Facility and Land Planning, Design, and Maintenance
Planning and design
This domain follows a project from identified need to ribbon cutting to repair. Master planning translates community goals into land and facility decisions; site analysis and selection weigh access, drainage, soils, utilities, neighbors, and safety. Level-of-service measures such as acres per 1,000 residents and facility distribution inform planning but do not replace demand data. Design must satisfy accessibility (ADA and a transition plan), life-safety, and CPTED/security principles. Procurement method matters: design-bid-build separates designer from builder and awards to the lowest responsive bidder; design-build gives one entity a single point of responsibility.
Maintenance
Asset inventory, condition assessment, and a maintenance management system separate preventive work (scheduled, extends life) from corrective work (performed after failure). Life-cycle costing compares acquisition, operation, maintenance, and replacement cost rather than purchase price alone.
Traps
Assuming the lowest bid automatically wins even when non-responsive or from an irresponsible bidder; confusing design-bid-build with design-build; using acres per 1,000 as a demand measure; choosing equipment on first cost only; and treating deferred maintenance as free.
Worked example
Pump A costs $20,000 with $3,000 per year in energy and maintenance over ten years: $50,000. Pump B costs $30,000 with $1,500 per year: $45,000. Pump B wins on life-cycle cost despite the higher price tag.
Rule of thumb
Budget roughly 3–5% of asset replacement value annually for renewal, and schedule preventive work before failure rather than after.