What was the Brief
Thomson FM were engaged to provide lifecycle cost reports for a number of prisons under one of G4S PFI contracts. The specification was set against contractual requirements under the PFI contract with strict time requirements and significant penalties set against failure to deliver.
What did we do
Our remit involved visiting a number of prisons throughout the UK to undertake an asset condition exercise. This involved assessing the age and condition of each major asset included within the scope of the lifecycle requirements. Following the on-site asset condition survey, a desktop exercise was carried out which costed the lifecycle elements for each asset type, whether this be replacement or refurbishment. As part of the wider asset management exercise, consideration was also given to the whole life cost options for procuring assets which were designed with better control and overall lower energy consumption, more environmentally friendly disposal and also a more efficient maintenance regime. This provided alternative capital cost assets and improved whole life cost, contract compliant asset replacement strategies with the ability to also improve the energy consumption across each site.
The Outcome
The initial output reports were, rightly, challenged by the SPV in terms of the logic supporting the data collected and the assumptions of the replacement frequencies. Two years further into the contract and TFM are undertaking further lifecycle surveys to update the contractual whole life cost model. Each time the model is updated and the assets are surveyed, it helps to refine the asset data and also capture any maintenance issues during the intervening period. This information is vital to capture and also helps to inform the overall lifecycle model, leading to improved and better informed procurement decisions and also more detailed considerations in terms of energy management overall.
Client feedback
G4S lifecycle director was pleased with the lifecycle reports and the ability to robustly incorporate the reasoning behind lifecycle decisions being taken.