Spoiler alert: If your church owns a facility, you need a facility condition assessment.
In layman's terms, a facility condition assessment is simply an evaluation of your church facility's current and projected conditions. While that may sound simple, dealing with the results can be more complex.
These assessments help facility owners understand the physical condition of their facilities, identify current and projected deferred maintenance, benchmark current operational expenses, develop capital budgets (current and future), and prioritize resources (financial and human).
A Doctor Visit for Your Facility
You may have heard us compare facility condition assessments to annual doctor visits for your health. Both are critical evaluations that include benchmarking data from previous years. They also both suggest improvements on how to keep moving forward for longevity. In other words, they are essential to maintaining good health for years to come.
I know of friends that avoid their physicals because they don't want to know how bad things are. Or they do not want to hear that they need to cut out bread to lose 25 pounds. But avoiding the examination does not change the reality of the situation.
The same goes for your facility. Not knowing the amount of deferred maintenance or how much money should be budgeted annually does not change the facts. Avoiding reality is like sticking our heads in the sand. It is irresponsible.
Don’t Just Take Our Word For It
We are not the only ones who believe in the importance of assessing our facilities. Below are comments from peers who have taken steps to understand their facilities and plan accordingly:
- “The assessment aided us in establishing a planned capital replacement program in that we were able to prioritize based on life cycle in all the areas assessed. Because of the assessment, we were able to get a real look at our deferred items and plan for their renovation or replacement.” — Clark Byram, FBC Sevierville, Sevierville, TN
- “We are quite a bit behind on capital improvements. This brought a lot of light to our people regarding where we are with regards to the facilities.” — Jim Boyd, Calvary Baptist, Winston Salem, NC
- “It showed us the deficiencies in our systems and processes (and lack of accountability) for maintaining our facilities that we as decision-makers could not see from our vantage point, and the functional and financial impact that was going to have.” — Justin Greene, Liberty Live, Norfolk, VA
- “Confirmed that deferred maintenance was out of control and that there would be huge savings on utilities if we could ever get HVAC under control.” — Charles Reynolds, Hermitage Hills Baptist, Nashville, TN
- “Expert valuations of deferred cost/dollars and appropriate annual budget requirements for facility, instead of just in-house estimates or historical basis.” — Dwayne McDow, Summer Grove Baptist, Shreveport, LA
Take Action
Your ministry facility has been entrusted to you. Therefore you must be proactive with stewarding these assets, including your facility and everything inside of it. Our facility condition assessments will provide you with the needed data to be a good steward. To understand the health of your facility, fill out our contact sheet online today. Jim Rohn once said, “What you don’t know will hurt you.” And that couldn’t be more true when it comes to your facility.
