At BMA, Asset Registers are much more than simply ‘laundry’ lists of fixed assets: well-maintained registers can help improve a building’s operational efficiency, reduce costs, preserve its value, and improve the comfort, safety and security of residents.
“Our Building Managers not only ensure their registers are kept accurate and current but know how to use the information to enhance their building and benefit its owners and strata managers. Put simply, they treat Asset Registers as active documents that ‘work’ to improve their building, reduce costs and make reporting easier and less stressful. Too often registers are poorly maintained and not used beyond their basic purpose,” says Building Management Australia (BMA) General Manager Ben Mees.
The Basic Purpose of Asset Registers
An Asset Register’s purpose is to record information on all the building’s assets, which typically include the HVAC, lighting, fire, security, garden irrigation systems, water pumps, diesel generators, pool and spa heating and maintenance systems, and gym equipment.
Building Asset Registers usually feature the following information of each piece of equipment:
- Name and description including function and capacity
- Purchase date and price
- Installation date and location
- Serial/model, tracking or ID number
- Manufacturer and supplier
- Current age and condition
- Depreciation and current value
- Estimated useful life
- Performance changes/issues
- Preventative maintenance performed plus dates and costs
- Repairs performed, dates and costs
- Estimated replacement cost
- Replacement date and amount
Why It’s Crucial Asset Register Information Is Accurate and Current
Asset Registers with inaccurate, outdated and omitted equipment information can impede preventative maintenance scheduling, increase the incidence of costly repairs, breakdowns and replacements, make sourcing parts and specialist contractors more difficult, and make budget setting, EOFY tax reporting and owner corporation and strata manager reporting and meetings more challenging and stressful.
“With information on the condition, performance and status of each fixed asset, an accurate and up-to-date Asset Register helps our Building Managers maintain an efficient, cost-effective building and gives everyone at strata meetings the right information to make decisions and projections for equipment replacement and budgeting,” explains Mees.
“Our Building Managers maintain their building’s Asset Register electronically and store them on ‘the cloud’. This not only enhances security but makes it quick and easy for approved parties such as owners corporation representatives, strata managers and financial advisers to access them.”
Why Regular Audits Are Vital
In addition to regularly checking their building’s equipment, our Building Managers schedule regular equipment audits by specialist contractors.
“Audits update the Asset Register’s information on a building’s equipment. Our Building Managers take on board any amendments made by the auditor when planning preventative maintenance and planning for end-of-life replacement. Basically, audits help our Building Managers head potential problems off at the pass,” says Mees.
Maintenance Schedules
In addition to maintaining accurate and up-to-date information on their building’s equipment, our Building Managers also link their building’s Asset Register to its Maintenance Schedule.
Linking these two documents with each piece of equipment’s age, condition, performance, supplier, estimated end of life date, and service and repair history, they reduce costs and improve residents’ comfort, safety and convenience by:
- More accurately scheduling preventative maintenance, which improves efficiency and reliability and reduces the incidence of poor performance and costly breakdowns.
- Providing a better understanding of future equipment service and replacement costs, which facilitates budget planning.
- Alerting Owners Corporations and strata managers to equipment that is nearing its end of life, which gives them adequate time to source replacements and negotiate favourable prices. “Replacing a piece of equipment when it suddenly breaks down is costly as there isn’t time to broker a good price and installation is performed at ’emergency’ rates, as the contractor is hired on short notice,” says Mees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a building asset register?
A complete record of the building’s plant and equipment — HVAC, fire systems, pumps, security, pool plant and more — with each item’s identity, age, condition, value, service history and expected replacement date. Kept accurate and current, it’s the foundation document for maintenance, budgeting and reporting.
Who maintains the asset register in a strata building?
The building manager, as the person on site with day-to-day knowledge of the equipment. The register should be kept electronically, updated as equipment is serviced, repaired or replaced, and accessible to the owners corporation, strata manager and other approved parties.
How does an asset register save a building money?
By making maintenance preventative instead of reactive, and replacement planned instead of sudden. Accurate equipment information means servicing happens on schedule, budgets reflect what’s genuinely coming, and end-of-life replacements are sourced in good time at competitive prices rather than at emergency rates after a breakdown.
How often should the asset register be audited?
Regularly — alongside the building manager’s own ongoing checks, periodic audits by specialist contractors verify each item’s condition and update the register. Those audit findings then feed directly into the preventative maintenance schedule and replacement planning.
Does Your Building’s Asset Register Actually Work for You?
Building Management Australia is a Sydney building management firm — not a strata agent. Building and maintaining an accurate, current asset register — linked to a real maintenance schedule, audited regularly and accessible to the people who need it — is core to how we manage buildings, alongside your strata manager.
If your building’s register is out of date — or no one can produce it — request a proposal at bmaus.com.au or email Andrew directly at andrew@bmaus.com.au.
About the Author
Andrew Veron is the founder of Building Management Australia (BMA), an independent Sydney building management firm established in 1995. BMA is a building management company — not a strata agent — providing on-site and visiting building management, facilities management, concierge, cleaning and valet services to residential, commercial and mixed-use properties. Over the past 30 years, Andrew and the BMA team have managed buildings across the Eastern Suburbs, North Sydney, Inner Sydney, Parramatta and the Sydney CBD, with assets currently valued in excess of $3 billion under management. Because BMA is independent of any strata management firm, committees receive unbiased advice and transparent contractor relationships. Reach Andrew at andrew@bmaus.com.au or bmaus.com.au.
This article is general information only. Asset recording, depreciation and reporting requirements vary by scheme and may have tax implications; owners corporations should obtain advice specific to their circumstances from their accountant or adviser.
