NTNU Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet Fakultet for ingeniørvitenskap og teknologi Institutt for bygg, anlegg og transport Max Ingar Mørk Før tårnene faller Om forvaltning, drift, vedlikehold og utvikling (FDVU) av kirker, med spesiell vekt på kirkene i Møre bispedømme Doktor ingeniøravhandling Januar 2003 Before the Steeples Fall Facility Management (FM) techniques applied to churches, with emphasis on the churches of the Diocese of Møre The church is a building old and tall, Standing though steeples are falling. Fell into ruins steeples all, Bells are still chiming and calling… N. F. S. Grundtvig, 1837 This hymn describes the churches as old tumbledown buildings, and throughout history many churches have suffered this fate. On the other hand, few buildings have received as much attention and care as the churches. In the year 1024, the assembly of Moster decided that the King was to be responsible for providing the priests while the people were to maintain the churches. Since then, the building and maintenance of the parish church has been the largest task of the Norwegian local community, at least until the last part of the 19.th century. What is the state of our churches today? How do we manage them through their life cycle before the steeples fall? And how should we best take care of them to avoid letting them fall into a state of decay and disrepair? The Facility Management (FM) project – and this dissertation – discusses these questions 1. Objective The objective of this project is to document the economical, architectonical, technical and user related values of churches, and to develop methods of preserving these values over the long run. The aim is to get new knowledge about typical FM parameters for churches with different ages, materials, sizes, use frequencies and so on, and to develop better management systems for the church buildings, based on modern FM techniques. Many actors are involved in the management of the churches, both on a local, regional and central level. These actors possess unique knowledge and information within their fields of expertise. Thus, the more important objectives of this project are: • To collect and systemize information from the respective actors. • To establish a central database for Norwegian churches. • To organize a colleagueship between the actors. • To follow up related projects home and abroad. • To adapt general FM techniques and use them on church buildings. 1 In the original Norwegian text, the terms “management, operation, maintenance and development” are used (abbreviated to FDVU), according to the Norwegian Standard for Life Cycle Costs (NS 3454). There is no parallel phrase in English, and the Norwegian definition of Facility Management (FM) also covers service and potential in property (US: real estate). However, in the context of churches FDVU and FM is much the same, and for simplicity the term FM is used in the English summary. i Summary in English Methods The project is based on four kinds of information: 1. General literature about FM and church management, e.g. textbooks, papers, reference books, booklets, laws and rules, standards, Internet home pages and other available sources. 2. Unpublished information worked out for special purposes, like internal church registers, project reports, archive documents and other internal information. This information is collected in dialogue with the responsible instances. 3. Similar projects still in progress which concern building preservation, church heating, key values and so on. 4. Research and development, i.e. special inquiries and investigations carried out in order to complement the other sources and get new knowledge. Part I of the dissertation – the general (or theory) part – is based on information of the first, second and third kind. It gives the state of the FM discipline in Norway (chapter 2), an overview of the church building activity through Norwegian history (chapter 3) and a presentation of today’s management system for churches (chapter 4) and projects concerning FM techniques applied to churches (chapter 5). Part II – the special part – is based on information of the fourth kind, i.e. results from the research and development activities especially designed for the FM project. The purpose has been to determine FM costs and other management aspects concerning churches. The field of study has been the churches of the Diocese of Møre, located at the northwest coast of Norway. The diocese has approximately 240.000 inhabitants and 120 church buildings. Part III – the application part – is a synthesis of applicable elements in parts II and I. The elements are fitted into a coordinated FM system for churches. In connection with the project, a reference group has been established with representatives from the following Norwegian organizations and authorities: The Ministry Church Consultant, the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, the National Church Council, the Church Employer’s Federation, the Diocese Administration of Møre and the Churchwarden Association of Møre. The group has discussed essential topics and plans for the project. On individual basis the members have also supported the project with expertise from their own professions. The Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have financially supported the work of this dissertation. Results The most noticeable result of the project is that the Life Cycle Cost model has been successfully adapted into a church context (chapter 8). Accounts from the churchwardens of the Diocese of Møre has been put into a database and converted to annual costs according to the Norwegian Standard NS 3454. Faults and weaknesses in the data material and the accuracy of the results are discussed. Alas, the annual accounts proved to be so different that much of the conversion had to be done manually. The account instructions should be altered, making it possible to use automatic procedures for converting the data. Subsequently the costs were recalculated to key values, which were, in turn, compared (benchmarked) with key ii Summary in English values from other sources (chapter 9). The results indicate that the key values for the churches are of similar type and quality as distributed key values for other buildings. The key values for churches thus complement the results from other key value projects. To make the results more reliable, costs for several years and data from more churches have to be put into the database. What is the FM cost of a church and what should it be? As a rule of thumb, the study indicates that management and operation of a medium expensive church costs 500 NOK/m2 a year, and that maintenance and development costs 200 NOK/m2 a year. To secure the condition of the churches over the long run, i.e. to achieve a sustainable level of preservation, the maintenance and development cost should be increased about 50 %. Other FM tools are also tested and assessed (chapter 11): NS 3424 Condition survey of construction works, Maintenance Management System (MMS), Key Performance Indicators (KPI) Evaluation Model and the Building Certification system. Many of the tools seem to be relevant to churches, but adaptations or special editions have to be worked out. An overall structure is developed, containing a lot of relevant FM tools for churches. The structure is like a “tool box”, showing when and where the different tools may be used. A sketch of the main structure and content of a national database for churches is made. The sketch illustrates how different actors may contribute with information and how appropriate FM tools may be put into a “tool box”. Convenient information may be collected in a “knowledge bank” with internal sources and external links. Conclusions and recommendations What is the state of the churches? If the situation in the Diocese of Møre is representative, which is probably the case, the answer might be that the situation is rather complex, and that the churches are very different in age, material use, technical condition and construction system. Poor economy seems to be the main reason for lack of necessary maintenance and development of the buildings. The requirements for comfort and sanitary standards are lower than in official buildings in general, and antiquarian considerations often reduce the possibility of constructional alteration and rebuilding. Still, the situation is not entirely negative. A lot of maintenance and upgrading initiatives have been executed, and the state of the buildings is generally on a medium to good level. Moreover, people’s expectations of technical functionality and comfort are different for a church than for a school or an office building. The investigation has unveiled that maintenance activities very seldom are initiated before the damage becomes visible. An objective for the project was to develop methods for improved management of the buildings, based on modern FM techniques. Two of the most essential methods are condition surveys and maintenance plans, which both entail more preventive and systematic maintenance. To achieve proper maintenance of the churches over the long run, the building knowledge and competence among the church managers has to be increased. What standard should be set for the functionality of the churches? The thesis draws up three main lines for future development of the churches: • The church has to satisfy the daily needs of the congregation. • Safety and easy access has to be maintained. • The staff must have acceptable working conditions. iii Summary in English Many churches represent important antiquarian values that come in conflict with the user interests. The thesis argues for giving church authorities greater responsibility for the management of the churches as cultural monuments. A number of recommendations that hopefully will give advantages for the management are given: • A committee should be appointed with representatives from the antiquarian and church authorities on all levels. The mission should be – on voluntary basis – to discuss actual problems, seek solutions to and guidelines for the preservation process and build networks between the different instances.