Multipurpose Asset Valuation for Civil Infrastructure: Aligning Valuation Approaches with Asset Management Objectives and Stakeholder Interests

Abstract

Valuation is a critical component of asset management for civil infrastructure because it provides a means for evaluating facilities whose value is to be preserved or enhanced. Although the basic concept of valuation is generic, there are various quantitative approaches for valuing assets. These approaches can be classified to provide guidance for selecting the right valuation approach to accomplish different asset management objectives. Various approaches are examined for valuing assets in transportation corridor, financial, and corporate real estate asset management from the viewpoint of the purpose of valuation. How different valuation approaches support different purposes is shown, and the importance of selecting appropriate valuation methods to achieve different objectives is discussed. On this basis, some of the critical issues are identified for developing useful valuation classification frameworks to relate valuation approaches with an agency’s asset management objectives and the scope and emphases of stakeholder interests. Building on the purposes of valuation associated with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement 34 requirements, a prototype framework is developed for classifying valuation approaches, and emerging opportunities to expand the scope of valuation tools for multipurpose infrastructure valuation are discussed. The results should be useful to agency staff interested in understanding how various valuation tools can help them to accomplish different asset management objectives as they upgrade their infrastructure management systems to asset management systems.