Key Points:
- What is a Facility Condition Assessment (FCA)?
An FCA is a comprehensive, on-site evaluation of a facility’s physical systems—such as HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and structural components. It identifies deficiencies, estimates repair costs, and calculates the Facility Condition Index (FCI) to help prioritize maintenance and capital investments. - How Gordian Supports Federal Agencies
Gordian provides customized FCA services tailored to the unique needs of federal agencies. Their assessments include asset-level data, RSMeans™ cost estimates, and integration with capital planning software, enabling agencies to make informed, data-driven decisions that align with mission-critical goals and compliance requirements. - Benefits of Partnering with Gordian
Federal agencies benefit from Gordian’s deep expertise, standardized methodologies, and scalable solutions. Their FCA services help agencies reduce deferred maintenance backlogs, improve budget forecasting, and ensure long-term asset sustainability—while meeting federal mandates and performance standards.
Hundreds of firms across North America offer Facilities Condition Assessments (FCAs) and capital planning solutions to facility owners.
At its core, a Facility Condition Assessment (FCA) is a structured look at what’s in your building portfolio. This includes the major components, how much wear and tear they’ve experienced and how much useful life they have left. In simple terms, it tells you what you have and how long it should last.
But too often, when an outside firm is brought in to conduct an FCA, the end result is a thick report that gets filed away and forgotten. It sits on a shelf, collecting dust.
Why does this happen?
Often times, it is because the information provided isn’t actionable.
That’s the challenge Gordian has solved. Our FCA process is designed not just to assess your facilities, but to give you clear, practical insights you can actually use.
Here are three key ways Gordian makes sure your assessment results lead to smarter, data-informed decisions.
1. A Consistent, Expert-Level FCA Methodology
One potential issue with FCA data is discrepancies in the data. Large and multi-site campuses inevitably require additional assessors and working days in order to survey the facilities thoroughly. But adding staff members, working days and disparate sites increases the opportunity for inconsistencies to creep into the dataset.
Gordian’s FCA professionals are rigorously trained on a singular method for collecting facilities data. All our assessment professionals are certified on this methodology and are required to complete a course that includes direct oversight by an instructor, mock building surveys, cost estimating training, and an exam. Only then can they complete assessments for clients.
On top of that, Gordian’s assessors typically have a minimum of five years of experience working in facility management, architecture or engineering, and our assessment teams have the necessary clearance to operate in highly secure government facilities. This means that no matter the person, place or time, owners will get consistent, reliable results from Gordian’s FCAs that can be trusted for making decisions about facilities investments.
2. Gold Standard Cost Data
RSMeans™ Data, which Gordian owns and manages, is considered the industry standard for construction cost estimating in North America. Because our assessment professionals are trained in cost estimating using RSMeans Data, they’re fully equipped to determine how much owners should budget for repair and replacement costs. Assessment professionals build a full estimate of the necessary costs for owners using localized prices – no handoffs to another staff member or team needed – then discuss those costs with the owner.
This takes the guess work out of budgeting for owners. Rather than knowing a boiler or HVAC system will need to be replaced soon, but being uncertain what it will cost, owners can have confidence to plan out investments over the coming years.
3. A Software Platform That’s Actually Useful
When Gordian conducts an FCA for an owner, the data doesn’t end up in a binder on the shelf. It’s imported into the Assessments tab of the Gordian Cloud Platform. There, owners can see full breakdowns of each asset with its condition. This includes the exact model, quantities, asset location, photos of the asset, lifecycle info, costs and notes from the assessor. Owners can also look at either their entire portfolio or individual facilities, further enhancing the ability to use data for decision-making.
Once condition data is in the Platform, owners can use the data to build a capital plan. Gordian’s Capital Planning capability allows owners to build variable plans based on different funding scenarios, see when the needs for different assets will come due, enter and track projects to address facilities needs and gauge the overall health of your building portfolio.
Not only are these capital plans solidly backed by objective data, but they’re also highly visual. This allows facility managers to present data to leadership in order to defend planned spend and advocate for more funds in coming budget cycles.
Assessments & Capital Planning Platform Tour
Check out this click-through tour of Gordian’s Assessment and Capital Planning platform to see how you can enhance your decision-making for future capital investments.
When conducted properly, and followed up with expert guidance, Facility Condition Assessments help strategically manage assets to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges. Gordian sets the standard by delivering assessments that are accurate, actionable and aligned with what truly matters.
Explore how Gordian’s Facility Condition Assessments can support your capital planning initiatives at Gordian.com. Or contact a Gordian representative today to learn more.
