What a facility program is
Facility Programming describes the process of determining an owner's actual facility needs and documenting these needs in a form that is useful both to architects for design of the building and to owners and managers of facilities in the evaluation of building designs in terms of functional and economic requirements.

What a facility program does
A facility programmer uses specialized expertise in planning, architecture, research management and business to work with owners and users of the facilities to translate generalized wants and needs into detailed architectural requirements that reflect the clients' real needs and economic constraints.

What is in a facility program
The contents of a facility program may vary depending upon the situation at hand but will generally have the following elements:

• Determination of facility Goals
• Collection and analysis of Facts regarding the programs, activities, functions and site conditions of the facility
• Development and testing of programmatic Concepts regarding facility and site organization
• Determination of facility Needs including specific statements of area requirements, cost and schedules; and finally
• Statement of the Problems to be solved by architectural design.

Problem Solving Diagram

The value of a facility program
A facility program has proven valuable to both owners, facility administrators, users of the facility and the architects who have final facility design responsibility.

Owners and administrators
A facility program states clearly the client's needs and wants. It is a powerful management tool that allows a building owner and those involved in the facility development process an opportunity to see clearly the architectural implications of goals and their associated costs.

Users of the Facility
Since a facility program is based upon research as to how a facility will actually be used, resulting buildings support the programs and functions for the people who will use them. Facility programs therefore insure more efficient and cost effective buildings.

Architects
A facility program provides the architect with the criteria needed to evaluate design decisions and serves as a management device to control design resources.

Cost of a program
The cost of a professionally prepared facility program is less than one-half of one percent of the cost of a building or about $.40/square foot at today's building cost. In many instances facility programming can save the owner the cost of the services in the resulting efficiencies within the building. For example, depending upon the educational methods and classroom configuration, the size of pupil stations can vary by as much as 10%. At 25 square feet per pupil station, a 10% difference means 1,250 square feet in a school of 500 students. Assuming a median cost of construction of $60/square foot, this difference results in $75,000 that a school district may be over or under-allocated for facilities in order to achieve its educational goals. This cost can mean the elimination of essential facility areas or a decrease in the quality of construction to meet budgetary constraints, which in turn often means the increase of long-term maintenance and replacement costs.