The Application of Whole Life Costing in the UK Construction Industry: Benefits and Barriers

The application of whole life costing (WLC) technique is widely practised in other industries; however its use in the construction industry is marginal. The WLC approach encourages decision-making that takes account of the initial capital cost, running cost, maintenance cost, refurbishment requirements and disposal cost. The aim of this paper is to identify the key benefits and challenges relating to the application of WLC in the UK construction industry. This paper presents the results from 100 questionnaire survey sent to stakeholders in the construction industry including clients, contractors, quantity surveyors, project managers and engineers. The data analysis revealed that the most significant benefit to WLC is to optimise total cost of ownership while clients have been a significant challenge by not asking for WLC in their brief. The paper provides an insight and a better understanding of the major issues surrounding the application of WLC in the UK construction industry.