What is a Condition Assessment (CA) and why is it neccessary?

A condition assessment is an essential first step to help meet the objectives for structure rehabilitation or repair, because it provides a realistic assessment of the current condition. Condition assessments help to identify the root cause of distress, and determine the state of deterioration. Based on the results of a condition assessment, owners can develop and evaluate the viability of various alternative rehabilitation concepts or determine if a replacement is necessary. While just patch repairing the structure may seem more efficient at first glance, the cost of continual repairs may ultimately be more expensive than a long-term solution or even a replacement. Through lifecycle cost analysis, a condition assessment and service-life modeling can provide the financial data to help determine the best solution.