Building component bible launched

The life expectancy of a door could be anything from five to 100 years - it makes the task of whole life costing tricky to say the least.

But a new guide produced by the RICS and its costs division BCIS aims to help you tackle such wide variables. The report is the latest version of Life Expectancy of Building Components: A practical guide to surveyor’s experience of buildings in use.

The RICS said that building surveyors would say a new external door will last for around 30 years. But “in actually fact the life expectancy of the same door can be anywhere between five and 100 years or more years,” the institution said. The variance can be due to factors ranging from the quality of the local air, timber and installation, to accidental impact damage and vandalism and quality of joints between window frame and wall.

The updated guide draws on the experiences of building surveyors to create a handbook offering information on over 300 building components. It also features checklists of the factors to be considered when weighing up a component’s life expectancy and for identifying causes of early deterioration in a component.

The revised 2006 edition contains information on substructure, superstructure, finishes, fittings and furnishings, services and external works.