101 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 



Under-Investment in Maintenance and Repair 



The Building Research Board of the National Research Council suggested in their 

 1990 report Committing to the Cost of Ownership that agencies should spend be- 

 tween 2% and 4% of facility replacement value on general maintenance and repair. 

 Only 2 of the 1 1 agencies surveyed met even the lower bound of this range. However, 

 simply meeting the required level of maintenance and repair spending alone is not suf- 

 ficient. Meeting the required level will prevent further deterioration, but will not re- 

 duce the backlog or improve existing conditions. Furthermore, the suggested range is 

 for all government facilities, such as offices or schools. Laboratories are special-use 

 facilities with higher maintenance and repair requirements. Some estimate that private 

 sector labs spend 5-9% of facility value on maintenance. 



1) How inadequate is maintenance and repair spending? How much more 

 money is needed? 



(Answer: Just over $100 million is needed to reach the 2% thresh- 

 old. A total of $960 million would be required to meet the 4% level.) 



2) Is the required maintenance and repair spending range of 2% to 4% of fa- 

 cility replacement value appropriate for laboratories? is a higher level needed 

 because of the special requirements of laboratory facilities? 



(Answer: in the GAG report, the agencies basically said that 2% 

 was sufficient. This however differs from what private sector labs 

 are thought to spend.) 



Old Age of Federal Laboratories 



More than half of federal laboratories were constructed more than 30 years ago 

 and fully three-quarters are more than 20 years old. Because of their age, many labo- 

 ratories are nearing the end of their useful lives and have correspondingly higher 

 maintenance and repair requirements. These higher requirements increase me cost of 

 operating the laboratory and increase the amount of research time lost as repairs are 

 made. Furthermore, the older the facility the higher the chance of a major system fail- 

 ure. For instance, a electrical failure at NASA's Lewis Research Center caused some 

 laboratories to be closed for 6 months and limited the use of the facility's wind tunnel. 



1 ) As I understand it, more than three-quarters of federal lab space was con- 

 structed more than 20 years ago. what is the average useful lire of a labora- 

 tory? 



(Answer: The is no generally accepted answer - however, 20 years is 

 frequently quoted.) 



2) To what extent are poor laboratory conditions caused by the old age of the 

 facilities? 



(Answer: The old age of the laboratories is a significant factor.) 



3) How does the old age of the facilities impact maintenance and repair re- 

 quirements? 



(Answer: The older a facility the higher the cost of maintenance and 

 repair. Age also increases the possibility of major failures.) 



