Using the REACSolutions REAC Scoring Calculator. By Michael Gantt, President, REACSolutions. Introduction

Transcription

1 Using the REACSolutions REAC Scoring Calculator By Michael Gantt, President, REACSolutions Introduction For many years, people in the housing industry have been requesting a (simple to read and understand) guide to the scoring values of the hundreds of possible deficiencies that can be cited during the conduct of the REAC inspection. Representatives of REAC have said that it is virtually impossible to produce a simple list of deduction values, because these differ for every Site, Building and typical Unit, according to complicated algorhythms built into the inspection s design, and according to the unique scoring profile of each property. It is absolutely true that each property has a unique make-up and therefore a unique scoring profile. The number of Buildings on the property, the number of Units per Property and Building, and the unique set of amenities or Inspectable Items that are present all affect the breakdown of scoring values allocated to each Inspectable Area. These factors also affect the Weight allocated to each Inspectable Item. For a Property with only one building and one Unit, there are approximately 50 variables that can shift the scoring value of ALL possible deficiencies found in the UPCS/REAC inspection protocol. Each additional building inspected adds about 30 more variables. Each Unit inspected adds about 15 more variables. For the typical inspection, there might be as many as 500 or 1000 variables, in the form of Inspectable Items for Site, Exterior, Systems, Common Areas, and Units, which can shift the value of all Deficiencies in subtle ways. Each Inspectable Area is allocated a variable Area Value expressed in Points, representing a fractional value of 100%. Each Inspectable Item is allocated a variable Weight expressed as a decimal number between and 0.0. Each Deficiency has a static Criticality, expressed as a whole number between 1 and 5, which corresponds to a decimal number between 0.25 and 5.0. Each Deficiency that is identified is further assigned a Level of Severity of 1, 2, or 3, and these correspond respectively to 0.25, 0.50, and 1.0. The Inspectable Area Values and the Inspectable Item Weights are adjusted according to the existence or absence of the 10 Site Items, 7 Exterior Items per Building, 8 Systems Items per Building, 15 types of Common Area Items per Building, and 16 Unit Items per Unit. This is what is meant by the term algorhythms. Algorhythm is not, as most people assume, an algebraic term or an exotic term originating in mysterious realms of higher mathematics. There is no calculus or trigonometry at work here. The entire sequence of calculations is all based in simple arithmetic. That is to say, the entire operation is a dauntingly complicated series of simple additions, subtractions, multiplications, and divisions.

2 Given an extremely long list of each calculation to be made, a person who can do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division could work out the scoring profile for any property. Those who throw around the term algorhythms in explanation probably have absolutely no understanding of this process, what-so-ever. While the term is the correct term to describe this process, its use is a form of mystification or obfuscation in lieu of the simple admission that I have no idea how it works. The author is no math whiz, but he does know how to use an Excel spreadsheet. After years of study, and many sleepless nights, he has reverse-engineered this scoring system so that it is possible to generate a fairly accurate list of Deficiency Scoring Values for each of the hundreds of possible REAC Deficiencies that might be cited on any given Property. This requires the availability of only one thing: the Property s Inspection Summary Report from a past REAC inspection, assuming that this report includes the following information: 1 - The overall Area Values for Site, Building Exterior, Building Systems, Common Areas, and Units 2 - At least one Deficiency per each Inspectable Area Using This Tool Presently, this tool is designed to calculate Deficiency Scoring Values for up to 3 Buildings, and 1 Typical Unit. (NOTE: It is possible to quickly enter Area Values on the tab named CP, for Control Panel, instead of on the various other tabs. Once you have entered data on the various tabs, you will have destroyed the link to the CP tab. You may wish to save a copy of this unaltered spreadsheet before altering any data, so you will always have a fresh copy.) Site Locate the Inspectable Area Value for the Site, and enter this value into the yellow box labeled Area Value on the Site tab. This will generate a list of Deficiency Values. Locate any Level 3 Deficiency for the Site, and enter that value into the corresponding yellow box for that deficiency on the far right hand side of the spreadsheet tab. This will generate a Weight Adjustment factor immediately to the right of the Deficiency Value entered. If possible, enter additional Deficiency Values, and compare the generated Adjustment factors. Guesstimate an average Adjustment Value based on the data at hand. Enter this Weight Adjustment factor into the yellow Weight Adjustment box on the Site tab. This should adjust all Scoring Values to within a reasonable rounding error of accuracy. You will find errors in the range of a few hundredths of a point, or even a few tenths. This is due to the fact that the REAC Inspection Summary Report uses rounded numbers to express all Area Values and Deficiency Values. With practice, it is possible, but not necessary in practical use, to adjust the Area Value up or down within a tenth of one point to correct all calculations to within thousandths of a point.

