Question:

What is the difference between FCI and BCI?

Answer: 

Facility Condition Index (FCI) and the Building Condition Index (BCI) are metrics designed to indicate the overall physical health or condition of the building.  However, the two metrics are calculated differently. Neither metric should be viewed as a "silver bullet", as they both convey different information to facility stakeholders.

FCI is a fiscal based metric and is computed from the ration of repairs needed to the facility's value.  There are several variations on this metric, going either from 100 to 0 (100 is good), or from 0-1 (where 0 is good).  FCI values don't change from good, or new, until conditions degrade enough to warrant action.  Thus, the FCIdoesn't depict the complete facility degradation picture; only representing the degradation that is "bad enough" to warrant action.

BCI is a performance based metric that rolls up the condition indexes of all the facility sections.  This roll up uses the replacement costs to weight the average, so that the condition index is scaled to the level of individual pieces (sections) that are experiencing degradation.  Long-life pieces, such as the foundation, tend to also be very expensive, so the BCI tends to remain high as these sections' conditions also remain high.  This is useful as it can indicate that while equipment or cosmetic replacements may be needed, the "bones" of the facility are intact.  However, BCI does NOT capture when the condition (for a specific section) is below it's standard, or acceptable condition level.  Thus, the BCI does not communicate the risk to the building's mission or function that currently exists due to the degradation.