Value Management of Construction Projects, 2nd Edition

12Whole Life Value

12.1 Introduction

Whole Life Value (WLV) is a systems approach to the discovery, representation, measurement and audit of the lifetime value of an asset to an organisation. Whereas value management (VM) and value engineering (VE) can be (and most commonly are) conducted as interventions in a project development process, WLV is a methodology relying on a systems approach to the delivery of the most appropriate facility and the evaluation of the facility over its defined lifespan. A system in this context refers to a number of individual processes working synergistically to deliver the whole life value assessment. Within the systems approach the whole and the component parts of the project are functionally defined, assessed by reference to a value system and subject to a whole life cost and time factor assessment. Therefore, while VM and VE are indispensable contributors to the project management process, WLV is an integral part of project management and asset management. The concept of WLV is not new; the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), Achieving Excellence guidance (OGC, 2003) states:

The main success criterion of a construction project is the value of the facility to the organisation over time. Successful delivery requires an integrated process in which design, construction, operation and maintenance are considered as a whole – together with an understanding of how the project will affect business efficiency and service delivery over the lifetime of ...