3 Compare the generated list of Deficiency values to those reported on your Summary Report. If you find small errors that seem to indicate slightly high values, adjust the Area Value downward by a few hundredths. (Example: if the Area Value is 14.7, try ) If the Values seem slightly low, raise the Area Value in a similar way. Ultimately, in the larger scheme of things, errors of one tenth of one point are negligible. The purpose of documenting these scoring values is to predict future deduction values for deficiencies so you can prioritize repairs and preparations for future REAC inspections not to prove or disprove the methods used in this tool. If you are a person who insists on exact values, and you cannot make the necessary adjustments to make your scoring calculations satisfy your desire to possess the precise numbers, your Inspection Summary report to the author at solutions@reacsolutions.com. REACSolutions is always interested in collaboration with others to increase our collective knowledge of the scoring process. This is the first version of this spreadsheet, and it is entirely possible that our work has left some error in the spreadsheet. Building Exteriors Locate the Inspectable Area Value for the first Building, and enter this information into the yellow box labeled Area Value on the Bldg 1 Exterior tab. This will again generate the entire list of Deficiency Values for the Building Exterior. Following the same procedure used for Site, locate any Level 3 Deficiency for the Building 1 Exterior, and enter that value into the corresponding yellow box for that deficiency on the far right hand side of the spreadsheet tab. This will generate a Weight Adjustment factor immediately to the right of the Deficiency Value entered. Again, if possible, perform this action for as many known deficiencies as you can, and guesstimate an average Weight Adjustment. Enter it into the Weight Adjustment box on the Bldg 1 Exterior tab. Building Systems Once you have worked with the Site and Exterior tabs, you should be able to work with the Systems tab in the same way. Locate the Area Value and at least one Level 3 deficiency value, and enter the data into the appropriate boxes. Compare the results to the data on your Summary Report and experiment with minor corrections of the Area Values for more precise results. Common Areas Again, use the same procedures. It is important, though, to understand that the various Common Areas have two different tiers for scoring. When entering data and reading results, it is critical that you understand the concept we have described as Common Areas 1 and Common Areas 2. Common Areas 1 (Community Rooms, Day Care Areas, Halls/Corridors/Stairs, Common Kitchens, and Common Laundry Rooms) score at twice the value of all other Common Areas. Refer to the guide at the bottom of the Common Areas 1 and Common Areas 2 tabs for a complete listing of the types of Common Areas, and whether they call into group 1 or 2.

4 With careful study, you may discover that while normal deficiencies score at half value for Common Areas 2 areas, the Health and Safety deficiencies score at full value. That is to say, that all Health and Safety deficiencies score the same, whether found in Common Areas 1 or Common Areas 2. Units, Typical and Varied On any given inspection, it is rare that any two Units score differently by more than perhaps tenths or hundredths of a point. Therefore, this tool only provides one Unit Value tab. In the rare situation where a property has different types of Units for which scoring is significantly different, it would be possible to easily generate one set of values for the first type of Unit, print this, and then alter the data to generate a list for the second type of Unit. One could even save the first list using a different file name for the spreadsheet, then generate the second Unit type and then print or save the file again with another file name. Additional Buildings For properties with more than three Building types, the same reasoning applies. One could save multiple versions of this spreadsheet with different Building and Unit data in each version. For properties with 1 to 3 Buildings, this spreadsheet can generate as many different Building scoring profiles. As Always... This tool has been developed to satisfy our own curiosity and need to understand the REAC scoring process. We hope that it will benefit each user. We are always delighted to hear from anyone who wishes to use this tool and who has comments or questions that might help us improve upon it. You can find more information at: or you can us at solutions@reacsolutions.com

5 REACSolutions Custom REAC Scoring Reports Order Form instructions REACSolutions will be delighted to prepare a complete REACSolutions Scoring Calculator Report for your property, listing the Deficiency Scoring Values for nearly every possible Deficiency on the Site, the Building Exteriors, Building Systems, Common Area, and a Typical Unit. This is extremely valuable information when it comes to making important decisions on how to spend your time and money when preparing a property for the next REAC inspection. In our many years of REAC Consulting, and our experience in assisting hundreds of properties in REAC preparations nationwide, we have found that most owners and managers waste thousands of dollars and countless man/hours during their preparations for a REAC inspection prior to understanding the principles of REAC scoring. Short of having us pre-inspect your property in person, and identifying all likely deficiencies according to scoring value, this is the most valuable resource you can possibly possess when it comes to setting the right priorities, and spending your financial and human resources on the right issues. Pricing All Reports are for One Property, as defined by : Printable Electronic Reports in Adobe Acrobat PDF format Single Building reports: $ Per additional Building: $ Exceptionally Complex Properties (more than 5 Building types) or Complete Company Portfolios by Individual Custom Quote submit Summary Reports for a quote Includes electronic transmission by or web site download Hard Copy Reports Single Sided Pages, bound in a three ring binder, with CD PDF for re-prints Instructions: Single Building reports: $ Per additional Building: $ Exceptionally Complex Properties (more than 5 Building types) or Complete Company Portfolios by Individual Custom Quote submit Summary Reports for a quote Includes UPS Ground shipping to continental US locations Fill out the form on the next page, completely. the most recent REAC Inspection Summary Report(s) to solutions@reacsolutions.com

6 REACSolutions Custom REAC Scoring Reports Order Form page 1 of 2 All information mandatory unless state otherwise Contact Person Phone 1 Phone 2 Mailing Address Company optional Property Information Property Name Phone Address Number of Buildings Number of Units I was referred by optional I have ed or attached # REAC Inspection Summary Reports for # Properties. I would like to have Immediate Reports or Quotes for each property (circle one, please.) I want Electronic or Hard Copy reports when delivered (circle one, please, optional if for Quote.) I am enclosing a Check or providing a Billing Address and Authorization to invoice me (circle one) I am authorized to make this purchase, and if a check is not enclosed, I personally guarantee payment of the invoice in a timely fashion. Name Signature Title/Company Date Make sure contact info is provided at Contact above and page 2 is completely filled out

7 REACSolutions Custom REAC Scoring Reports Order Form page 2 of 2 Additional Info Bill to Phone 1 Phone 2 Mailing Address Company optional Ship to Phone 1 Phone 2 Mailing Address Company optional Additional info, as appropriate: Payer Name on Check Check Number PO Number Special Notes: Feel free to include additional page if needed Send order form to: REACSolutions Attn: Custom Scoring Reports 3812 Houcks Road Monkton, MD Inquiries: phone or solutions@reacsolutions.com Or, see for more information