outgoing cost is energy consumption. Auditing will identify areas where building
services can be optimised to reduce running costs and potential upgrade solutions, ultimately providing
a stronger return on investment. An audit report also enables building owners to better understand how
services operate and are controlled. Data helps owners in the decision-making process make informed
business assessments.
