Asset lifespan
The final stage impact assessment of the Future Buildings Standard. Secondary legislation, statutory guidance published by MHCLG 24 March, 2026 defines asset lifespan or maintenance and replacement costs as "lifecycle concepts used to assess costs and benefits over time, including scheduled maintenance and replacement of building components."
An asset as described in PAS 1192-3: 2014 specification for information management for the operational phase of construction projects using building information modelling, is concerned with the operational phase of built assets, it specifies how an asset information model should be created, used and maintained through the life an asset. It defines an asset as an ‘…item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an organisation’. It suggests that an asset ‘…may be fixed, mobile or movable. It may be an individual item of plant, a system of connected equipment, a space within a structure, a piece of land, or an entire piece of infrastructure or an entire building or portfolio of assets.’ In this context, ‘value’ can be tangible, intangible, financial or non-financial and can vary throughout the life of the asset.
In terms of the construction industry, lifespan relates to how long materials, components, elements, the whole building or asset might last or function as intended.
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