Condition based deterioration modelling: practicalities and limitations

With an increased demand to produce more results with less resources, many asset managers are seeking improved tools to assist with the management of their structures. One of the common tools investigated is deterioration modelling, in particularly condition based deterioration models which are built using historical inspection data. This tool is attractive as many agencies have the data they require on hand and can develop the models with modest financial input. There are many issues associated with developing models from this data set. The reliability of the data itself at the point of reporting, the sampling of this data for the model, consistency associated with sharing data, maintenance and its effect on results and validation issues. Many of these issues are overlooked and negatively impact the perceived value of deterioration models, however if managed correctly models could be valuable.