RAMS and LCC in the design process of infrastructural construction projects : an implementation case

The implementation of RAMS (acronym for Reliability, Availability, Maintainability and Safety) and Life Cycle Costing (LCC) in construction industry is in its infancy compared to other industrial sectors. These two concepts can be used within the design of infrastructural construction projects to make a trade-off between performance and costs. RAMS and LCC are methods used to quantify performance and different cost categories such as initial costs, maintenance costs and operational costs. This paper investigates existing models for the implementation of RAMS and LCC in design processes that have been proposed by other researchers. Out of these existing models a suitable model is adopted to test implementation in construction industry to identify problems that are associated with implementation of such a model. The results of the implementation are discussed and conclusions are drawn.