Part 3: The Facility Assessment Process
Facility assessments are one of the key services we provide at Bray. We have years of experience helping districts and municipalities like yours prepare studies so that you can make informed decisions as you plan your building projects.
We’ve honed our facility assessment process to provide clients with a study document that’s both comprehensive and straightforward for anyone to understand.
Here is a step-by-step overview of our facility assessment process and answers to some related questions.
The Facility Assessment Process: A step-by-step overview
We’ll do all the heavy lifting for your facility assessment, but here’s what we’ll need from you to get started:
- Connect with us! While many of our facility studies begin as part of a larger scope of architectural services that include master planning and design, we also offer facility assessments as a standalone service.
- Share the existing drawings of your buildings. Ideally, this would include the original blueprints and drawings of building renovations or additions. We’ll digitize the drawings (if not already) and reference them when we create the study document.
- Host our assessment team for an on-site walkthrough of your buildings. To provide the most comprehensive evaluation, we’ll request access to every room of each building being studied.
After the on-site walkthroughs, our team will regroup at our office and get to work on a first draft of the study document.
As part of the facility assessment process, Bray will scan the existing drawings of your buildings. We’ll use these them to support our 3D modeling needs and prepare for the on-site walkthroughs and study document.
How long does a facility assessment take?
This depends on the number of buildings being assessed. We will work with your team to ensure that our assessment supports your project schedule.
Who’s involved?
Many districts and municipalities establish a core planning team (CPT) that is responsible for initiating and overseeing the facility assessment process. These teams might include: the superintendent or city administrator, building and grounds director, business manager, and any other stakeholders that you feel are appropriate to include.
Once we have a first draft of the study document, we’ll present it to your CPT. You’ll then have an opportunity to provide feedback.
We’ll make any necessary revisions and present another draft to the school board or city council. After those entities review the document and we make any additional changes, we encourage you to make the study document available to your community so that they can stay informed on the process. Many districts and municipalities make it available to download from their website.
We have a study document – now what?
The study document is your ticket to making the most informed decision about next steps for your project. For most public entities, this means establishing a project budget. Although it won’t include dollar amounts, the study document will be a valuable tool for estimating construction costs. It will also be your ticket to the next phase of the design process: master planning and educational visioning.
Let’s get started
Facility assessments are a critical first step to any successful building project. We’re eager to help you begin yours – connect with us to learn more about how Bray can help you realize your vision for better and safer buildings.
In case you missed it:
Part 1: What is a facility assessment?
Part 2: Why are facility assessments important?
Watch our 90-second video on facility assessments
Featured image, top: Bray’s facility assessment for the Oshkosh Area School District helped them prioritize their renovation and new construction projects, including the new Vel Phillips Middle School pictured above.
