carefully monitor and maintain its facilities and building systems to minimize the risk of catastrophic failure. However, delaying critical preventive maintenance and capital renewal work puts even greater pressure on future fiscal years’ budgets as well as employees to keep deteriorating systems running for longer than best practices dictate.
The AOC’s facilities are more than just a collection of buildings. They are landmarks that represent the historic fabric of our nation. Their age and iconic nature dictate that AOC continue addressing the deferred maintenance and capital renewal backlog because it is financially prudent to do so. AOC’s total FY 2014 deferred maintenance backlog and capital renewal requirements are estimated at $1.3 billion. Of this total, over $281 million repre-sents deferred maintenance (see this report’s Required Supplementary Information for more information on deferred maintenance), with the balance comprising AOC’s capital renewal costs.
AOC Initiatives: AOC uses several tools to plan, prioritize and manage the deferred maintenance and capital renewal requirements for Capitol Hill. AOC identifies and ranks projects using Facility Condition Assessments (FCAs), the Five-Year Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) and the draft Capitol Complex Master Plan (CCMP) as tools to assist in prioritizing resources and efforts to ensure the most press- ing requirements are addressed first. The highest priority projects in the near-term include the U.S. Capitol Dome Restoration, Cannon House Office Building Restoration, the Power Plant’s separate Refrigeration Plant Revitalization and Co-Generation projects, Rayburn House Office Building Garage Rehabilitation, Senate Underground Garage Renovations and Landscape Restoration and several critical exterior stone repair projects.
The FCAs allow AOC to identify the most critical needs of each facility. The FCAs are performed by independent contractors to give AOC an unbiased view of which projects should be considered the most urgent. Many of AOC’s buildings and grounds are historic in nature, and these assessments inform the CIP as to which of the facilities are in most danger of serious degradation or disrepair in the short- or mid-term. In this fiscal environment, AOC works to improve its FCA prioritization methods to achieve the greatest return for the least possible cost.
AOC’s five-year CIP is a dynamic planning tool that uses annual funding requirements and the priorities outlined in the CCMP to evaluate capital projects based on their importance and practicality. The CIP considers phasing opportunities, project sequencing and other factors to better facilitate the timing and execution of major deferred maintenance and capital renewal projects. It is updated annually to reflect the most current fiscal restraints and facility requirements and results in an ordered list of projects.
Photo Caption: As with all deferred maintenance, the longer scheduled and necessary preventive maintenance and repairs are delayed, the greater the risk that problems will become worse and more costly. This photo depicts the U.S. Capitol’s House Pediment damage.
The draft CCMP helps to forecast the facility maintenance challenges AOC may face over a 20-year period. It identifies the overarching strategies AOC may pursue to address those long-term challenges. The plan serves as a framework for ensuring and maintaining a quality work environment, including adequate office and support space, stewardship of natural and cultural resources and provision of reliable, energy-efficient infrastructure.
AOC continues to employ a Project Prioritization Process to rank every essential project in its annual budget request. This effectively allows AOC to identify and recommend to the Congress the levels of investment and maintenance required to ensure the facilities remain safe, functional and protected. Due to resource constraints, AOC has found that, in certain cases, it is necessary to phase major projects to better manage the time and resources needed to complete them. The ongoing Dome Restoration Project is an example of this approach. The first phase, the Dome Skirt, was completed on time and below budget, and provided AOC with valuable lessons learned for the future phases of the Dome Restoration Project.
In AOC’s FY 2015 budget request, AOC requested funding for several critical exterior stone projects, including repair work on the U.S. Capitol, Russell Senate Office Building and
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