Core Competencies for Federal Facilities Asset Management Through 2020 Transformational Strategies (2008) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E: Executive Summary from "Investments in Federal Facilities"
Appendix E: Executive Summary from "Investments in Federal Facilities"
Pages 110-122
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From page 110... ...
Additional expenditures for facilities maintenance, repair, renewal, demolition, and security upgrades probably amount to billions of dollars per year but are not readily identifiable under the current budget structure. Despite the magnitude of this ongoing investment, federal facilities continue to deteriorate, backlogs of deferred maintenance continue to increase, and excess, underutilized, and obsolete facilities continue to consume limited resources.
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From page 111... ...
designated federal real property as a government-wide high-risk area because current trends "have multibillion dollar cost implications and can seriously jeopardize mission accomplishment" and because "federal agencies face many challenges securing real property due to the threat of terrorism." It declared that "current structures and processes may not be adequate to address the problems," so that "a comprehensive, integrated transformation strategy" may be required. PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES FOR FACILITIES INVESTMENTS AND MANAGEMENT As the committee reviewed the types of analyses, the processes, and the decision-making environments that private sector and other organizations use for facilities investments and management, it focused on identifying principles and policies used by best-practice organizations, as defined by the committee.
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From page 112... ...
ADAPTING THE PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES TO THE FEDERAL OPERATING ENVIRONMENT Adapting the aforementioned principles and policies for facilities investments for use by the federal government requires consideration of and compensation for a number of special aspects of the federal operating environment. These aspects include the goals and missions of the federal government, its departments, and agencies; the organizational structure and decision-making environment; the nature of federal facilities investments; and the annual budget process and its attendant procedures.
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From page 113... ...
Federal departments and agencies have begun implementing facilities asset management approaches that allow for a broad-based understanding of the condition and functionality of their facilities portfolios. An updated approach should
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From page 114... ...
Most federal departments and agencies currently have staff with the requisite technical skills to implement asset management approaches. Less likely to be found are facilities management staff also versed in financial theory, practices, and management.
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From page 115... ...
Facilities investments should be evaluated as mission enablers, not solely as costs. Organizational strategic planning that does not include facilities considerations up front fails to account for a potentially substantial portion of the total cost of a program or initiative.
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From page 116... ...
Engineers, lawyers, accountants, economists, technologists, military personnel, senior executives, and elected officials lack a common vocabulary and style of interaction and do not necessarily share a common set of interests or time frames they consider important. To improve communications among the various stakeholders in facilities investments, each federal department or agency, in collaboration with the appropriate program examiners and congressional representatives, should develop and consistently use a common terminology for the concepts routinely used in facilities investment decision making and applicable to its organizational culture.
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From page 117... ...
However, implementation of the budget scorekeeping procedures as they relate to facilities investments has resulted in some unintended consequences, including disincentives for coste ffective, long-term decision making and some gamesmanship. Amending the scorekeeping rules such that they meet congressional oversight objectives for transparency and take into account the long-term interests of departments, agencies, and the public will not be easy.
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From page 118... ...
Based on the committee's interviews and research activities, the criteria that departments and agencies use to determine if it is more cost-effective to own or lease facilities to support a given function are not clear or uniform. The committee believes that federal departments and agencies should base the "own" versus "lease" decision on a clearly stated rationale linked to support of the organizational mission, the level of control desired, and the planning horizon for the function to be supported.
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From page 119... ...
Implementation of a facilities asset management approach, the use of performance measures and feedback processes, and the consistent use of business case analyses will further enhance organizational accountability for federal facilities investments.
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From page 120... ...
AN OVERALL STRATEGY FOR IMPLEMENTATION Transforming decision-making processes, outcomes, and the decision-making environment for federal facilities investments will require sponsorship, leadership, and a commitment of time and resources from many people at all levels of government and from some people outside the government. Implementation of some of the committee's recommendations can begin immediately within federal departments and agencies that invest in and manage significant portfolios of facilities.
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From page 121... ...
In addition, they can provide the commission with information related to the characteristics of their facilities portfolios; issues related to aligning their portfolios with their missions; facilities investment trends; good or best practices for facilities investment and management; performance measures for monitoring and measuring the results of investments; and other relevant information. The committee believes that such sponsorship, leadership, and commitment to this effort will result in • Improved alignment between federal facilities portfolios and missions, to better support our nation's goals.
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