Define it first
For How Long, Doing What, With How Many People
Every resilience decision follows from that answer, and it is frequently never written down.
The facility type, whether it is a new build or a hardening project, and the procurement route. That is enough to start.
The questions to answer first
Written down, agreed, and given to the design team.
- How long must the facility operate without external power?
- How many people will be in it, and for how long?
- What functions must continue, specifically?
- What can be shed, and in what order?
- What is assumed about resupply — fuel, water, food?
Why it matters so much
Generator size, fuel storage volume, water storage, sanitation provision and cooling capacity all follow directly from those answers.
Where they are not defined, the design defaults to assumptions somebody made quietly — and those assumptions are discovered during an actual event, which is the worst possible time to test them.
The assumption to avoid
That fuel or water can be resupplied during the event. Roads close, suppliers are serving every facility in the region simultaneously, and delivery priority is not something a facility controls.
Size the on-site storage to cover the realistic duration on its own. It costs more and it is the entire point of the building.
FAQ
Common questions
- What should be defined first?
- Duration, occupancy, and which functions must continue.
- Why does it matter?
- Generator, fuel, water and cooling capacity all follow from it.
- Can we assume resupply?
- No. Roads close and suppliers serve everybody at once.
- What happens if it is undefined?
- The design defaults to a quiet assumption, tested during a real event.
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.