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• Relifing

Relifing

Relifing is a methodology developed by Rider Levett Bucknall to help building owners capture the remaining value and extend the life of their buildings after years of service. This methodology, sometimes implemented on a 'Building Life Extension Study,' can be applied to both private and public buildings.

How does it work? Let's take the example of a $15 million office building (shown below). Functionally, the methodology determines the 'useful life' of a building by developing an elemental cost analysis and applying service life criteria to each element, which collectively arrives at a Weighted Average Service Life (WASL).

In principle, the life expectancy of a building is its WASL, if no work was carried out on it over its lifetime. Relifing analyzes the process of maintenance, upgrades, renovation, replacement of machinery and architectural fabric and finishes necessary to extend the WASL. On a hypothetical office building with a WASL of 41 years, the WASL can be extended by relifing to 70 years or more.