The word obsolescence comes from the Latin word “obsolescere” which means to grow old. However, it is not age, but change, the main cause of obsolescence. Many older buildings are still useful and may be better able to perform their functions due to their age. For example, churches, mosques, shrines, monumental and historical buildings are known to have been built many centuries ago and are even more functional and useful in their antiquity in their respective uses than when they were initially built.
According to the dictionary of cameras, obsolescence can be defined as the disappearance of: in the course of disappearance it tends to become obsolete.
From the previous descriptions of the word obsolescence, we can relate it to buildings, and when it relates to buildings, it can be better described as when buildings tend to cease to be used economically, physically, statutorily, or even functionally.
It is important to note that, obsolescence can track a new building, even before it is completed, obsolescence is present almost everywhere to some degree. It becomes a factor to consider when buildings or facilities fall below contemporary standards. These standards will vary over time and place as conditions that are acceptable now may not be acceptable in a few years.
Obsolescence is, therefore, a relative term, so is the word “obsolete”, which indicates that a property does not have a useful life as it is; because a building can be obsolete in the context of one time and place, but not another. For example, a building may be structurally sound but cannot generate enough income to maintain it in its current state, also a building may become physically obsolete after completion as a result of a construction defect.
In light of this obsolescence, it could be deprecated in four broad categories, namely
1. Physical obsolescence
2. Legal obsolescence
3. Functional obsolescence
4. Financial obsolescence
These four categories will be discussed further in later reports.
So simply put, obsolescence in buildings refers to the gradual process or condition of a building that cannot meet contemporary standards in terms of functionality, statutory, physically and economically, within a particular place and time, lo which causes the building to deteriorate. be obsolete.