The BC Ministry of Education has established a Capital Asset Management System (CAMS) for all schools in the province and has contracted with VFA Inc. to conduct facility condition audits.
The purpose of the facility condition audit is to determine the equivalent age and condition of each school building. The condition includes structural, architectural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, equipment and furnishings and life safety. An audit of site conditions is also included.
The audit determines what resources will be required over the coming years to maintain or replace aging facilities. Each school is given a rating called the Facility Condition Index (FCI). This is a comparative index that allows the Ministry to rank each school against all others in the province and is expressed as a decimal percentage of the cost to remediate maintenance deficiencies divided by the current replacement value (i.e. 0.26).
For practical purposes, the ratings have the following meaning:
| 0.00 to 0.05 – Excellent Near new condition. Meets present and foreseeable future requirements. |
| 0.05 to 0.15 – Good Good condition. Meets all present requirements. |
| 0.15 to 0.30 – Average Has significant deficiencies, but meets minimum requirements. Some significant building system components nearing the end of their normal life cycle. |
| 0.30 to 0.60 – Poor Does not meet requirements. Immediate attention required to some significant building systems. Some significant building systems at the end of their life cycle. Parts may no longer be in stock or very difficult to obtain. High risk of failure of some systems. |
| 0.60 and above – Very Poor Does not meet requirements. Immediate attention required to most of the significant building systems. Most building systems at the end of their life cycle. Parts may no longer be in stock or very difficult to obtain. High risk of failure of some systems. |
The FCI is a significant factor the Ministry of Education uses to determine funding priorities for rejuvenation or replacement projects. Generally, a school will not be considered for replacement unless the FCI is close to 0.60 or above.