Building Asset Condition Survey

Project overview

The University of Queensland (UQ) is home to a vast portfolio of over 646 buildings across 26 sites in Queensland, representing a diverse and valuable estate. The preservation and effective management of these assets is crucial to maintaining legislative compliance and ensuring continued high-quality service delivery to all users of the campus.

UQ faces the challenge of managing an ageing building asset base, with limited data on the current condition of these assets. Addressing these challenges is critical for the long-term sustainability and performance of the campus estate.

To strengthen UQ’s asset management capabilities, Property and Facilities (P&F) is undertaking a comprehensive Building Asset Condition Survey across the UQ estate. This initiative will gather in-depth, comprehensive data on the condition of UQ’s buildings and assets. The survey will support improvements to capital planning, budget forecasting, and strategic decision-making regarding asset renewal and ongoing maintenance requirements.

The survey will be conducted over two years in stages, starting with a pilot assessment of three critical buildings, Queensland Bioscience Precinct (QBP) (80), Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) (75) and Molecular Biosciences (MBS) (76). This will be followed by subsequent stages based on the prioritisation of buildings. The goal is to create a detailed, reliable foundation of asset information to guide future decisions and investments.

Project Manager: Kevin O’Sullivan

Key outcomes

Comprehensive Asset Condition Data: The survey will produce an up-to-date and thorough assessment of each building's condition across a variety of asset categories.

Strategic Capital Planning: This data will help to prioritize critical renewal projects, allowing for more accurate budget forecasting and smarter planning of future maintenance needs.

Lifecycle Cost Modelling: A 25-year lifecycle cost model will be developed, helping to identify the total costs of refurbishment or replacement for each asset and optimise long-term financial planning.

Strategic Asset Management: The project will develop a robust database of asset information which will feed into UQ’s Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP). This plan will clearly define roles, responsibilities and processes to ensure ongoing success and effective management of UQ’s estate.

Project implementation

The Building Asset Condition Survey information will be integrated into a software platform designed to support complex financial modelling scenarios. This platform will enable UQ to simulate various asset management scenarios and inform future CapEx and OpEx investment strategies.

By embedding the outcome of this survey into the UQ Strategic Asset Management Plan, this project ensures that the University is well-equipped to manage its assets effectively for years to come.

Key dates

The proposed key dates for the project program are as follows:

Activity	Timeframe
Stage 1 – Pilot Phase – QBP, AIBN, MBS	28/02/2025
Stage 2 – P5 High Criticality Buildings	28/05/2025
Stage 3 – P4 High Criticality Buildings	13/02/2026
Stage 4 – P3 Medium Criticality Buildings	18/06/2026
Stage 5 – P2 & P1 Low Criticality Buildings	30/09/2026
Final Data Outputs	21/10/2026

* Timelines are subject to change.

Project progress

In November 2024, P&F engaged Aurecon to undertake the building condition and life cycle assessment project.

Aurecon update

Aurecon onboarding completed
Asset hierarchy developed for surveys
Life cycle modelling developed for asset classes
Pilot stakeholder workshops completed
Inspector handbook developed
Inspector condition survey system development

Stage 1 (pilot phase) building audits will commence mid-January 2025 and will continue until late February.

Stage 2 P5 High Criticality Buildings will commence in March 2025:

Oral Health Centre (883)
308 Queen St and 88 Creek St Brisbane (500D)
Customs House (500B)
Otto Hirschfeld Building (81)
Queensland Brain Institute (79)
Centre for Advanced Imaging (57)
Public Health Building (887)