Whole Life Costing & Life Cycle Costing

Question 1

What is life cycle costing?

Answer 1

Life cycle cost (LCC) is ‘cost of an asset, or its parts throughout its life cycle, while fulfilling the performance requirements’

Question 2

What are life cycle costs?

Answer 2

Operating and maintaining a building e.g. 
Repair
Maintenance
Replacement
Cleaning
Decorating

Question 3

How do capital costs differ to whole life costs?

Answer 3

Whole life costing incorporates all of the costs over the life of a building including 
Capital cost of construction
Cost of maintenance and cleaning
Energy costs
Life cycle replacement

Question 4

What sort of clients might be particularly interested in life cycle costing?

Answer 4

• Government clients – concerned with overall value for money
• PFI projects
• Owner-occupiers

Question 5

Why might a client accept higher capital costs?

Answer 5

a) Prestige reasons

b) Replacement or repair may be inconvenient even if cheaper

Question 6

What costs are considered in LCC and WLC?

Answer 6

construction

• Maintenance
• Operation
• Occupancy
• End of life

Question 7

What life cycle costs did you consider with the Aluminium vs Composite options?

Answer 7

Aluminium
More durable
Holds more weight
Greater acoustics

Composite
Meets performance requirements
Cheaper
Maintain aesthetics

Both had life expectancy of 50 years
Aluminium more expense to repair
Replacement
Warranties

Question 8

What is whole life costing?

Answer 8

Whole-life costing covers an

Capital Costs
Maintenance
Energy costs 
Repairs
Replacement 
Disposal

Question 9

What LCC would you look to understand the two window options?

Answer 9

Purchase costs 
Installation costs 
Lifespan of each 
Repair - 
Replacement - glass 15 years, frame 50 
Cleaning - same
Depreciation - aluminium generally hold it's value