Case Study: City of Waterloo achieves strategic facilities management with VFA

Developing a Focused Approach to Managing Facilities at the City of Waterloo

The City of Waterloo, a Canadian municipality managing 137 aging municipal and recreational facilities, lacked a dedicated facilities management function and had no consistent way to track building condition data, work orders, or prioritize maintenance needs. As a result, the city relied on anecdotal information and ad hoc assessments, making it difficult to plan proactively or defend capital budget requests. In 2008, Waterloo turned to VFA for facility assessments and capital planning support, including VFA.facility® software.

VFA implemented an integrated solution that combined assessments, training, capital planning software, and AssetFusion® for IBM Maximo to connect work orders and asset updates. The City gained a central repository for facility data, a consistent condition assessment process, and defensible cost estimates based on RSMeans data. As a result, Waterloo can now prioritize repairs across its portfolio, integrate findings into budgets and maintenance funds, and report accurate, defensible information for capital funding and long-term planning.

City of Waterloo

Michael Smith

Director, Asset Management, City of Waterloo, ON