WASHCost tools

1. Learn about life-cycle costs

Costing Sustainable Services (online training)

This online course trains hundreds of people on the application of the life-cycle costs approach, every year. The entry level training teaches about the categories of expenditure, how to assess service levels, and how to analyse expenditure across different years and currencies. It prepares course participants for the basics of life-cycle costs data collection and analysis. Go to: Costing Sustainable Services online training

WASHCost KnowledgePoint Q&A

This online question and answer support service is a forum for getting more detail information on life-cycle costing and service levels. IRC tool users can dialogue with experts on the life-cycle costs approach and find additional information on how to use IRC tools. Go to: WASHCost Knowledge Point

Akvopedia Finance Portal

Thousands of people per year access this web-based resource, which provide open and free reference information. This online wiki portal was authored and is edited by IRC in partnership with Akvo who provide Akvopedia. Go to: Akvopedia Finance Portal

WASHCost Benchmarks

With partners, IRC has collected data on the life-cycle costs of household sanitation services and water supplies. On the basis of this, IRC has identified life-cycle cost benchmarks for household water and sanitation that can be used until real contextual expenditure data is available. Read the WASHCost Info sheet 1.

2.  Collect and analyse life-cycle costs

IRC provides free reference sheets on the WASHCost life-cycle costs and service level indicators for collecting data in our Costing Sustainable Service online training (see above). The specific surveys and data sheets used to collect data in several countries are freely available and can be easily replicated across different contexts.

Organisations that wish to achieve improved water, sanitation and hygiene services in a specific area can adapt the life-cycle costs approach to their own needs and IRC is available when additional support is needed.

IRC is now simplifying the collection and analysis of life-cycle costs data in partnership with BeDataDriven, BRAC ICT and UNHCR to roll out mobile data collection surveys. These tools will feed into online and offline data management platforms that will enable data cleaning and automate the analysis of life-cycle costs and service level indicators.

^{3.  Share your life-cycle costs}

WASHCost Share

An increasing number of organisations ask for cost data, which is often only available in different and disparate formats. WASHCost Share is an online open source tool, which enables users to look at and create life-cycle cost reports.

There are two types of reports that can be shared using a web link. The basic report is designed for advocacy purposes and is easy for anyone to understand. The advanced reports are designed for programme managers in search of quick overviews of the life-cycle costs of different service areas.

After free no-hassle registration, users have access all tool functions. Go to: WASHCost Share

Interested in other IRC sustainability tools? Go to: IRC Tools